Oven Roasted Bacon

Whew!  What a wonderful Easter holiday!  A lot has happened the beginning of the month and I didn't expect April to be so busy.  First, Baby has started half-day preschool from Mondays to Fridays.  From 8:30am to 11:30am, she is hopefully improving her communication skills from screeching to *calmly and nicely asking* for whatever her heart desires.

When I had this free time in the mornings, did I relax?  Well... before I get to relax, I had to tackle a list of things to clean around the house.  Neglect around the house after three kids can get to a really disgusting state.  So I feverishly cleaned the house nonstop for 2 mornings straight. 

I got behind in documenting some recipes.  I had also meant to take pictures of our Easter dinner, but we got so hungry and devoured it before I even thought of getting out the camera!  I'll try again next Easter. 

Last week, I cooked bacon while I was cleaning the house.  Rather, I baked bacon!  I stumbled across this technique last year from Food Network's Barefoot Contessa and had to try it.  Our family LOVES bacon but I must admit, I find it a tedious task of slaving over the stove and being splattered with bacon grease.  I worry about Baby getting splattered with hot bacon fat.  It's bad enough while she is screaming for my attention, but even worse if she is screaming in pain from the splattering grease.  

This is the only way I will make bacon, as it is so EASY!  I wish I discovered this technique earlier.

I used a 500g or 1lb package of bacon and put it on a parchment-lined pan.  I bought a huge commercial sheet pan (16" x 22") at my local kitchen store and it worked perfectly for 1 package of bacon.  Before I bought my huge pan, I used 2 cookie sheets. 

The slices of bacon were placed side-by-side.  It's OK to have the edges touch as bacon shrinks while it cooks.  Bake at 400F for about 15-20 min. 

I usually turn on the oven and then put the pan of bacon in the oven before it hits 400F. 

After about 15 minutes, I check on the bacon.  The recipe doesn't say to flip them over but I do it anyways and check every 5 minutes until desired crispiness. 

A few more minutes and it's almost done!

Barefoot Contessa's Oven Roasted Bacon

1 500g (1lb) package of your favourite bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan.
Lay the bacon on top of the parchment paper.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the bacon is really crispy.
Drain on paper towels and serve.

- Adapted from  Food.com: Barefoot Contessa's Oven Roasted Bacon

MMMMmmmmm....  YUMMY!  

Enjoy!