Star trib article

[Gordie]

I read a great atricle in the trib today.

It was called Hunt,Gather, Cook

it was a bout a Minnesota Native that wrote a cook book called Trout Caviar

very intresting read the Authors name was Brett Laidlaw.

there was a Q and A portion and this was great and My favorite one was:

Q.. What is it with you and bacon?

A.. Me and everybody else, you mean? I just took a chunk of home-smoked bacon out of the freezer to take to the cabin this weekend. Once you discover the stupidly simple ease3 of making it, I dont know why you wouldn't want to have it on hand. Besides, its a flavor bomb, it brings a smokiness and a savor to everythingit touches. All you need is a grill. I don't call it smoking. I call it"cooking pork belly slowly in a grill with smoke" because thats what it is.

I think this guys has got my vote for President and Eric Wettshreck can be his Vice President

I dont often read the paper but this just caught my eye and thought it was great.

[reinhard1]

i would make Erick a Qzar of bacon and beverages. i personaly dont know anyone who doesn't like bacon. yesterday for example i made spareribs with my german krout and bacon mix. bacon goes from beans to wraped in hotdogs to fillet mignon. coveres it all. good luck.

[deerminator]

And who can forget BLTs. I am not kidding when I say we'll do through a whole package of bacon when eating BLTs for supper. Largely due to our 4 and 7 year old who are quite skinny. We watch it with them in terms of what they eat but they love bacon and BLTs are a special treat for them. One of their favorite meals in fact!

[ThunderLund78]

As comedian Jim Gaffigan says: "Bacon is the pixy dust of the food world!"

[Eric Wettschreck]

There are some truely wonderful things in life, and bacon is top 10.

Fillets a little mushy? Add bacon. House smell bad? Cook some bacon. Car not running right? Put a strip of bacon on the intake. Got a sliver that won't come out? Rub some bacon on it. I could go on and on but I think yous fellas get the point.

You could roll an old gym sock in bacon, slap it on the weber, and it would be wonderful. Add a pound of butter and an ice cold PBR and it's a little slice of heaven right here on Earth.

I have a bacon scented air freshener hanging from the rear view in my car.

I could handle being vice pres of the bacon world.

[reinhard1]

LMAO. good luck.

[Leaky]

I buy the large packages of smoked bacon ends and freeze in portions. It's far less expensive and works great for things like potato or slit pea soup,spaghetti, beans, casseroles, ect. ect.

[Mike89]

bacon, goooooood!!!!

[Gordie]

I could handle being vice pres of the bacon world.

Greatest quote of 2011

next to I'll have a piece of the bacon wrapped deep fried butter

[Eric Wettschreck]

After a little ice time yesterday I came home and hung my new Ice Armor suit on a coat hook in the kitchen.

This morning the missus made breakfast.

Now my new suit smells like bacon.

Fellas, life is good!!!!!!

[gonefishing70]

I do not think I would like it because it is diet. would like the bacon flavor though.

[eyeguy 54]

I do not think I would like it because it is diet. would like the bacon flavor though.

nice! lol

[eyeguy 54]

Everything is better with Bacon, even Bacon!.

[delcecchi]

Recipe from another web site. Take an extra statin before reading.

For the weber smokey mountain.

Bacon - Pig Candy

Summary

Buy good quality, thick-sliced bacon.

Prepare the brown sugar and cayenne pepper topping.

Arrange bacon on a broiler pan.

Cook for 20 minutes at 300-350°F.

Turn bacon, apply topping, and cook another 20-30 minutes or until done.

In 2003, several members of The xxxxx Bulletin Board posted messages about something called "pig candy"--bacon that's baked with a brown sugar topping. It's a decadent treat for special occasions like a holiday brunch.

There are similar recipes on the Web like glazed bacon from Martha Stewart Living . I've also seen recipes with the addition of crushed pecans to the brown sugar mix, and recipes using maple syrup instead of brown sugar.

Arrange Bacon On A Broiler Pan

Buy good quality, thick-sliced bacon and arrange it on a broiler pan so the bacon fat drains during cooking.

Before starting, make sure the WSM lid fits over your broiler pan while sitting on the top cooking grate.

I splurged on Niman Ranch Uncured Center Cut Bacon, which has already been apple wood smoked. The 12-ounce package filled the broiler pan, as shown here.

I used a broiler pan because I like to wash the cooking grate after each use, and I felt washing a sugary broiler pan would be easier. If you clean your grates by burning them off in a gas grill, you can cook the bacon directly on the top cooking grate, with an empty, foil-lined water pan below to catch the drippings.

Prepare The Brown Sugar Topping

Place 1/2 cup of light brown sugar (packed) and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a bowl, mix thoroughly, and set aside.

This small amount of cayenne will provide the slightest bit of heat; if you like more heat, use more cayenne.

Fire The Cooker

Light one full chimney of Kingsford charcoal briquettes. When the coals are hot, spread them out in the charcoal chamber and assemble the cooker.

Do not put the water pan in the cooker.

If you are using a good quality smoked bacon, there's no reason to add smoke wood to the fire.

Open the top and bottom vents fully and leave them that way throughout the cooking process.

Cook The Bacon

Put the broiler pan on the top cooking grate. The cooker should be running between 300-350°F. After 20 minutes, turn the bacon. If the slices at the ends of the pan are cooking faster than those in the middle, swap them.

Sprinkle the brown sugar topping on the bacon, making sure each slice is evenly coated. I used the entire 1/2 cup of topping, which gave a nice coating to each piece, and the excess just melted away. Other recipes I've seen use 1/2 cup brown sugar for 1-3/4 pounds of bacon--over twice as much bacon as I cooked here--so you be the judge of how far you want to stretch the topping.

Cook the bacon another 20-30 minutes, depending on how hot the cooker is running, until done to your liking.

Here's how the cooker temperatures and vent settings went during the cooking process.

Time Lid

Temp Vent 1

% Vent 2

% Vent 3

%

12:45pm - 100 100 100

12:50pm 315 100 100 100

1:00pm 330 100 100 100

1:05pm(t) 330 100 100 100

1:15pm 335 100 100 100

1:25pm 332 100 100 100

1:30pm 330 100 100 100

(t) turned bacon over and applied topping

Note that the vent percentages represent the way I set the vents at the time indicated.

Bacon after cooking

Pig candy is sweet and delicious, and that little bit of cayenne gets your attention without being overwhelming.

If you're serving pig candy to your guests at a buffet-style brunch, you may wish to cut the slices in half using kitchen shears. However, there's nothing wrong with enjoying whole slices...How sweet it is!

[reinhard1]

thanks Del!!!! i think that would go with a lot of things. just by itself would be a treat however. thanks. good luck.

[BuckmasterG]

My God does that Pig Candy look good! I will have to try this when I'm not too lazy or have the patience to put an hour or 2 into waiting to eat my bacon