Perfectly Crispy Bacon For A Crowd

Sometimes you need to cook bacon for a crowd, and what better way to get perfectly crispy bacon every time than by using your oven! No splattering and easy clean-up!

Almost everyone loves bacon.

And there's nothing like bacon to make a breakfast complete.

There is the unmistakable sound of it sizzling in the pan as it cooks and the smoky smell wafting through the air that can really get everyone eager to eat.

But what if you're feeding more than a couple of people and need bacon for a crowd?

Surely, you can keep pan-frying in batches, draining off the grease and wiping off the excess after each batch...but that's a lot of work.

Or you can try using the microwave...but then the bacon ends up unevenly cooked.

What to do??

Look no further than your oven!

Using the oven has so many advantages:

1) Lining your baking sheet with heavy duty foil means easy clean-up.

2) You can bake two pans worth of bacon at the same time.

3) No oil splattering all over your cooktop.

4) No having to watch the bacon and flipping the pieces so they don't burn.

5) Even cooking for all bacon slices.

6) It frees up a stovetop element for cooking other dishes.

And don't forget one of the most important advantages...perfectly crispy bacon every time!

I was actually introduced to the idea of baking bacon years ago by a friend. At the time, I thought it was a cool idea...but it didn't really stick in my head.

Fast forward over 20 years (yes, TWENTY) and it suddenly came back to me one day while I was preparing brunch for the family. I've been there, done that with pan-frying multiple batches, and I can do without the hassle! And in my house, a family of four that includes two hungry teenage boys warrants needing bacon for a crowd!

I love how I can simply slide the pan in the oven, set the timer and let the bacon get on with cooking while I'm preparing other dishes.

I also love how all the pieces are cooked evenly.

I love how the pieces are flat (that's just me, but I actually like them more than bacon that's all curled and wavy!).

And I love the easy clean-up!

Seriously...how can you NOT love all those things?

Serve a platter of bacon with eggs and my Triple Almond Pancakes, and maybe a cuppa English Tea Latte and you've got one complete meal to start your day!

If you're cooking up breakfast or brunch or brinner and you have several mouths to feed (or just a few very hungry ones!), baking up a batch of perfectly crispy bacon for the crowd is the way to go!

~ Lisa.