Candied Bacon
Indirect grilling eliminates the risk of flareups, but it takes longer, and it, well, deprives you of the adrenaline rush of grilling one of the world’s most flammable foods. I’m a “noguts, no glory” sort of guy, so I usually direct grill my bacon. But candiedbacon is different, because turning the bacon would disturb the sugar crust.
Equipment
- Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal or gas. You also need a wire rack and a pastry brush.
- Shop: Use a thick-cut, real wood-smoked, artisanal bacon, like Nueske’s.
Ingredients
- Vegetableoil for oiling the grill grate and wire rack
- 1 pound thick-slicedartisanal bacon
- ½ cup puremaple syrup
- 1 cup packedbrown sugar, dark or light
Instructions
- Setup your grill for indirect grilling and heat to medium-high. Brush or scrapethe grill grate clean and oil it well.
- Arrange thebacon strips on a lightly oiled wire rack over a sheet pan lined with parchmentpaper or aluminum foil to facilitate easy cleanup. (It’s easier to move allbacon to the grill on a wire rack than it is to do it slice by slice.) Brushthe top of each slice with maple syrup, then sprinkle generously with brownsugar, patting the sugar onto the meat.
- Placethe wire rack (reserve the prepared sheet pan) on the grill grate so the baconis over the drip pan away from the heat.
- Indirectgrill the bacon until it is browned and crisp and the sugar is caramelized, 15to 20 minutes. (The bacon will continue to crisp as it cools.)
- Returnthe wire rack to the sheet pan and let it cool slightly before serving. (Moltensugar can burn your tongue, so test a small piece before you bite into it.)
Notes
It’s hard to imagine a more perfect food than bacon, but candied bacon is just that—the salty, smoky, fatty, satisfying crunch of bacon enhanced in unexpected ways by the earthy sweetness of brown sugar and maple syrup. Think of this as a bacon dish you can serve equally well for breakfast or dessert.