The 5 Best Ways to Pellet Grill with Bacon
If you believe bacon belongs in it’s own food group, this one is for you! The delicious crunch of bacon and smoky flavor adds a little extra to any recipe, but bacon on the pellet grill brings your dish to a whole new level! When the bacon flavor is enhanced by the hardwood flavor, the resulting smoked bacon is almost magical! If you want a full smoke flavor use Hickory when cooking bacon, or for a milder flavor use a blend like Perfect Mix. Here are 5 of our favorite things to do with bacon on the pellet grill.
Bacon Strips
Seems too simple to mention here, but there is minimal bacon shrinkage when you cook it on the pellet grill! Larger, crunchier strips of bacon – totally worth it! A frogmat is a must have for this one… lay strips on frogmat, preheat the pellet grill at 350 with Perfect Mix, and in 15-20 minutes your bacon is ready hit your plate.
Smoked Chopped Bacon
Smoke up a couple pounds, chop it up, and store in the fridge to add to your salads, soups, dips and so much more! This is a great way to add extra flavor to a quick weeknight meal, on a night you may not have time to fire up the pellet grill. Just add a couple teaspoons of sea salt and black pepper and cook until crispy as above, then pat with paper towel to remove the grease. Once cool, pulse in your food processor and you’ll have bacon flavor for days!
Wrap it up!
Wrapping your culinary creation with bacon, then cooking it on the pellet grill is always a great idea! The bacon crisps up on the outside, creating an incredibly flavorful outer layer, with a satisfying crunch. A great example of this is the Bacon Pizza Bomb. Essentially it’s a regular pizza rolled up, then wrapped with bacon. The resulting cheesy, gooey, crispy pizza with a bacon flavor is to die for! Same idea with the Bacon Wrapped Sriracha Chicken Lollipops, Texas Twinkies, and this incredible recipe from baconeering.com:
Sweet and Spicy Bacon Wrapped Meatballs:
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Bacon Cut in Half (18 slices, 36 half slices)
- 36 meatballs or as many as you have bacon slices
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix together brown sugar and chili powder in a small bowl.
- Spray a broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Cut a pound of bacon strips in half and wrap them around the meatballs (Store bought, fully cooked Italian style meatballs that are thawed in the microwave before being wrapped with bacon work well for this recipe.), securing the bacon in place with a toothpick.
- Dredge the bacon wrapped meatballs in the sugar and chili mixture, pressing to coat it well.
- Place them on the greased broiler pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, depending on how you like your bacon. For more crispiness, bake them for 45 minutes.
We cooked these at 275 degrees for about 50 minutes, and loved the crispy result! Cook for 45-55 minutes depending on how crispy you like your bacon.
Bacon and Brown Sugar with a Kick
Everyone loves the sweet plus salty flavor, but this one adds a little spice as well. Place Bacon on your frogmat. Add a little Sriracha to the bacon, then press the bacon into brown sugar to coat it evenly on both sides. Cook in grill with 100% Hickory pellets set at 350 for about 25 minutes, give or take a few minutes. Delicious warm or cold!
The Bacon Cookie
Our last tip for bacon is to enjoy it as dessert – sure, plain old bacon would do as the last course, but this recipe is a must try! Chocolate Chip Cookie plus Maple Glaze plus Bacon equals The Bacon Cookie –the perfect flavor combination. This is a fun, quick dessert to whip up and share with guests. Or make a batch for yourself – when it comes to bacon, we don’t judge!
