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 Ingredients
- 2 pounds thick cut bacon
- 2 pounds Italian sausage
- 1 bottle of Burnt Finger BBQ sauce
- 1 shaker of Burnt Finger BBQ rub
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
Once you’ve sauced the bacon, sprinkle on some more of the Smokey Kansas City Barbecue Seasoning you used on the bacon weave.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
We decided to give this a shot ourselves. Here’s pictures from the event last night: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhofker/sets/72157612382514350/
@Jordan
Nice work! Was it as tasty as anticipated? Glad to see some others trying it. Nice pics!
@ Jordan
Love the photo of the grease!
@Jordan
Fantastic recreation of Bacon Explosion!!! I hope you guys enjoyed the meats of your labor.
VBCRAVEN:
For one, I am not as half as cranky as you seem to be about this. I happened to run into this site because a friend showed it to me. Said friend likes bacon but thought that this recipe was amusing in a decadent way and wanted to show it to me.
I said nothing about Nazi’s…or your wife for that matter.
To be fair, even for those who like bacon…that does not automatically mean they will like this recipe.
Calmly and peacefully,
Someone
You magnificent bastard.
I read this while drinking a V8 as I’m on day 7 of my ‘Eat Better, Stupid!'(tm) diet. Honestly, you made my teeth hurt with hunger. This looks incredible. It does scream for jalapenos and onions, tho. And beer. Lots, and lots of beer. When I get down under 200lbs, I’m going to celebrate with one of these. And then, I’m going to have to get under 200lbs again.
Holy. Freaking. Crap. This is amazing. I have found heaven on earth, and it involves bacon! I am so buying a smoker JUST so I can make one of these. And I’m going to use Nueske’s bacon! Excuse me, I need to go collapse now from the sheer joy of the thought of this.
@Dave – great idea! I think jalapenos and onions would be good.
@Coop – Don’t get one of those dinky electric smokers. Go for the Weber Smokey Mountain.
You won’t be sorry. I got mine from drugstore.com for $199 plus shipping. It’s tight and maintains temp well. Nueske’s bacon… yum!
My friend and I made this last night and it is truly something thought of by a mad genius. I had a brainstorm to make it EVEN BETTER!!! After the Bacon Explosion is complete, cut your slabs a little thicker. Then insert a chopstick into each slab before dipping in cornmeal batter and deepfrying!!! Serve with a side of sausage gravy! Enjoy.
Needs butter.
We made this without the BBQ sauce, and the seasonings. It was still delicious! We sliced it up, and took half the slices and lined the bottom of a 13×9 pyrex dish. Covered the whole thing with eggs, and cheese, rebaked it. It is the best breakfast casserole dish!
i ate it all and i suffered cardiac arrest.
the doctor told me that the big bacon explosion had nearly exploded me! HAHAHAHAHA
I’m a big eater, and it doesn’t get any bigger than this…. I think I’m going to eat my monitor!
I made this for rone, and he said it was too much pork.
We are going to do this camping. Some small changes planned: we will add Jalepenos and Shredded Sharp Cheese to the mix and use a deepfryer. If we survive the night, breakfast the next day will be leftover bacon explosion sitting on top of hashbrowns with a fried egg on top.
Angioplasty waiting to happen!! OK so I made it this weekend and I tried to be somewhat careful of the fat content so I used Jimmy Dean lo-fat pork sausage. It turned out to be slightly dry! Long live PORK FAT!!!
@Dirkasaurus – Bacon Explosion can now be eaten for every meal of the day!!!
@MD – Jalapenos and cheese go great in a fatty! If you want to kick the heat up even more, try using spicy Italian sausage. Are you planning on beer battering it before frying?
@Michael J – The fat is what keeps Bacon Explosion moist. Next time try cooking to a lower internal temp. That should keep the fat from rendering out of the meat (unless that’s what you want).
I’m liking all the variations people are coming up with here, especially some of the breakfast things. I’d like to try out some bacon explosion fried egg casserole!
What a creation, this will be the hit at the superbowl party and tailgates next summer.
