The Bacon Prep Mistake That Yields Wonky Results

We all have our favorite methods of cooking bacon – some people are partial to a pan, others prefer using the microwave or air fryer, while still others find baking bacon to be a fairly mess-free method of preparation. While using an oven does allow you to prepare a large amount of bacon at once, there is one precaution you need to take before doing do. If you make the bacon-baking mistake of cooking thick and thin slices together, the thin ones might start to burn before the thick ones are done.

Needless to say, if you have two packages of bacon, one standard and the other thick-sliced, do not attempt to bake them both at once. Yes, it may take a little extra time if you need to make two batches, but patience is required to succeed. 

Even if you're planning on baking just a single type of bacon, you might want to check the package and make sure the strips are roughly even in thickness. If they're not, you can either separate the thin from the thick ones and cook them separately, or else keep a close eye on your bacon as it bakes so you can remove each individual strip as it finishes cooking. Thicker slices may take several minutes longer than thinner pieces.

If you do find that your package of bacon includes strips of mixed thickness, you may want to consider using something other than your oven to prepare it. While you can, as suggested, watch the bacon as it cooks so the thin strips can be removed before they burn, opening the oven will cause it to lose heat and waste energy. If you choose to fry your bacon in a pan, however, it will be right out there in the open, and single strips can be easily removed from the pan without disturbing the cooking process. (Our favorite tips for bacon frying include starting with a cold pan, and using tongs for flipping bacon.)

The microwave, too, can be your best friend when cooking bacon, especially if the strips are of uneven size. Working with smaller batches will allow you to better sort your bacon into matching batches, plus you can also check on the bacon as necessary without incurring any significant heat loss. 

While you won't be able to cook as much bacon at one time as you could in an oven, microwaving the meat is a quick way of cooking it. A package of bacon may contain between eight and 18 slices per pound, depending on thickness, and you could cook maybe four to six strips in as little as three minutes. This means you could actually be done microwaving your bacon in less time than it might have taken to preheat your oven.