Kitchen Hack 2 (How to Cook Crispy Bacon)

A simple trick of flouring bacon before cooking it in the oven, or on the stove, will create perfectly crisp bacon. The crispiest bacon without being burnt and with no splatter or smoke. Breakfast just got a whole lot better!

Bacon is one of those magical foods that everyone loves. Who can pass up a crispy piece of bacon with homemade waffles. It adds so much flavor when wrapped around a pork tenderloin, chicken breast or sweet dates. Turn it into bacon jam to top your burger and add some to your favorite potato salad or sweet potato casserole. The options are endless.

I thought I knew how to cook bacon in the oven until I tried dredging it in a little flour first. I was a little skeptical about how adding flour to the bacon would make that much difference, but just wait until you taste bacon that has been floured first. It’s not only crispy but doesn’t have that burnt taste you get sometimes when trying to get your bacon extra crispy.

If you’ve ever wondered how to cook bacon in the oven without it shriveling up and splattering, you now have your answer. Adding flour to the bacon keeps it from shrinking or splattering, which prevents the oven from smoking. The flour weighs it down causing it to cook evenly and forms a protective coating keeping it from overcooking.

While all of that is pretty handy, the best part about dredging in flour, is the taste and texture. I’m not sure how, but the flour allows it to cook to it’s crispiest without burning. It’s my understanding that the flour dries the bacon allowing it to absorb moisture, like when you add a salt to raw meat.

If you haven’t been cooking your bacon in the oven, you should give it a try. You just put it in and forget about it and you have an entire package of bacon cooked at the same time.

I still cook bacon on the stove when I just need a few pieces, but when I’m serving breakfast for four or more, I’m making it in the oven. It frees you up to make a cream cheese puff pastry or some peach cinnamon rolls. Flouring the bacon before cooking on the stove works the same as when you cook it in the oven. No splatter or mess and perfectly crisp bacon.

Why you’ll love this bacon kitchen hack

• The crispiest bacon
• Makes even the thickest bacon crisp
• Beautiful strips of bacon – no shrinkage
• No splatter so you have a clean oven/stove
• No smoke

What you’ll need to make the crispiest bacon

• Bacon – you can use the thickest slab bacon or thin bacon. It helps the extra thick bacon to get crispy all the way through and it keeps the super thin bacon from curling up on itself.
• Flour – basic all purpose flour
• Rimmed baking sheet – if cooking the bacon in the oven, you need a heavy duty rimmed baking sheet to catch the grease.

How to cook bacon in the oven

Step 1:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. You can use parchment paper but aluminum foil makes clean up a little easier. Add some flour to a plate and coat the bacon on both sides.

Step 2:

Place the coated bacon on the prepared pan. You can use a pan with a rack inside but it’s not necessary and then you have to clean the rack.

Step 3:

Bake at 400º for 12-16 minutes. For thick sliced bacon it will take about 16 minutes. All ovens are different so check at around 10 minutes if using thin sliced bacon.

Step 4:

Remove and blot with a paper towel to remove excess grease.

Pro tip: If you’re baking sheets are looking a little grimy, check out my kitchen hack for how to clean baking sheets without scrubbing.

How to cook bacon on a stove

To cook bacon on the stove, you will dredge in flour the same way and just place it in a skillet over medium heat. The bacon should not overlap in the skillet. Cook it for about about 4 minutes per side depending on the thickness. Your stove will not be splattered with grease so clean up is a breeze.

Bacon FAQs

Ways to use crispy bacon

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