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How to cook bacon with a tender or crispy texture completely hands-free without standing over a hot stove or grill.
You can’t get around it… to cook most of your meals yourself requires creativity in your scheduling department, from the time required to shopping for ingredients, to food preparation, cooking, and finally… cleaning up. Is required!
Time is arguably the biggest challenge to overcome if you choose to ditch takeout and processed foods and instead cook meals from scratch using whole food ingredients.
As a result, when I come across a technique that saves me a few minutes of standing over the stove and allows me to do something else in the meantime, I’ll share it in case it’s really something that works for you too.
If I only need a few strips, I usually pan fry unsweetened bacon on the stovetop, but if you plan on cooking more than a pound at a time, my method goes hands-free.
Why not use an oven broiler
My previous attempt at cooking an entire package of bacon at once without flipping the whole package frequently was with an oven broiler.
This worked fine, but I had to remove the bacon from the oven and flip it at least once to keep the side exposed to the broiler from burning.
Also, if the bacon was left in the oven for a minute or two, the edges of the bacon would curl and burn easily, so I had to keep an eye on it.
Another problem with grilling bacon is that the rich bacon fat splatters all over the oven.
This leaves less available for other dishes, such as this potato and bacon soup.
Mess also increases the frequency required to clean the oven.
best oven settings for cooking bacon
My husband actually found the best way to cook bacon hands-free in the oven.
Use the pizza setting!
Only men can understand this kind of thing, right? 😂
If you have a relatively new oven (mine is about 6 years old), the “Pizza” setting is required.
This setting is similar to the ‘toast’ feature on a countertop convection oven that I actually use to ‘toast the fish’ for perfect results every time!
A standard oven’s pizza mode heats both the top and bottom elements simultaneously, but not as hot as a broiler.
So if you put a loaf of uncooked bacon in an oven preheated to the “pizza” setting, it will cook to a tender or crispy texture throughout in a matter of minutes, depending on your family’s preference.
Try it the next time you cook bacon and let us know how it works!
How to cook bacon hands-free
A hands-free way to cook bacon with a tender or crispy texture without standing over a hot stove or grill.
material
-
3/4 – 1
lb
bacon
preferably pastured
procedure
-
Preheat the oven in the “Pizza” mode.
-
Arrange the bacon in a large stainless steel skillet.
-
When the oven is hot, place the pan on the top rack slightly above the center of the oven.
-
Set the timer for 12 minutes.
-
When the timer rings, remove the bread from the oven. It should be fully cooked to a tender texture.
-
If you want your bacon to be crispy, leave it in the oven when the timer rings and turn off the heat. Slowly crisp the bacon for the next 10 minutes before removing the bread from the oven.
nutrition facts table
How to cook bacon hands-free
Amount Per Serving (2 Strips)
calorie 107
calories from fat 72
% Daily Value*
obesity 8g12%
2.7g saturated fat14%
Polyunsaturated fat 1.4g
3.6g monounsaturated fat
cholesterol 23mg8%
sodium 387mg16%
potassium 115mg3%
protein 8g16%
iron 0.2mg1%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
