The Bacon Explosion Fatty...My Version

Hey Gang,

Last weekend I fired up the Excel 20 for a double experiment. 1 - to try out the BBQ Guru temp control unit; and 2 - to try the 'Bacon Explosion' recipe that is sweeping the barbeque internet by storm.

Here's the break down...

The BBQ Guru worked well in maintaining the pit temp around 225*F. In order to use the BBQ Guru, all of the bottom vents must be closed so, 2 of the 3 vents were completely closed to begin with the 3rd vent remaining full open to accomodate the BBQ Guru adaptor. Since the 3rd vent still had 3 holes open, I plugged them with foil to block airflow through the holes.

Outside temp was in the low 40's F, breezy, but relatively nice out. I had to open one vent full open to the temps up to cooking range, but once that happened, the BBQ Guru did a good job of maintaining.

If you're not familiar with the unit, (I have the older unit), it has 2 wired probes from the monitor unit to the pit. The 'traditional' (meat) probe fit nicely through the probe eyelet in the Excel; the other (pit temp) probe has an 'alligator' clip on the end, so it wouldn't fit through the probe eyelet. I simply inserted it through the 'look-see' door. All was good.

Now, on to the star of the show...the Bacon Explosion Fatty (which I'll be talking about on the BBQEmergency.com Radio Talk Show this weekend)...

The Bacon Weave


1 pound generic Breakfast Sausage + 1 pound Italian Sausage


Bacon Weave Sprinkled with Mojo Rub Seasoning


Sausage combined, flatened, spread over the bacon weave...sprinkled with Mojo Rub and diced sweet onion


Colby and Monterey Cheese layered over sausage mix


Roughly 1 pound of cooked bacon chopped and layered over cheese


Drizzled with Blues Hog BBQ Sauce


Sausage was rolled into a log shape, then bacon weave was rolled around the sausage and sprinkled with more Mojo Rub.


Wrapped in foil and chilled for a couple of hours to allow seasoning to blend and to firm up the fatty


Excel 20 (without the Stacker) with the BBQ Guru Attached


Smoked at 225*F for about 4 hours; internal temp to 160*F. With all the extra bacon and fat in this sausage, I was not concerned with it drying out...it was very moist in the end.


Cooking at such a low temperature, didn't render out as much fat from the bacon as I typically like, so I put it over high,direct heat on the frill to melt some of the additional fat out. It wasn't as pretty after the grilling, but it sure was tasty!


All in all, I think this 'Bacon Explosion' should be renamed the Cardiac Arrest Fatty, but since I didn't create it, I'll resist renaming it. The kids LOVED it after resting it for about 10 minutes. I held off on trying it until the next morning when I placed a thick slice of it between two biscuit halves. I prefer my fatty cold. It was excellent, though next time I think I'll add a bit more rub to the inside of the sausage; cook it at a higher temp to render out the bacon more; and glaze it with a spicey barbeque sauce.

I'll be talking about this recipe on Sunday, February 8th at 4pm Central / 10pm GMT on the BBQEmergency.com Radio Talk Show. I would love to have you all join me 'Live' for the show if you're available...and would really like to have you call in to offer your fatty ideas/thoughts. You can tune-in onlne at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bbqemergency ...Hope you can join in the fun!

Hey Jim,

I love your play-by-play! I agree, some kind of sauce on the outside would help, especially when you had to add higher temps. If anything, what would you add to the recipe to make it even better?

jenks_24 wrote:Hey Jim,

I love your play-by-play! I agree, some kind of sauce on the outside would help, especially when you had to add higher temps. If anything, what would you add to the recipe to make it even better?

Thanks...it was a lot of fun to make. Guess that basket weaving class helped in real life afterall!

I did vary from the original recipe by adding the cheese and chopped onion. As much as I love onion, I think I would skip the onions next time and add a bit of chorizio to the sausage mixture...just to kick it up a bit. Other than that, I would use more Mojo Rub, thinner bacon in the weave, and the already mentioned glaze on the outside.

Please take the recipe (as I did) and play around with it...just be sure to bring the results back here and let us know what/how you did!

Hey Jim, thanks for the play by play. Looked really good, now I am starving!
Question on the Guru. What adaptor did you use to mount it up? Is it custom made, or a modified WSM possibly? I might be very interested in getting a Guru myself.
Have you tried it to see how long of a smoke you can get before needing to add more coals?
Thanks again,
Bill

BowtieBill wrote:Hey Jim, thanks for the play by play. Looked really good, now I am starving!
Question on the Guru. What adaptor did you use to mount it up? Is it custom made, or a modified WSM possibly? I might be very interested in getting a Guru myself.
Have you tried it to see how long of a smoke you can get before needing to add more coals?
Thanks again,
Bill

Hey Bill,

The adaptor was the standard WSM adaptor from the company. I simply attached it to one of the vent holes in one of the bottom vents, then plugged the 3 remaining holes with foil.

This was the first time I used a Guru on the ProQ...don't know when I'll get to try it out for a long cook, but will post info as soon as I do.

Oh yeah!!! I like recipes like that!!!

Seems I´ve to grill such am bacon explosion



Greetz,

BBQ-Devil

Another good name may be Artery Explosion Fattie. Actually it looks delicious. Nice job and thanks for the explanation and tech tip on the guru. I was about to ask what this "fattie" thing was you guys keep talking about. Something else to explore.