Oven-Fried Bacon

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Our oven-fried bacon recipe is a revelation. Cooking bacon in the oven has many advantages. First, the oven gives you a larger margin of error (a couple of minutes) than the skillet when it comes to timing. Second, the oven cooks the bacon strips more consistently; when part of the bacon is done, all of it is done—there are no raw or burnt spots. And the only thing you need to do, following our oven-fried bacon recipe, once the bacon's in the oven, is to turn the pan halfway through cooking.

Use a large, rimmed baking sheet, such as a jelly-roll pan, that is shallow enough to promote browning, yet tall enough (at least 3/4-inch in height) to contain the rendered bacon fat. To save time, you can add the bacon to the oven before it reaches 400 degrees, but exact cooking time will vary from oven to oven. If cooking more than one tray of bacon, exchange their oven positions once about halfway through the cooking process.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange bacon slices in a large jelly-roll pan or other shallow baking pan. Roast until fat begins to render, 5 to 6 minutes; rotate pan front-to-back. Continue roasting until is crisp and brown, 5 to 6 minutes longer for thin-sliced bacon, 8 to 10 minutes for thick-cut. Transfer with tongs to paper towel-lined plate, drain, and serve.