Learn how to make perfect DIY bacon at home with this easy step by step guide from start to finish.

Last weekend, on a visit to San Francisco, I witnessed cookbook author and food writer Michael Ruhlman show a roomful of bloggers at the California Culinary Academy how to cure bacon. Yup, at home.

Baking bacon on a foil-lined sheet pan at 400°F for about 22 minutes yields evenly crisp, flat strips and lets you cook up to 10 slices at once — the test kitchen’s clear winner. For smaller batches, ...