Bacon Explosion: The BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes

The other day the guys from BaconToday.com contacted me in search for some barbecue bacon recipes.  Of course I have plenty of great uses for bacon in a barbecue pit, but the longer I thought about it, the more I wanted to step it up a notch and clog a few arteries for those guys.  Behold, BACON EXPLOSION!!!  Here’s what you’ll need…

Bacon Explosion

Bacon Explosion Ingredients

To kick off the construction of this pork medley you’ll need to create a 5×5 bacon weave.  If the strips you’re using aren’t as wide as the ones pictured, then you may need to use a few extra slices to fill out the pattern.  Just make sure your bacon weave is tight and that you end up with a nice square shape to work with.

Bacon Explosion Bacon Weave

The next step is to add some seasoning on top of your bacon weave.  I used our Burnt Finger BBQ Smokey Kansas City seasoning (the label artwork has changed since this photo was taken), but many rubs will work.  Here are some of my favorites that are available on Amazon.

           

The key here is to use a seasoning that is more sweet than salty. The bacon is already bringing a good amount of salt to party, so you want to avoid getting your Bacon Explosion over salted.

Bacon Explosion Seasoned Bacon Weave

Now that you’re pork is well seasoned, it’s time to add more pork.  Take two pounds of Italian sausage and layer it directly on top of your bacon weave.  Be sure to press the sausage to the outer edges of the bacon creating a patty that is the same thickness all the way across.  Most grocery stores carry loose sausage, so just pick out one you like.  I chose to go with a mild sausage, but spicy would work just the same.  If you really want to get crazy, take a stab at making your own homemade sausage.

Bacon Explosion Sausage Layer

Next up is bacon layer number two.  Take the remaining bacon slices and fry them up the same way you would for breakfast (or lunch, or dinner, or a midnight snack).  If you like soft bacon, make it soft.  If you like crunchy bacon, make it crunchy.  If you like your bacon burnt to hell so the smoke detectors go off, then burn it to hell so the smoke detectors go off.  These pieces are going to be a major part of the inner flavor of our sausage fatty, so cook them your favorite way.  Personally, I like my bacon right at the point when it starts to get crispy, but hasn’t quite lost all of the softness yet.  Regardless of how well done you like yours, you’ll need to crumble or chop the cooked strips into bite size pieces and place on top of the sausage layer.  (Note-It’s okay, and encouraged, to snack on these pieces while your chopping/crumbling.  But keep in mind that once those bacon morsels touch the raw sausage, you’ll need to resist all temptations to nibble.  This can and will be difficult, but hospital trips are no fun, so stay strong.)

Bacon Explosion Fried Bacon Crumbles

Since this is a BBQ recipe, we need to add another layer of BBQ flavor.  Take your favorite sauce and drizzle it all over the top of the bacon pieces.  I use our Burnt Finger BBQ Smokey Kansas City sauce, but any BBQ sauce that you like will work.  Here are some of my favorites that are available on Amazon.

"Smokey                   

Once you’ve sauced the bacon, sprinkle on some more of the Smokey Kansas City Barbecue Seasoning you used on the bacon weave.

Bacon Explosion BBQ Sauce

Now comes the fun part.  Very carefully separate the front edge of the sausage layer from the bacon weave and begin rolling backwards.  You want to include all layers EXCEPT the bacon weave in your roll.  Try and keep the sausage as tight as possible and be sure to release any air pockets that may have formed.  Once the sausage is fully rolled up, pinch together the seams and ends to seal all of the bacon goodness inside.

Bacon Explosion Sausage Roll

At this point we can start to see the final shape of our Bacon Explosion, but we’re missing one key item.  To complete the construction process, roll the sausage forward completely wrapping it in the bacon weave.  Make sure it sits with the seam facing downward to help keep it all sealed up.

Bacon Explosion Bacon Wrapped

Sprinkle some more Smokey Kansas City Barbecue Seasoning on the outside of the bacon weave, and now this bad boy is ready for the smoker.  Cook your Bacon Explosion at 225 degrees in a constant cloud of hickory smoke until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.  Normally this will take about 1 hour for each inch of thickness, but that could vary depending on how well you maintain your fire and also how many times you open the smoker to take a peek.  Mine took about 2.5 hours, which was right on target with its 2.5 inch diameter.

