I have been cooking bacon in ovens for several years. Our new house has a gas oven, a new experience for me, and while I've generally mastered it, I'm struggling with cooking bacon in there. It certainly cooks, but it doesn't seem to get that charred, crispy taste we used to have. I imagine this has to do with the extra moisture in gas ovens? Either way, does anyone have a solution? I would also appreciate the scientific reasoning behind the phenomena.
Oven – Getting Crisp Bacon In A Gas Oven
bacongasoven
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Best Answer
I've cooked plenty of crispy bacon in plenty of ovens— gas and electric, commercial and home, with and without convection— and I really doubt the browning of bacon could be noticeably retarded by trace amounts of moisture from the gas. A common trick to getting crispier bacon involves generously sprinkling water on the tray before cooking so it will render out more fat (which happens at sub-boiling temps) before it starts to brown. (Personally, I haven't seen enough of a difference to do it consistently, but I've known chefs that have sworn by it.)
I've heard people say that it can affect the browning of bread, which makes sense considering how much more readily starches absorb water than protein. This might be relevant for recipes which use time rather than appearance/smell/texture/internal temperature to determine when to stop cooking something, but I'd blame lack of more accurate measurements to consider whether the bread was done and/or needed the heat adjusted before I blamed the heat source. I've also baked plenty of bread, pizzas, and other starchy foods in gas ovens without a problem.
If you're using the same bacon you used in your old oven, the problem is almost certainly an inaccurate oven thermostat in one or both of your ovens. Oven thermostats are notoriously inaccurate. I'd recommend purchasing an oven thermometer so you can more accurately gauge the temperature of your oven, and cranking up the heat until you achieve your perfect bacon. Even if I'm totally wrong and you've got a gas oven which is nearly steamer-level moist, the answer is probably more heat.
Good luck!
Edit: Are you sure your oven is properly vented?