Has anyone here ever baked bacon instead of frying it and, if so, how does it compare?
I’ve done it, it isn’t as tasty but it is a lot neater. There is a technique to use a microwave that works better than baking. But you would have to look that up.
I’ve done it but it does take longer and of course you have to fire up the oven just for that and it always seems wasteful to me unless I have to make a ton of bacon at once or I’m already cooking something else. It’s good but there’s the baking sheet full of grease to deal with instead of the frying pan which is much easier to empty. It’s fine, unless you like your bacon near burnt because the oven won’t do that.
Half of my immediate family hates the smell (and taste) of bacon (the smell permeates the whole house for hours when it is cooking, even if baked in the oven) . So I have taken to cooking it outside on a griddle plate on the grill. Works just fine.
If you’ve ever eaten bacon at a large buffet it was probably baked. e.g. a hotel, cruise ship, etc. As @SmartAleq said, other than not getting almost-blackened or truly blackened bits it’s the same.
I rarely make more than 4 ounces at a time anymore, so I almost never bake it nowadays. But if I needed to prepare a pound or two I’d bake it. Easy to set up, and doesn’t need tending while the rest of what’s probably a large meal is coming together probably on the stove.
I’ve cooked it in the microwave oven. Basically, you put it on a plate between paper towels and cook it for a fairly short amount of time. But the microwave does stink of bacon for a while after.
I always line the sheet with foil. Bacon doesn’t stick much( thank you grease! ), then it is just a matter of letting it cool until the grease congeals and then carefully crumpling up the foil and tossing it in the trash. Of course you have to live with your kitchen smelling like bacon while everything cools, but I find that tolerable 
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Much easier clean-up unless you wanted to reserve the grease for some other use, which I don’t always want to do. And I’ll admit I don’'t prefer extra-crispy bacon, so I find it cooks just fine to my taste.
I love baked bacon - I think it tastes better than fried, and it doesn’t curl up. Use thick bacon and keep a really close eye on it. It’s the only way to cook up a large batch. For just one or two people, find a use for the leftovers - crumbled on salad, snacking on later in the day, etc.
If you sprinkle the bacon with brown sugar near the end, it caramelizes and is delicious. It’s called candied bacon, but it’s not that candy-like. It perfectly balances out the saltiness of the bacon.
I would not use a regular baking sheet. Use a pan with higher sides if you have one.
Who throws away bacon fat? It’s free cooking oil! Alright, I guess there have been times when I had much more than I could use, but that’s rare.
Microwaved bacon is fine for a very few slices, but it has the least amount of bacon-y flavor as any of the other methods.
I always cook the whole pack at once by baking it. I’ll never go back to frying it. Stays flat, comes out perfect. StoreS in fridge, micro wave for 5seconds to reheat at any time, great for salads, burgers, sandwiches, or, yknow, with eggs!
If you need a lot of bacon cooked then baking is the way to go. If you want to speed up the process further, lay the bacon on a baking rack. Of course that slows down the clean up process.
I usually add a little cayenne pepper with the sugar too. Not much, just enough will enhance the taste combo of the salt and sugar. I get very thick bacon for this and cut it into little squares. If it’s think enough you can let it cook the whole way with the sugar and the fatty meat will absorb the sugar.
Has anyone else here made a bacon weave for sandwiches?
This what I do when I do it. I go back and forth on it. Easy to cook, but more involved clean up.
Always baked, using foil or waxed paper as a liner.
After the bacon is cooked, I layer it on a plate with paper towels and put the plate back in the oven, which is turned off. I then put another plate on top and put the pancakes / french toast on the top plate to keep warm while I’m still cooking.
I do it, and I love it !
Perfect.
No raw spots, no burned sports.
No grease on the stove, & no grease burns on me.
And the foil makes for easy cleanup.
Strongly prefer baking. Much more even cooking, no noticeable difference in taste. I do NOT like bacon so overcooked it’s dry and powdery, let alone with icky charcoal bits.
I’ve done that for BLTs. My gf was impressed.
I make brown sugar bacon in the oven.
I tend to struggle getting the timing right. I like my bacon chewy, while my oven insists it be crispy.
I always bake it. I haven’t fried it for 20 years. It comes out so perfectly. No curls with their undercooked, soft, chewy fat spots. SO GOOD but there is one better method which I mention later.
I raise it up off the pan with a wire grid thing (don’t know the name but it’s for baking). I cover the pan with foil to help with cleanup. I also spray the pan and wire grid things with spray oil before and after i put the foil on. And you don’t need to turn the bacon which is also great.
Haven’t done it in a while but I think it was about 25 minutes at 400 degrees.
BUT… I used to get the very best bacon at this tiny, tiny (seats 5) breakfast place beneath (elevated) subway tracks. He had a huge flattop grill like any diner or IHOP. He used a bacon press which is a heavy cast iron block that you heat on the grill.
You sandwich the bacon slice between the grill and the press and since it’s as hot as the grill below the whole thing gets cooked perfectly evenly and is completely flat. Best Ever.
All the time, it’s the default way I make it when cooking quantities like for SCA event breakfasts, but also when doing it at home for just the family. It turns out exactly the same as fried. Never had a problem with the fat, key is to pour it our while it’s all still liquid, not let it congeal. Otherwise it’s judiciously-applied torch time.
Yes. It’s not really worth the bother just for a sandwich, IMO. However, when you do a bigger weave of bacon to cover a fillet roast, that impresses the heck out of guests…
I buy the double packs of thick cut bacon at COSTCO. I bake it all at once and store in a zipper bag. Remove what I need, or want, and reheat in the microwave. I don’t like it too crisp and baking turns out perfect for me.
I use a sheet pan lined with a sheet of parchment paper and do about 10 slices at a time. About 23 minutes at 385 works for me.