Makin’ Bacon on the Grill

Making Bacon on the Grill

How do you perfectly make bacon on the grill?

Cooking perfect bacon (or better yet) grilling your bacon is one of those things that is easy, fun, smells wonderful and you should definitely learn to do it when tailgating at the game or even in your backyard. We have put together some easy D.I.Y. step by step guidelines we hope you will enjoy. Bacon is one of the most wonderful of meats you can make with your gas or charcoal grill, but take care. We want to make sure your bacon doesn’t become an inferno of flames, grease and sadness. (sigh… I hate it when bacon goes to waste.)

When we cook bacon, we like to use a iron skillet placed on the grill for a couple of reasons:

a) it keeps the bacon juices from splattering into the grill, and…

b) we don’t have to worry about puncturing it with our grilling utensils

To prevent burning, place skillet / griddle over indirect heat (away from coals or open flames)

Here are the basic steps:

1) place your iron skillet on your grill, then preheat your grill to 350F 

2) lay uncooked bacon directly on skillet and cook for approximately 15-20 minutes flipping at least once. When the bacon reaches that nice golden reddish / brown color they are done… hey… you know how you like your bacon.

3) using tongs, remove golden yummy bacon from the skillet and place directly onto paper towels to cool for a couple of minutes, allowing the towels to absorb some of the excess fat

TIPS: Don’t leave bacon unattended (mostly ’cause it gets lonely) plus grills can get overly hot in spots very quickly and you don’t want it to burn. (OH THE HUMANITY!) We will want to monitor it to flip it or perhaps move it away from direct heat.  Total time on the grill shouldn’t exceed about 20 minutes, but you might like your bacon a little softer. If that is the case, it may take as little as 8-10 minutes. Like your bacon crispy? Then let it cook a little longer.

DON’T HAVE A IRON SKILLET? Aluminum cake pans work well as a substitute for an iron skillet or griddle, plus you can throw them when done which certainly speeds the cleanup process. Also, rolls of aluminum foil or tin foil will work in a pinch. You can create a make-shift cooking griddle by folding up the sides to prevent grease from falling into your grill.

DIRECT vs INDIRECT HEAT: Using a gas grill? We normally place our skillet directly over the flames during the pre-heat process then turn down the burners once we add the bacon. If you are using a charcoal grill, move your skillet away from the coals before you lay your bacon on it.

You can smell it, can’t you?

FLIPPING: Don’t worry about flipping bacon too many times. It should be flipped over at least once to make sure cooking is even, but it won’t hurt anything to check it by flipping multiple times during the process. (bacon doesn’t mind the extra attention)

OPTIONAL: Finish directly on the grill grates. Some people like to crisp up the bacon by placing the strips directly over the flames for the last minute or so. (again keep a close eye on this if you do so)

SEASON YOUR BACON: Bacon is almost magical in that it requires really no help at all to be a wonderfully tasty meat without adding a thing to it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t spice it up a bit. Brown sugar sprinkled over your bacon when cooking changes it drastically (we refer to that as meat candy). Sprinkling a little “1ST&TEN Pepper – premium sports blend” will add a nice level of spicy heat that you friends wont soon forget. Or hey, why not use both?

Make sure to experiment with different spices a bit and find what you like best!

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