BAKED BACON IS THE BOMB

I love bacon.  Everything about it.  Well, just about everything except the cleanup.  For years I was cooking bacon on the stove, making a mess of the entire kitchen and my clothes with the splatter.  Then I was introduced to how to cook bacon in the oven.  What a game changer.

Not only is there just about no mess, cooking bacon in the oven allowed me to get creative with the bacon.  I could add on some spices (think cajun, chili powder, garlic... yumm) to really change the profile of the bacon.  Cumin spiked bacon is delicious in hummus!

Aside from the creativity, learning to cook bacon in the oven is a hands off process.  It's quick and easy: layer the bacon and set a timer.  No need to flip, stir or otherwise cajole the bacon.  How easy is that?

TO RACK OR NOT TO RACK

There are a lot of different ways to cook bacon in the oven.  Believe me, I've seen just about all of the different ways with various chefs coming through my catering kitchen.  The two most common ways both use a foil lined baking sheet (this makes the cleanup super easy), with the first way using a wire rack and the second way just by layering the bacon on the lined baking sheet.  Which way is better?  I thought you might ask.

It all really depends on the bacon.  At my house, I like to buy nitrite and nitrate free organic bacon that is thick cut.  We either buy it or I'll make the bacon from scratch a couple times a year.  That's a post for another day!  With this nitrate/trite free bacon I find that it dries out just a bit on a rack, so I always layer it directly on a baking sheet and let it cook in the.  For thin sliced or regular bacon, you certainly can use a wire rack... But I've never tasted enough difference to warrant the tedious washing of the wire rack.

QUICK COOKING TIP: Bacon fat doesn't need to be refrigerated.  You can keep it in a sealed container right on the counter, ready for use in whatever dish you are cooking.