Bacon Explosion on the Grill

Bacon Explosion Fully Cooked

Now that our Bacon Explosion is fully cooked, we need to add some finishing flavors.  Remember that Burnt Finger BBQ sauce we used for inner flavor?  We’ll be using that same sauce to glaze the cooked bacon weave.  Using a basting brush, coat the entire surface with a thin layer of sauce.

Bacon Explosion Glazed

Slice the Bacon Explosion into quarter to half inch rounds to serve.  If your roll was good and tight, you should now see a nice bacon pinwheel pattern throughout the sausage.  Obviously pork is best served by itself, but if you feel the need to make this meat monster into a sandwich, try placing a couple Bacon Explosion slices on a warm Pillsbury’s Grands Biscuit.  You’ll reach pork Nirvana in no time flat!

Bacon Explosion Sliced

1,993 comments on “Bacon Explosion: The BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes

    1. I cooked mine at 300° for 2 1/2 to 3 hours but could have probably cooked it at 250° OR 275° FOR about the same time. Good luck and hope y’all don’t clog too many arteries lol

    2. I did not see where you got an answer. The same temp and the same length of time. The difference could be if you are using a smoker that does not have a tight seal the the time in your oven will be less. Open only after 2 hrs, and then again if your internal temp is not 165 to 170. Hope this helps.
      If you put a bowl of water and a half a bottle of Colgin Hickory liquid smoke in the bottom of your oven you will get something akin to the real taste. You can also make a wood smoker box for your oven, cheap and filled with WET hickory chips, but open your kitchen window or turn on your fan.

    3. I have done it in the oven and in the smoker, the time and temp is the same, just make sure to use a thermometer.

    4. Same thing, do 250 degrees for the same time. the main difference is that you don’t get the advantages of smoke.

      be sure to use something to catch the grease under the fatty though.

    5. The guys at Bell’s Butcher Shop told me to cook at 350. Not sure about the duration, but I’m setting my timer at 60 min and will watch it from there.

    6. 350 degrees. The time varies according to the size, but I start checking internal temp. about about 1 hr of cooking, and every 10 mins. until I get an internal temp. of 160. hr

    7. I’ve made this many times and still alive!! cook @ 225* for 2-1/2 hrs in oven.put on oven rack and foil on the rack below to catch grease.. made it on grill once.
      recipe says 1 hour per inch of diameter of the bomb! 2-3″ usually

    8. Just cook it at 225 until the internal temp hits 165. You would miss out on a bit of smoke flavor, but really the bacon is already smoked, so it will still be delicious.

  1. MY fiance is such a BBQ fan that for our wedding I compromised every thing is going to be fancy shindig but he gets the food of his choice because he is a bbq head it will be all bbq all the way I think I am going to surprise him with this as the “grooms Cake” it will be my gift to him.

  2. Hi:

    I don’t have a smoker, but I do have a mini smoker box that I can put onto the grill of my gas barbecue.

    Any ideas how I could do it this way??

    Thanks

    Charlie

    1. i don’t think you need a smoker. i grilled using indirect method. usually cook in oven,it’s always killer!

  3. @Charlie – Turn off half the burners on your grill, and put the Bacon Explosion over those. This is called indirect heat. The BE will cook with the ambient temps trapped by the lid of your grill. Just make sure not to grill over direct heat. Bacon grease will drip down and catch fire.

  4. Jason:

    Thank you for the info and for answering so promptly!

    Will wait till summer to do this, it is too cold here in NB Canada for me right now.

    I will let you know how it went, though.

    Have a Joyful Day :~D

    Charlie

  5. Wow, This comment bank has been going on for 6 years. first comment left in 2008 and here I am just now realizing the awesomeness that is bacon wrapped bacon sausage. How about those bacon bowls? RIGHT??

  6. Holy Smokes!!

    232 pages of comments!