How about eating it like sushi and dipping it in melted garlic butter?
OM NOM NOM
This was the main dish for our tailgate party in Pittsburgh for the Divisional Playoff game yesterday. BTW – the Steelers were triumphant and my wager was paid off with a bottle of Johnny Walker Green label – but I degress…)
I loved this recipe but I opted for bit of a twist – 4 lbs. of bacon and 4lbs. of pork/venison sausage.
In case you are concerned that my arteries were deprived – I decided to smoke Camel non-filters for the 3.5 hours while this heavenly beast was smoldering in the smoker.
I must say, the Burnt Finger BBQ sauce was one of the best sauces that I had ever tasted – the rub I used was my own – and included a combination of homegrown scotch bonnet peppers and crushed red pepper. The sweet smoky flavor of the sauce and honey really complimented this arterial cork and with nearly 2 lbs. of leftovers, I plan on trying the deep-fried suggestion described earlier and perhaps I will use a hush puppy/beer batter… Kudos to the visionary who, like myself, obviously looks forward to our next coronary.
Forgot to add – I had a bit of trouble rolling this 4 pound monster so for an extra tight roll, I used a commercial sushi roll mat (bamboo weaved with string) lined with a couple of layers of plastic wrap to avoid cross contamination…
So… what was that about an obesity epidemic?
@DumbBastid – I hold Bacon Explosion soley responsible for the Steeler victory. I also expect you to be at Arrowhead Stadium next year if your team comes to town. The game might not be good, but the tailgate will be LEGENDARY!!!!
My buddy Danny made 2 for the Giant Eagle playoff game. …..he used his own brand of rub and his home made bacon apple onion BBQ sauce.
He also renamed it ” The Bacon Love Monster”
see photos
Bacon Explosion?
It should be “Bacon SEXplosion”…
I just had a Porkgasm.
http://gallery.me.com/dncohen44/100084
@LarryG – Nice work. I just ate lunch, but now I’m hungry again!!!
that’s a whole lotta piggy
Jason – Thanks for the tip on the use of sausage with the pork fat. I used the ” Big Green Egg ” BBQ/smoker. It does have a tendency to cook slightly hot. I cried when my Chargers lost to the Steelers and maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention to this creation. I think I will make this next time Southern California style and roll the center with a prosciutto/asparagus/jalepeno combo. Lots of good ideas from the people on this site. Gotta try ’em all!!
@Michael J – Big Green Eggs are very versatile cookers. You get a smoker, grill, and outdoor oven all in one package. But in order to use it to it’s full potential, you’ll want to have good control of your fire. In my experience, even a millimeters difference in the vent openings can make a big difference with the Egg. Next time you fire that bad boy up, pay close attention to your settings and how it effects your temp. You may even try measuring the openings and keeping a log of your results for future reference. Once you get your temps under control, you’ll notice a sizable difference in the quality of meat you produce.
the cross-section view is what your arteries look like after eating this
A buddy told me about this at a new years party and he remembered to send me the link when he sobered up a few days later. I started a thread about this here…
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=51088
…and one of the guys made it and posted some pics on page 3. I have been waiting for the snow to melt and the weather to clear up around here before I dive in!
Great recipe but what a waste of time and smoke. to make the recipe simpler and better, make the sausage roll separatly on a sheet of plastic wrap and roll very tight (like a sushi roll) and then wrap in the bacon weave. Microwave for about 3 minutes per pound to an internal temp of 140F before smoking. finish as directed but only smoke for about 30 minutes or until browned.
Microwave??? Seriously? First, the proteins in the meats will bind around 140 degrees, so putting it on the smoker after that is pointless as it won’t absorb any smoke flavor. That generally defeats the purpose.
This requires patience and some attention. It’s not McDonald’s.
@JR An open face Bacon Explosion!!! No matter what it looks like, it’s still delicious.
@Donovan Microwave + Meat = FAIL
Wow, looks amazing! Now just add a little hot sauce . . .
That is truly amazing! Pork lovers unite! Now is the time!