Bacon and eggs, bacon with sausages, a cheesy bacon sandwich; if you are anything like us, you probably eat your bacon with absolutely anything and everything!
Bacon isn’t just any other delicious food item; there is actually a whole science behind what makes bacon taste so delectable and just out-of-this-world! According to BBC, it is the unique flavor chemistry of bacon that gives it that incredibly intense taste.
You might have truly enjoyed stove-fried bacon with your breakfast eggs and sausages, but do you know what would make the bacon you eat taste even more sensual and tempting? Smoking it on a Pellet Grill!
Smoking bacon on a pellet grill will take your bacon-based dish to a whole new level of taste and flavor!
Imagine biting into that crisp and crunchy bacon that has quite a refined smoky zing to it. If that doesn’t tantalize your taste buds, we don’t know what will!
Many people simply prefer smoking thin and long bacon strips on a pellet grill. While that is obviously super delicious, we are going to show you many other ways and techniques that you can use to get the best out of your bacon dishes. Needless to say, they will take you to a magical world of smoked bacon that you have probably never explored before!
Things You Need for Smoking Bacon on a Pellet Grill
Before you begin your culinary journey to the world of bacon, you must gather all the tools and supplies that you need.
Since smoked bacon is probably the easiest of things to whip up in a matter of minutes, there isn’t much preparation that you need to do. However, it is ideal to have things ready in order to save yourself from any hassle later on.
The things that you will require for smoking bacon on a pellet grill are:
- Bacon strips
- Grill Frogmat
- Kitchen tongs
- Aluminum foil
Smoke Your Bacon to Perfection
Once you have all the required tools and ingredients in order, you can get started on smoking your bacon!
Follow these steps properly to start smoking bacon on a pellet grill and enjoy deliciously crunchy and flavorful bacon strips in no time.
Step 1: Light and Preheat
First things first, light your pellet grill and close the lid. Allow the griller to preheat for at least ten minutes. The preferred temperature for smoking bacon on a pellet grill is 350 degrees Fahrenheit, but you can always alter and change things around as you deem fit.
Step 2: Arrange the Frogmat
When smoking bacon, it is very important to use a frogmat. In case you don’t know what that is, a frogmat is a screen made of sturdy wire mesh that is excellent for smoking small and thin food items. Frogmats also come with a non-stick coating that that is great for grilling and smoking as it doesn’t allow food to stick to the grill.
Step 3: Layer Aluminum Foil on the Frogmat (optional)
Some people prefer using a layer of aluminum foil on top of the frogmat. They mainly use aluminum foil to cover the bacon properly from all sides so that the entire smoky flavor is well-contained within the foil.
However, this step is completely optional, and it is totally up to you if you want to layer the bacon in the foil. In case you do use the foil, make sure that you leave it on the preheated grill for a few minutes in order to make it hot.
Step 4: Layer Your Bacon Strips
Now it is time to bring out those bacon strips and layer them on the frogmat. You can use either thin-cut or thick-cut bacon strips. However, you must adjust the cooking time and cooking temperature accordingly.
Arrange the bacon slices on the frogmat by placing each strip next to one another. Make sure that they are laid out perfectly with small gaps in-between them so that they don’t end up sticking or overlapping with each other and are smoked to perfection. Cover the lid of the pellet grill and allow the bacon to be smoked and grilled for a few minutes.
Step 5: Check the Bacon
When smoking bacon on a pellet grill, the recommended cooking time is almost 15 minutes. However, it is ideal to keep checking on the strips periodically to prevent the bacon strips from burning. The strips can burn if they are too thin and the grill temperature is too high.
Step 6: Flip the Bacon
As soon as you notice your bacon strips turning a nice brown color, flip over all the strips with the help of the kitchen tongs. Once you are done flipping all the bacon strips, close the pellet grill again for a few more minutes till this side is also grilled well.
Step 7: Dish Out
Open the pellet lid after a few minutes and check on your bacon strips. They must have turned a beautiful brown color by now. Dish them out on a serving plate and enjoy!
Creative Ways to Smoke Bacon on a Pellet Grill
Smoked bacon strips are an absolute classic, but there are many other ways you can turn things up a notch and enjoy smoked bacon in different and creative forms!
Smoking bacon on pellet grill gives you a wide array of options in terms of smoking and grilling them.
If you ever feel like experimenting with your regular bacon and wish to add a delicious crunchy twist to your meal, here’s how you can do that.
Smoked Chopped Bacon
Don’t you just love having bits of crispy bacon in every mouthful of your salad? Smoked chopped bacon is the best way to upgrade your everyday salad and give it a scrumptious, crunchy, smoky element.
Smoking chopped bacon follows all the same steps that are required for smoking bacon strips on a pellet grill, but with one minor addition. When smoking chopped bacon, you need to add a couple of teaspoons of black pepper and sea salt to give it that extra flavorful kick.
The best thing about smoking chopped bacon is that you can smoke up a couple of pounds of it and then store it in your fridge for future use. You can then add chopped bacon to your salads, dips, soups – you name it!
Candied Bacon
If you like a bit of a sweet kick as soon as you bite into your bacon, then you must try making candied bacon!
Remember the smoked bacon strips from before? Candied bacon follows the exact same steps, except that when you flip over the bacon strips to smoke them from the other side, you need to sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar on the strips.
Brown sugar gives the bacon a subtly sweet flavor and also caramelizes it, which makes the bacon strips a lot crispier and browner than before.
Bacon-Wrapped Treats
Ever tried bacon-mozzarella sticks? Or perhaps, one-bite pizzas wrapped in thin, paper-like bacon? If you haven’t, you are missing out on a lot!
But the best part is that you can easily make it on your own with the help of your pellet grill! Wrap all your culinary creations with bacon, because as they say, there is no such thing as too much bacon! Or one can’t have enough bacon!
A classic example of a bacon-wrapped treat is none other than a Bacon Pizza Bomb. While it is nothing but your regular pizza rolled up in strips of bacon, it is that unreal combination of utterly crispy and crunchy bacon with the gooey and oozing cheese that comes out as soon as you bite into it!
Cheese and bacon is a heavenly combination, and the resulting flavor of these bacon pizza bombs is to die for!
Why Smoke Bacon on a Pellet Grill?
If you still find yourself wondering why smoking bacon on a pellet grill is such a great idea, take a look at some of the benefits of using a pellet grill that will surely convince you.
Exceptional Smoky Flavor
Smoking on a pellet grill adds a unique woody flavor to your bacon. If you aren’t used to eating smoked food, then this is something that will shock your taste buds – in a good way, of course.
This smoky element combined with that brittle texture of the bacon is simply fantastic.
Bacon Doesn’t Shrink
You’ve probably noticed that bacon shrinks when you fry it in a pan. The resulting shriveled bacon is nearly half of what you had initially. But when you smoke it on a pellet grill, there is absolutely zero shrinkage. Also, you get bacon that is grilled to perfection.
Divine Texture
The whole point of eating bacon is hearing that much-awaited crunch sound as soon as you bite into it. Smoking bacon on a pellet grill gives you exactly that, perhaps even more. The best part about pellet grills is that they don’t use any oil and simply make use of smoke and heat to grill the bacon.
This results in the crispiest and the crunchiest of bacon strips that you will ever have, and that too, with an out-of-this-world delicious smoky flavor!
Smoking bacon on a pellet grill is certainly going to give you an amazing bacon-y ride, and if you are a die-hard bacon-lover like us, you might just find yourself setting up your pellet grill every morning!