    I found out the hard way when going to print it and it just kept going and going and going… thanks goodness I realized or all this love would have emptied my ink!

    Fantastic stuff here… Love you for it Jason!

    <3

  7. I’m not sure if it was this recipe or one like it I seen on a cooking network a year or 2 ago. I believe I heard it called the Bacon Wrapped Whole Hog Log. I’ve been dying to try it ever since. I just made one up. I didn’t have italian sausage so I just used some loose hot sausage. It is amazing!!!

    Thanks for the recipe.

  8. Have two Bacon-(modified)-Explosions in the oven now. Substituted the interior bacon with pork tenderloin. Hoping for something different! Love this recipe and the potential for improvements!

  9. Made one with Italian sausage and one with hot pork sausage. Both turned out perfect. I finished mine off on the grill on top of a broiler tray to catch the fat. 3 hours on slow/low smoke and one hour in the grill at 225 degrees. This kept it from being greasy.

  10. I’m not sure if it was this recipe or one like it I seen on a cooking network a year or 2 ago. I believe I heard it called the Bacon Wrapped Whole Hog Log. I’ve been dying to try it ever since. I just made one up. I didn’t have italian sausage so I just used some loose hot sausage. It is amazing!!!

    Thanks for the recipe.

  11. I’ve made three of them so far since 2009, but I broke my new smoker in with one today. Learning the ropes about your smoker is fun when you’re doing it with a Bacon Explosion!

  12. Let’s say I make this thing (‘cuz that’s a given), but I have to transport it about an hour away to an outdoor event. I’ll have access to an electric frying pan and perhaps open flame, but little else. What’s the best way to warm it up again given those constraints? Or would it be better to wrap it in foil at home and keep it in a warming bag (the kind that pizza is delivered in) and then slice/serve on site?

    If I wasn’t happily married, I’d chase you to the ends of the earth and force myself upon you.

  13. I’ve been dying to try it ever since. I just made one up. I didn’t have italian sausage so I just used some loose hot sausage. It is amazing!!!

    Thanks for the recipe.

  14. Thank you for this amazing recipe. I made it tonight with a few spicy alterations to kick it up a notch. Spicy BBQ sauce(s), spicy sausage, jalapeño bacon, jalapeño cream cheese, and ~10 diced jalapeños. Turned out absolutely amazing.

  15. Made this a few times based on your basic instructions – wonderful

    One quick hint I’ve found is to lay out a piece of either parchment or saran under the ground pork layer – makes it really easy to roll up before rolling up the bacon layer

  16. New to the “smoking BBQ” game, so just have a quick question:

    Do you roll or flip the Bacon-Log every 1/2 hour or so, or just leave it the heck alone?

    1. Just leave it alone. You don’t want the Bacon Explosion coming unrolled while on the grill. Rotate it if it’s cooking uneven, but leave the seam facing down. -Jason

  17. This recipe has been an absolute favorite every time I cook it. Sometimes I use hot sausage and sometimes a sweet sausage. I also take it a step further and add a cut up blocks of pepper jack cheese to the center of it. ~Ryan

  18. Hi guy’s, I’ve just spent 4 years and 3 months reading through this thread. I think of it as “pig porn”. What about a poll to see how many of the original posters are still smoking. If the “Bacon explosion” hasn’t killed them by now, then it must surely be eligible for a health food classification.

  19. Looks dangerously delicious. I bet a lot of greases has been released! I’m a big fan of BBQ but the cleaning is a struggle. Especially if you don’t clean immediately after cooking. So I’ve found out that if you don’t have a professional tier degreaser (I’m a BBQ cleaner myself) you can use kosher salt and vegetable oil for the grill part, and some car wax for the outer part.

    Hope this helps all the BBQ lovers here!

  20. I have done several variations of this, so just one suggestion for anyone reading this. Try a 2″ slice on a crispy buttered English muffin!

    Great recipe!

  21. I made this only I used chorizo sausage and put jalapeno slices and slices of monterey jack in the middle. I had heartburn for days but it was worth every second of it

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