The 2013 Bacon Explosion

I don't write about food on my blog, but I thought I'd share a recipe that's become a bit of a tradition for us.

Five years ago, I read about something called a bacon explosion. The recipe made the rounds of different message boards in late 2008 and I remember thinking it looked horrible (I'm not really a meat eater). There was such a buzz online that the New York Times wrote an article about the "dish." My husband, then boyfriend, was so fascinated by the idea of this thing that I told him I'd make him one for the Super Bowl.

The bacon explosion was a hit and a tradition began. Here's how things went this year...

1. Prep and Filling
First, I cooked a few pieces of bacon and a large batch of biscuits. Some people eat the bacon explosion on its own, but for the Super Bowl, it's easier to make biscuit sandwiches.

This year, I mixed turkey and pork sausage for my filling and added diced onions and peppers.

2.The Quilt
Weaving the bacon quilt is pretty straight forward. I lay plastic wrap down to make rolling things up easier. I used two kinds of bacon this year. One was a premium, thick cut, hickory smoked bacon and the other was traditional bacon. The traditional was so much thinner that I had to use two slices of it so the quilt would hold up when rolled.

3. The Rub
I sprinkled a BBQ rub over the bacon. I've been using the same cinnamon and chipotle rub for a few years now.

4. The Filling
After laying down a sheet of plastic wrap over the bacon, I spread the sausage mix so it was just a tad smaller than bacon quilt. Then I sprinkled diced peppers, the cooked bacon, and some cheese on top.

 5. Let it Roll!
This is the fun part. Using the plastic wrote to keep things neat, the sausage gets rolled up.

6. Roll Back 
When the sausage roll is at the end of the bacon quilt, the entire things gets rolled back in the other direction.

7. Into the Pan
The roll gets put into a foil-lined baking dish. Without the foil, this is extremely messy.

8. Into the Oven
I cook the explosion at 225-250 for a couple hours, until it reaches 160-170 degrees on the inside.

9. Basting Time
When the internal temperature hits about 150, I brush on some BBQ sauce and use a turkey baster to remove the fat that has accumulated in the dish.

Behold the fat that was removed from this year's bacon explosion (gross!):

10. Happy husband
I don't even want to think about what this face will look like the year this tradition gets broken.

 We're eating salads for the rest of the week.

Does anyone else make the bacon explosion? What's your Super Bowl tradition?


In case you're interested, here's the 2010 version and the one from 2011.