This is the BEST time saver ever!! Cook Bacon in bulk (in the Oven). Who knew?

Six pounds of bacon, cooked in the oven for a group, and that picture shows all that is left –  two measly pieces.

When I agreed to make brunch for my sons’ football team, I knew I would be going through enormous amounts of food. Since I would be cooking bacon in our hotel condo, creativity was key, so I brainstormed the possibility of cooking it in the oven ahead of time and reheating it.

Cooking bacon in the oven is a wonderful way to avoid the splatter and mess that comes from frying it on the stove.   Since the grease drips right through to the cookie pan underneath, I recommend layering your cookie sheets with parchment paper or tin foil for easy clean up. The grease will drip onto the tin foil and you can just crumple it up and throw it away. Put a bit of tin foil on top to avoid splatter, but remove it at the very end for further crisping.

Since we were cooking bacon in bulk,  I didn’t bother cutting any of it in half. If you are only cooking for your family, a wonderful tip is to cut your package in half before you even open it. Yes, that’s right, cut right through the plastic. Then use one half, wrap the other half immediately and put it right back in the fridge. It makes for smaller pieces, but more even cooking.

I baked the bacon in bulk at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, since I like it crispy.

Since we were using the top and bottom racks of the oven, we had to keep an eye on it to determine how crispy we wanted it. Since our consumers (the team) were way ahead of the producers (us), we had bacon frying in the pan, baking bacon in the oven, as well as cooking in the microwave. 🙂

I am now a professional bacon cooker myself.

If you haven’t tried cooking bacon in the oven, go for it. It’s easy, foolproof and saves on the mess.

And if you think we only fed them bacon, try five dozen eggs, 200 pancakes, six pounds of bacon, two hash brown casseroles, fruit salad, sweet bread, bagels,  OJ, milk and….we were virtually wiped out. Tips on feeding a crowd coming soon. 🙂

bacon grease uses Grandmas Best Kept Kitchen Secret: 10 Uses

And for that extra bacon grease? Save it. You will not regret reading these suggestions for Grandma’s best kept secret.