Baked Bacon

Bacon, bacon, bacon! Bacon is spectacular, but bacon cooked in the oven is next level awesome!  The advantages of cooking in the oven are flat, straight pieces and not having to stand over the stove!  Plus you can cook almost an entire package at once. If you've never baked your bacon, prepare to be amazed! Baked Bacon:

1 lb package of bacon
shallow baking sheet...I use half sheet pans
aluminum foil

cooling rack or paper towels
clean canning jar

Line the baking sheet with foil. Place the bacon slices on the foil in a single layer. It's ok if the sides touch, but don't overlap. Place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. Set the oven to 400 degrees, and put the timer on for 15 minutes. Check for desired crispness at the 15 minute mark. Bake up to 20 minutes, or until it's golden and crisp, but not dry looking. The total time will depend on the thickness of the bacon. 

Immediately transfer bacon to a cooling rack with a layer of paper towels or foil underneath to catch drips. If you don't have a cooling rack, place bacon on paper towels. 

Very carefully pour the hot grease from the pan into a clean canning jar.  Let the grease cool completely then screw a lid on the jar.  Use leftover bacon grease in place of butter or oil for cooking eggs, or vegetables. 

To par-cook and freeze: Undercook the bacon by about 5 minutes. Drain, cool, then add to a zip top freezer bag. To reheat, place bacon on a paper towel lined plate and cook for 30 seconds. If it isn't hot, cook an additional few seconds, keeping an eye on it so it doesn't burn.