I guess the official name is the Bacon Explosion, but Explosion and Bacon really don't belong in the same sentence, as far as I'm concerned. This much talked about food gimmick started sweeping the net earlier this year, aided by some really smart promotion guys and lots of press.
We discussed it at work, as we discuss all things food related. Some thought it sounded like a good idea, "Bacon, more bacon with a large side of sausage, what's not to like?" Others said it sounded like a "heart-attack on a stick," even though it's not served on a stick. Although that does give me some ideas...
The fully-cooked log of bacon and sausage supposedly contains about 5,000 calories and 500 grams of fat, but don't let that alarm you. Purists suggest cutting thin slices and serving them on a warm biscuit or bun, two or three slices per biscuit.
You start out by making a lattice of bacon, I used seven slices across and slices down. When you have the bacon mat completed, you cover it with a layer of Italian sausage. I used bell pepper and carmelized onion Italian sausage, along with some dill and other spices.
Then I fried bacon, cut it up and sprinkled it all over the sausage, along with bbq seasoning and home-made bbq sauce. It was fairly detailed for a food project but I was having a good time giving it a try.
After I rolled up the sausage portion, tightly squeezing out air pockets, I then rolled the entire thing in the bacon mat. After smoking it in the smoker for three hours and then brushing home-made bbq sauce all over the outside, it smelled pretty good.
The final results looked just like the ones I saw on all the web sites, but after working on it for four or five hours, I was just too tired to try it.
Once we got our appetites back, we had a toasty, fresh from the oven biscuit, with two thin slices of bacon explosion, still warm from the smoker. Zinfandel was the wine of choice, which pairs perfectly with pork dishes of almost any kind.
Was it worth the time? It was good, but I probably won't be making it again any time soon. I'd just as soon go to Red Rock Cafe and have one of their pulled pork sandwiches, dripping with bbq sauce.
Let someone else do all the work!
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