Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. One pound of bacon fits perfectly on one baking sheet but you can cook two pounds of bacon at a time by adjusting your oven racks before preheating so that one rack is in the bottom third of the oven and the other is in the top third of the oven.

Arrange bacon slices close together in a jsingle layer on the baking sheet. It's okay if the edges touch, you just don't want the bacon to overlap.

Place the baking sheet(s) of bacon in the oven and bake for 12-20 minutes, depending on the level of crispiness and doneness that you like, but essentially until the bacon is crisp and nicely browned. The exact baking time depends on how thick the cut of your bacon is and your personal preference of crispiness and chewiness in your bacon. I prefer my bacon crisp with some chewiness to it still so I usually take it out around the 16 minute mark, but I also don't tend to buy the thick-cut bacon which would take a bit longer to reach that point.

Remove the bacon from the oven and transfer the individual slices to a plate lined with paper towels. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container or plastic bag and refrigerate up to 3 days.

If you plan to save the bacon grease, pour it into a safe container while still hot. Or just wait until it has cooled completely, then peel off the aluminum foil with the congealed grease on it for easy clean-up.