How Long To Cook Bacon For Perfect Results Every Time

Whether you're enjoying it with eggs at breakfast or letting bacon play the hero in a BLT, if it isn't cooked just right it tends to disappoint. Determining how to get perfect strips consistently can require hours of trial and error, unless someone does that work for you and shares the results, that is. Chris Mattera, North Country Smokehouse's culinary innovator, already has the timing down pat, and he recently disclosed with The Takeout how long bacon should be cooked for and the ideal way to prepare it.

If you're just making a couple of slices for yourself, starting bacon in a cold pan over the stove is probably the best way to go. But if you're cooking for a crowd or doing meal prep, Mattera suggested looking to the oven. "If I need more than just a few pieces (and let's be honest, we all need more than just a few pieces of bacon), I'll use a sheet tray in the oven," he said. "This technique allows you to cook more bacon at once and also reduces the amount of bacon fat that ends up on your stovetop while simultaneously yielding evenly cooked slices."

Once the oven is preheated (Mattera recommends 375 degrees Fahrenheit) and the meat is carefully laid out on a lined sheet pan so that no pieces are sitting on top of each other, it should generally only take 15 minutes for the bacon to be perfect. "Place the tray in the oven, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the bacon and your desired doneness," Mattera said. "Rotate the pan about halfway through the cooking time to ensure that the slices cook evenly."

Although Mattera implied that cooking bacon in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes should get folks routinely impeccable slices, he also mentioned that thickness and desired doneness can slightly alter that timeframe. Mattera expanded on those two factors, explaining how they can affect cooking time. "If you like crisper bacon, opt for a thin cut slice and bake for 12 to 14 minutes," he said. "Thicker bacon will stay meatier and will take a few extra minutes in the oven." Some recommend cranking the heat up to 400 degrees for thicker strips so that it doesn't take longer than 20 minutes.

Still, if your oven's temperature setting is off (you can check your oven's temperature accuracy using plain sugar), that's going to throw a wrench in things. And even if it is 100% precise, the difference between crispy and burnt is sometimes just a minute or so. Mattera stressed that even when using the 12 to 15 minutes rule of thumb, it's important to keep distractions at bay so you can physically see when bacon has reached peak doneness. "The most important thing to remember is not to wander away from the oven. Perfectly cooked bacon is too important to be left to chance!" he said. "Keep an eye on your bacon and be ready to pull it from the oven the moment it achieves your desired doneness, bearing in mind that it will continue to cook for a few minutes after it comes out of the oven."