Large Batch Oven-Cooked Bacon
The easiest way to make a lot of bacon at once is to oven cook! Here are all the tips to make chewy or crispy bacon (to your liking) for a crowd in the oven with no mess and no stress.
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Why this recipe works
Cooking bacon is not difficult – it just takes a bit of time and patience. No matter whether cooking in the oven, griddle, or stovetop in a skillet, bacon is always a crowd favorite.
Oven-cooking bacon works best for cooking a lot of bacon for couple reasons. First, there is less mess. Oven-cooking bacon cooks the bacon more slowly, so it doesn’t splatter grease all over the place. This is also why oven-cooking bacon is safer, especially if you have volunteers or youth doing the cooking.
Second, by using the oven, we can pack in pans of bacon rather than being limited to skillets. This way, we can cook more bacon at once and so even though it takes longer, we are cooking more at once so it does save time.
Simply put, oven-cooking bacon is the simplest solution to making large batches of bacon for a crowd.
How to cook lots of bacon in the oven
Cooking bacon in the oven is super simple:
- Lay the bacon, side-by-side without overlapping, in rimmed bake sheets. It is best to line the bake sheet to prevent sticking. I prefer parchment paper, but foil works too.
- Bake the bacon until cooked. First, the bacon will be chewy. Cooked longer, the bacon will become crispy. Cook to your desired texture.
- Take the pans out of the oven and move the bacon to a hotel pan or serving tray.
- Dispense with the grease safely.
- Repeat with next batches of bacon if needed.
TIP: Have a large pot handy to carefully pour off bacon grease before cooking more batches of bacon.
How much bacon to cook for a crowd
Bacon is a favorite, so while the serving size is “officially” 1 to 2 slices, we can’t stick to that when cooking for a crowd. So, plan 1 lb bacon per 4 people. Yes this is a sh*t-ton of bacon if cooking for a bunch of people, but it will disappear. Bacon is a crowd favorite, and people never stick to proper serving sizes.
How to dispose of bacon grease
Think safety first when cooking bacon! Getting burned with hot bacon grease is ridiculously easy, so have a plan to deal with the grease. I recommend designating one responsible person to carefully pour off grease into a sturdy pot.
Ideally, we would wait for the grease to cool, but if we are cooking tons of bacon, we want to keep the line moving. So, have a large pot, pour off the grease, and allow it to cool there. Once cool, through the bacon grease away with the trash. Do not pour hot grease down a sink drain.
TIP: Oven tongs work best for moving and serving bacon.
FAQs
Yes, if you want chewy bacon. If you want crispy bacon, then it has to be served fresh. Simply oven-cook the bacon and transfer to hotel pans. Store covered with foil. Reheat in a 350℉ oven for 20-30 minutes until bacon is reheated.
Either thick or thin bacon can be cooked in the oven, though I do recommend sticking with thin bacon. Thin bacon cooks faster and will get crispy.
Be sure to check out my Buttermilk Pancakes for a Crowd. Perfect with bacon for a pancake breakfast.
Large Batch Oven-Cooked Bacon
Ingredients
- 4 lbs bacon
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400℉.
- Line bake sheets with parchment paper or foil.
- Lay bacon strips on the bake sheet – as many as will fit but not overlapping.
- Bake bacon in the oven at 400℉ for 20-30 minutes until bacon is cooked to your liking (chewy or, with more time, crispy).
- Remove sheets from the oven. Carefully transfer bacon to a hotel pan or serving tray.
- Carefully pour off bacon grease off the sheets into a large, sturdy pot to cool.
- If cooking more bacon, proceed with the next batch. It is not necessary to re-line the sheets with more parchment paper every batch but may be necessary after 3 or 4 batches.
