• home
• about
• food + drink
• inedible

Some good recipes.

Bacon Explosion - Jalapeno Popper Style

Print this Page Share this Page

Source: Adapted from the one, the only, BBQAddicts.com original.

Servings: I served 9 people on this one, and we only got thru half.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Instructions: On a parchment-lined sheet pan, weave a mat of bacon lattice pie crust-style. One pound goes horizontal, the other vertical. Make the weave tight; no gaps, please. Press the fresh sausage into the bacon mat, so as to make a layer that covers the bacon entirely. Sprinkle the sausage with a modest layer of barbecue rub (at least 2 Tbsp) and layer on the deli ham.

Work together the cream cheese, cheddar and jalapenos until integrated and layer onto the meat mat. If things are a bit warm by this point, it'd be a good idea to move it all to the fridge for a bit before proceeding; but if things are holding together, by all means go ahead.

When it's time to roll, think: sushi. The end product needs to have the bacon mat wrapped around the rest of the mess, not rolled into it. Once the roll comes together, place seam-side down on the sheet pan, and make sure that there is plenty of sausage plugging up the ends, so that it doesn't gush cheese when it cooks. If you can rest your explosion overnight in the fridge, that'd be best.

When it's time to barbeque, set up your grill for indirect heat at 250F. Add wood chips if you'd like some smoke flavor. Place a probe thermometer in the explosion to monitor temperature, making sure to monitor the temperature of that penultimate layer of sausage, and not the cheese in the core. We're shooting for 165F. Expect it to take about 3-4 hours.

When the temperature reaches 145F begin basting with the bottled barbeque sauce, and continue to baste with every 5-degree jump in temperature. When 165F is reached, remove the Explosion to a pan to rest at least 20 minutes before slicing to serve.