There are huge leaps in a Civilization’s move forward that will forever be instilled in the annals of history: The discovery of Fire; The Invention of Gunpowder; Man’s first steps on the Moon. I was not around for the first two, but I had the pleasure of watching the last one on television when I was a wee boy. Imagine my happiness upon learning that I have now witnessed not one, but TWO great moments of civilization – The Bacon Explosion!
http://www.bbqaddicts.com/bacon-explosion.html
Now before you read any further, you MUST check out the link above – Or the rest of this will not make sense at all.
On the Thursday before the Superbowl, my co-worker Jonathon sent me an Email with the above link. How this flew under my radar I’ll never know, and by the next morning Good Morning America featured it:
I was feeling the pull – It was like a Black Hole sucking me in and there was no way I could ever hope to fight it – I just HAD to make this dish!
Bacon Weaving
The ‘weaving’ of the bacon strips went better than expected – It must be all those crafts I took when I was a kid at Camp – Never did I guess I’d be weaving Pork Products! I ended up doing a 6×5 “blanket” instead of a 5×5 as the recipe suggests – Although I used quality bacon, it must have been a bit thinner on the short side than the boys at BBQ Addicts used. All of the leftover bacon, probably about 1.5 pounds, went into a hot pan to cook.
In addition to the regular sausage, I also added some Chorizo – I figured it needed a bit of heat, as the only spice was from the BBQ rub and sauce. After spreading the Italian sausage over all of the bacon, I put the chorizo on top of that but only on one end.
Cooked Bacon on top
The cooked bacon then went onto the top, followed by BBQ sauce (I used Maker’s Mark brand) and a sprinkling of BBQ Rub (Stubbs, one of my favorites).
Then the gymnastics – I rolled back the sausage, then rolled it forward with the bacon weave on the outside.
The Log
Viola! BACON LOG! Another sprinkling of Stubbs and it was off to the smoker as per the recipe. Mine took a bit longer than theirs, about three house – But I figured it would since there was a slightly larger bacon weave.
A quick slather of Maker’s Mark (the BBQ sauce, not the Whisky – Although that might be interesting next time…..) turned the outside nice and glossy.
Right out of the Smoker
The result was amazing – The weave and the slow cooking ensured that the bacon didn’t shrink, yet it was nice and crispy on the outside. The meld of pork flavors inside was awesome, and the chorizo came over very well – Those bites had a nice little kick to them, but not too much. My first piece I had with eggs over easy – A perfect breakfast, and the second was the next day at lunch – Slapped between two halves of of a fresh roll, with just a bit more BBQ sauce for good measure.
Better Inside!
Many folks, when hearing that I actually MADE this monstrosity, were surprised – But those that know me knew better – How could I NOT make it? This kind of stuff is in my Blood! It’s what makes me tick. Just look at that beautiful layering, with 2 sets of Bacon goodness, and sausage as well as chorizo. Each bite was different and each was PERFECT. Except for one thing – I want to try a true breakfast version – Omit some of the sweet sauce and add the eggs….. Hmmmmmm… I better get to work…..