September 9, 2022
Breakfast

How To Cook Bacon On A Pellet Smoker

Learn how to cook the best bacon and double smoke it on a pellet smoker. A simple way to create tasty bacon without turning on the oven.

This double smoked bacon recipe is the perfect addition to your breakfast lineup using your outdoor pellet grill.

If you’re an avid backyard pitmaster and you enjoy any excuse to fire up the smoker, this will be your new favorite way to hot smoke bacon for an early morning tailgate or just breakfast for friends and family.

The beauty of not cooking in a cast iron skillet on the stove, in the air fryer, or even turning on the oven is that the lingering smell of bacon isn’t sticking around your house hours later, and you get extra smokiness added to the bacon.

Get all the helpful smoking tips and techniques for making bacon on the grill by reading through the article below. Let’s dive in!

Why This Recipe Works:

Smokers are very similar to ovens. They use indirect dry heat to cook and render the bacon fat, but with the addition of smoke.

This works well for cured pork, I even double smoke ham on my Big Green Egg as well.

Now, pre-packaged bacon that you buy from the store has already been cured and smoked. This is a recipe specifically for cooking the bacon so it’s double smoked (adding more smoky flavor)

Supplies Needed

Large Baking Pan
Aluminum Foil or Parchment Paper
Wire Rack
Tongs
Paper Towels
Electric Smoker (Traeger grills, Pit Boss, Yoder, etc.)

What Is Bacon?

Besides being delicious, bacon simply is cured pork belly. Pork belly comes from the belly of the pig (thus the name). The pork belly slab goes through a process called curing, but could also be dry brined.

The curing process is similar to the method used for other fatty, rich meats like ham and salami. Curing is essentially the preservation of food using sodium nitrite, which allows for longer storage without refrigeration.

To produce bacon, pork bellies are seasoned with salt and nitrites and then injected repeatedly over several weeks with a curing solution that includes sodium nitrate as well as brown sugar or maple syrup, to give it sweetness and flavor.

This recipe is for cooking store-bought bacon specifically on your pellet smoker (charcoal smoker works too) and isn’t a recipe to cure a pork belly slab. If you’re looking to make homemade bacon entirely from scratch, check out this recipe for cold-smoking pork belly.

Ingredients:

Thick-Cut Bacon (pick your favorite bacon or flavors like apple wood, maple bacon, brown sugar, etc.)

That’s it! All you need to make bacon is bacon. Buy whichever type of bacon you prefer, but find something that is thicker cut. This allows for additional time to get more smoke flavor into the pork.

If you’re looking to add additional flavors to your bacon slices, I recommend sprinkling on a low sodium dry rub or even just adding a little smoky paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper.

Like the bacon a little sweeter? Brush on some maple syrup, honey, or brown sugar as well. You can also try my keto candied bacon recipe and use that on the smoker too!

Raw bacon prepped for smoking on the pellet grill

Preparation And Smoking Tips:

Cooking bacon is very straightforward, but here are some essential tips for hot smoking bacon on your grill.

Start with cold bacon straight from the fridge. The colder the better! This helps with rendering the fat (for crispier bacon) as well and allows for a smokey flavor because it cooks on the grill longer.
Don’t smoke the bacon directly on the grill grates. While you can if you really want to, the best way is to use a foil rimmed baking sheet and wire rack over the top. Lay each strip of thick cut bacon over the wire cooling rack in a single layer. This allows for the smoky air to circulate through the grill and cook the bacon. The bacon grease is collected underneath and you avoid a huge mess and any potential for a grease fire.
Add any additional seasonings to the strips of bacon before smoking. Avoid rubs with extra kosher salt so it’s not too salty.
Always start with a full preheated grill. Place bacon onto the smoker rack and allow it to cook until the desired doneness.
Use fruit-based wood pellets for smoking. I like cherry or apple pellets best. However, if you want a stronger flavor (pellet smokers don’t often give you as intense of a smoke flavor) use hickory or even mesquite to step it up a notch here.

Bacon on foil lined baking sheet on a pellet smoker

What Temperature Do You Smoke Bacon At?

Smoke bacon at medium heat between 325-350 degrees F. This is a lower temperature than I would often cook bacon when using the oven (usually between 400-425 F.).

This slower smoking process over indirect heat allows for the fat to render slowly and will create both slightly chewy yet crispy bacon as an end result. You won’t need to flip the bacon at all once it’s on the smoker unless you want to season the other side with additional spices or sugars during the cooking process.

How Long Does It Take To Smoke Bacon?

Cook time will vary depending on the thickness of the bacon and additional variables (like hot spots on your smoker, etc.). When smoking at 350 F. I find that the bacon takes about 40-45 minutes to get crispy enough that the fat has rendered but is still slightly chewy.

It’s not necessary to mess with the internal temperature when cooking bacon this way, just cook to the desired level of doneness you prefer.

Crispy cooked bacon after double smoking

Serving And Storage:

When the bacon is cooked to your liking, remove it from the smoker grates and place it on paper towels to remove any excess grease. Store leftover smoked bacon in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days after smoking.

Serve your bacon with your favorite side of eggs, some delicious pancakes, or French toast.

Looking for some other bacon friendly breakfast recipes you can throw onto the smoker? Check out this recipe for a smoked breakfast fatty (a delicious bacon wrapped sausage and egg filled creation you have to try). Don’t have a smoker? Follow this recipe for how to bake bacon for an easy alternative.

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