Pork lovers rejoice, this bacon explosion mixes ground pork, sausage, bacon and more bacon into a roll of deliciousness. You can cook it on a pellet grill, traditional smoker or over indirect heat on a grill. No matter how you cook it, it is sure to be tasty!

Dinner plate with two slices of bacon explosion, pea salad, and green beans.

If you have never had a bacon fatty before, you can think of it kind of like a bacon meatloaf that is both stuffed with bacon and wrapped in a bacon weave. It has smokey notes, BBQ sauce, and all the bacon your taste buds could hope for.

We have been enjoying bacon explosions for several years. My brother K.C. has been making them for probably at least a decade and he even one a cookoff with his turkey bacon explosion.

But this pork version is the original and it is still our favorite. We originally shared the recipe with my brother’s help back in May of 2015.

Now that we own a pellet smoker it seemed like it was time for me to make one all by myself. It was worth the effort!

Preparing the Bacon Explosion

Start by cooking a pound of bacon until it is crispy. I like to cook bacon in the oven because it is less messy.

Plus I could go ahead and start the next steps while the bacon was cooking. To cook the bacon in the oven, layer it out on a large rimmed baking sheet.

Place the bacon filled baking sheet in a cold oven and shut the door. Turn the oven to 400F and set the timer for 18 minutes.

Sheet pan filled with freshly baked bacon slices and the accompanying bacon grease, ready to be drained and used in the middle of the bacon explosion.

Check the bacon and add a few more minutes if you would like your bacon to be more done. When it is cooked to your liking, move the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

Meanwhile, start your bacon weave. You will want to lay out a piece of wax paper and start by laying about half of the bacon side by side.

Now take the end of every other piece of bacon and pull them back slightly. Lay a piece of bacon going the opposite direction across the remaining pieces of bacon, then lay the pieces of bacon you had pulled back over the new slice of bacon.

Take the pieces of bacon that are under that first piece of bacon and fold them back. Add another slice of bacon and then fold those pieces back down.

Weaving bacon slices with every other crosswise piece of bacon being folded back so a piece of bacon can be inserted going the other way.

Completed bacon weave on top of wax paper, ready to be filled with meat.

Keep adding pieces of bacon, alternating which slices are over or under the new layer of bacon. It sounds complicated, but it really is quite simple. Sprinkle a little bit of BBQ rub over the bacon.

Mix together the sausage and ground pork. Pat it into a rectangle over the bacon weave, leaving an inch border around the edges where there is no ground meat.

Ground pork and sausage mixture patted into a rectangle on top of the bacon weave then topped with BBQ rub and a drizzle of BBQ sauce.

Cooked and crumbled bacon spread over the top of the ground pork, ready to be rolled into the middle of the bacon fatty.

Sprinkle more rub over the meat. Then drizzle with a couple of Tablespoons of BBQ sauce.

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Now crumbled the cooked bacon and spread over the ground meat. Use wax paper to help start rolling the meat.

The bacon weave will roll along with the ground meat, but don’t let it go into the center. Allow the ground pork and sausage mixture to form its own log, then wrap that log in the bacon weave.

Smoking and Serving the Bacon Fatty

Now transfer the whole thing to a preheated smoker or grill. We cooked ours in a PitBoss XL.

Using a pellet smoker helps to keep a nice even temperature and smoke without a lot of work. However, you can cook it in a low smoker or even on a grill over indirect heat.

Bacon fatty wrapped in bacon weave, ready to be put on the smoker.

Child placing perforated grill pan with bacon explosion onto a preheated smoker grate.

Preheat the smoker to 225°F. Place the roll of meat on the smoker with the seam of the bacon weave down.

You can place it directly on the grates, or use a perforated grill pan to make transferring it easier. Cook until the middle of the roll reads about 155-160°F on a meat thermometers.

Brush the top and sides of bacon explosion with your favorite BBQ sauce. We used Blues Hogs rub and sauce because it tastes great and has a nice sheen.

Cooked bacon explosion coated in BBQ sauce, fresh off the smoker.

Cutting board with slices of bacon explosion showing crumbled bacon center, smoked ground pork and sausage layer and barbecued bacon weave exterior.

Continue to cook until the center reaches 165°F. The exact cook time will depend on the thickness of the roll and your exact cooking temperature.

Remove from the smoker and allow to rest for a few minutes. Then cut into 1-inch slices to serve.

Great Side Dish Ideas

It seems like every time we make a bacon explosion, we also make a batch of pea salad. There is just something about the warm rich meat and cool creamy salad that seems to pair well.

Roasted brussels sprouts would also be a nice option. They go so well with bacon, so this is another fun way to pair them without cooking them together.

Close up of slices of bacon explosion served with pea salad and green beans on dinner plate.

Loaded cornbread would be another tasty addition to this meal. Or whip up some deviled egg pasta salad.

If you want to use your smoker more, smoked turkey breast and smoked rabbit are great options.

4.92 from 12 ratings

Bacon Explosion

Author: Carlee

Servings: Servings

This bacon explosion is loaded with bacon goodness just as the name suggests. Whether you call it a fatty or an explosion, this meaty rolled treat is part smoked meatloaf and part something altogether different. It is sure to win any bacon fan over.

Prep: 20

Cook: 2 30

Total: 2 50

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Cook a pound of bacon until crisp. Crumble and set aside.
Basket weave the other pound of bacon. Sprinkle with about a Tablespoon of BBQ rub.
Mix together ground pork and sausage. Spread ground pork mixture over bacon weave. Sprinkle with a little more BBQ rub and drizzle with a couple of tablespoons of BBQ sauce.
1 pound ground pork, 1 pound bulk pork sausage
Spread crumbled bacon over the ground pork. Roll ground pork and cooked bacon into a tight roll. Then roll the basket weaved bacon over the ground pork roll.
If using a pellet grill, preheat to 225°F. Otherwise prepare your smoker or light a grill and set up for indirect heat.
Cook seem side down either directly on the grates or on a perforated grill pan. When the internal temperature reaches 155-160°F brush with additional BBQ sauce.
Continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. The total cook time on our smoker was 1 hour and 45 minutes. The exact time will depend on how thick your bacon explosion is, the exact temperature it is being cooked at, and how often you open the lid.
Let rest for a few minutes, then slice and serve.