Would you like a better bacon? By “better” I don’t mean there’s less fat or sodium in it. Let’s face it—bacon is bacon. You don’t futz around with it. It’s perfect in all its fatty, salty glory: golden brown, crispy around the edges, the perfect partner to pancake and eggs. Ahhh, bacon. Breakfast wouldn’t be the same without it.

One of my pet peeves when cooking bacon is having to stand over the stove top, waiting for it to be done. I have to keep tending to it—flipping it over so it doesn’t burn, making sure it browns evenly, gingerly maneuvering my way around the hot pan to make sure the oil doesn’t splatter, inhaling all the bacon fumes. I mean, don’t get me wrong—the smell of sizzling bacon makes me weak in the knees. But if I cook it, and have to stand over the stove the whole time, I end up smelling like bacon. And smelling like cured, cooked pork belly just isn’t my thing, you know?

And so, I set out to find an easier solution to my bacon bugaboo and found out that the next best thing to patience is…the oven! Baking bacon is easy and fuss-free. It WILL take about 20 minutes or so, but that time can be spent scrambling eggs and making pancakes since your hands are left free to cook other things with wild abandon.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

After lining your cookie sheet (make sure it has a lip/small wall) with foil, lay your bacon pieces out, with the edges just slightly touching each other.

Place cookie sheet on the middle rack of your oven and set your timer to 15 minutes. During this time, you are free to do whatever you want. You can make your other breakfast components (yummy ideas: these sweet Nutella-Banana Crepes or this savory Southwestern Omelet). Or you can dance around in your kitchen, figure out the square root of pi or ponder on the meaning of life.

After 15 minutes, check on your bacon. Flip the strips over with some tongs—be careful—don’t burn yourself! (Because I’m clumsy, I did.) Bake for another 3-5 minutes. They’re perfect when they’re golden brown, like this:

Lay them on some paper towels to drain. You’ll see that I burned some by placing those on the bottom rack of the oven. Those are extra crunchy, but still good!

Good morning!

There’s no looking back! Why I’m going to be baking bacon from now on:

1) You set it and forget it.

2) The bacon doesn’t shrink as much and comes out well formed and crispy.

3) Clean-up is easy, just toss away used foil lining.

4) I end up eating my breakfast, not smelling like it!

Happy curly mornings to you!