Next to my Ninja Foodie, my countertop toaster oven is one of my favorite kitchen appliances. I probably never would have bought one but we started to notice whenever we used the oven our dog Trucker was nowhere in the house to be found.
Trucker was a rescue and we’ve had him for quite a few years. I honestly don’t use the oven much so I’m not really surprised we never noticed he wasn’t around but it turns out, when the oven is in use, he high tails it outside. We don’t know if it’s that he smells the gas, or when it heats up it makes noise when a pan is in there, we just don’t know.
So that’s why we bought the toaster oven, so he wouldn’t be scared and run outside.
Getting crispy bacon in the microwave works and works good but I got tired of the greasy paper towels, greasy paper plates, greasy drips and splatters so I had to try a different solution to avoid these annoying greasy things going on.
Enter the cooking bacon in the toaster oven.
Perfect Bacon from the Toaster Oven
I wasn’t sure what to expect but I think cooking bacon in the toaster oven turned out pretty darn good – and crispy.
I looked around the internet and many people said they put the bacon on the wire rack then put aluminum foil paper on the drip pan to catch the grease. I honestly don’t know if there is a difference (health wise) between the bacon grease dripping from the bacon versus putting bacon on paper towels to absorb the grease but for me, I opted for cooking it in an oven safe pan.
To avoid less mess in the microwave, we started cutting the bacon in half (because the paper towel hanging over the paper plate dripped grease on the microwave tray) which works great for BLTs – so that’s what we do now.
I used a small oven safe pan, lined it with aluminum foil (be sure the aluminum foil does not touch the heating elements), put four pieces of the cut in half bacon in the dish. I took out the top rack and cooked on the lowest rack.
Safety Tip: Do not use paper plates in the toaster oven, that’s a big no-no. Basically anything you wouldn’t put in the oven, don’t put it in the toaster oven.
The Process for Cooking Baking in the Toaster Oven
- I did not preheat the toaster oven first
- Turn the temperature to 400 degrees
- Set the timer for 12 minutes
- Turn the bacon over
- Set the timer for another 12 minutes
- Lay the bacon on a paper towel to absorb the grease
Technically bacon should not be overlapping another piece of bacon but my pan was small and I knew I’d be turning it, which it did cook after turning and didn’t stick before turning. You can also use parchment paper but that can get pretty crispy looking itself so close to the toaster oven heating element.
I suppose depending on the toaster oven you have the time could be a little more or a little less, but for my basic toaster oven, these times worked perfect. Times may also vary with thicker cuts of bacon. I would suggest you keep an eye on it to avoid burning the bacon, especially if it’s the first time using the toaster oven for cooking bacon. Also, if you don’t want the bacon cut in half you can use a larger oven safe pan and cook it full slices.
What I found and really like is this method of cooking bacon was less messy than using the microwave or frying on the stove top.
Here is the finished product. Nicely cooked bacon, just the way I like it.
