Preheat the oven to 400°F. In other words, the oven is preheated to a temperature of 204.444°C which is suitable to cook perfect bacon. The mentioned temperature above works well to cook regular and thin cut bacon. This will quicken the cook time. If you increase the temperature to 500°F it may make the bacon to get burnt or charred in the oven so you have to follow the recommended temperature that is 400°F which is suitable to easily cook perfect bacon in the oven.
You will then need to line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. A baking sheet which is also known as a Sheet Pan helps in toasting or roasting the bacon slices until they are golden brown. Parchment paper is also important for baking and wrapping due to being non sticky and heat resistant. A parchment paper will also reduce splattering of grease in the oven during cook time. For easy crispy bacon, you don't need to wrap with parchment paper. For less crispy bacon, you will need to wrap with parchment paper before you cook bacon. In addition, you can also opt to line a baking sheet with aluminum foil to cook perfect bacon. Aluminum foil reflects heat to enable bacon to cook evenly. Aluminum foil can also prevent the bacon slices from sticking to each other.
Afterwards, place the bacon slices or cuts side by side on the tray without overlapping. This will reduce the possibility of bacon slices sticking to each other. The method of placing bacon side by side may also enable the bacon slices to be properly cooked.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until it becomes crispy. The bacon slices should be cooked in dry heat without direct exposure to a flame until they become soft and tender. If you bake bacon for up to 20 minutes, the protein denatures and loses the ability to bind oxygen and the bacon slices turn golden brown. The direct dry heat from the oven will make the bacon slices to have a dark exterior crust with a textural contrast.
When the bacon slices are well done after 20 minutes, now it is time to turn off the oven. To turn off the oven press on the Cancel button or off button. Double check the oven again in 5 minutes to see whether the oven is completely off. Sometimes the oven might delay to go off due to the cooling fan which has to cool the oven inside before switching off. If it insists then switch off from the socket or plug off the oven from an electric socket.
You will then remove the bacon slices from the oven and place them on a towel-lined plate. Placing the bacon slices on a towel-lined plate will help absorb excess oil or grease. A towel-lined plate will allow the drying up of grease from the baked bacon slices when they are placed on it.
You should then sprinkle the bacon slices with salt when they are still hot on a towel-lined plate. Avoid sprinkling too much salt on the bacon slices because it will them unpleasant to eat. Too much salt can also overpower other flavors contained in the bacon. You should make sure that you sprinkle the bacon slices with little salt so that they don't taste too salty. In addition, you can cut pepper into slices and sprinkle onto the baked bacon when it is still hot. This will make the bacon which has been cut into small slices or smaller pieces to become more flavorable and tasty.
After sprinkling with salt and pepper, leave the bacon slices to cool for 3 to 5 minutes before serving. Cooling is important to reduce the heat or hotness from the bacon before consumption.
Get another plate or plates if you are more than one person and serve the bacon slices. You can opt to eat plainly without combining with other dishes or types of food. You can also decide to eat bacon with other dishes if preferred.