Wuffy has been taunting  chrismukkah about making something special with bacon this Labor Day weekend. Well, here it is! The (in)famous BACON EXPLOSION!

There are many of them on the web, but this is Vrghr's! *grin*

The basic recipe for all of them goes like this: Weave a mat of bacon, season it, cover it with sausage, put more bacon (and other stuffing ingredients) on top, season that, add some BBQ sauce, roll the sausage up into a log, roll the sausage log up in the bacon weave, bake it, and paint it with BBQ sauce a few times. DEVOUR!

Vrghr's recipe follows along the lines of the basic template, with a couple minor adjustments and special "wuffy touches". Wuff also learned some things from making this, so those lessons will be included here.

Special wuffy touches:
- Baked it in a smoker for lots of pungent, smoky flavor and moisture
- Made a batch of Caramelized Onions to go on top of the sausage along with the bacon.
- Used a combination of 3 types of sausage for more complex, deeper flavors
- Made sure one of the sausages used was "Bacon Lovers" version, for even more BACON-ness
- Sliced and served it as sandwiches on top of sliced, toasted Ciabatta rolls
- Slathered it with BACON JAM, for ULTIMATE BACON LEVELS (recipe for the jam is here: ( http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21055727/ )

Lessons Learned:
- Put a layer of tinfoil under your bacon weave. Makes rolling things up and transporting the loaf to the cooker FAR easier
- Put a layer or waxed paper or plastic wrap on top of the bacon weave before putting on the sausage. FAR easier to roll up the sausage log and form it! Use the paper/plastic to roll it, instead of trying to manipulate just the meat
- If using a smoker (lower heat cooker), you may want to bake your bacon weave in a conventional oven for a bit first. If you bake the explosion on a grill or oven, it will crisp up the bacon more than in the lower heat of the smoker. Pre-baking it helps that along
- Smokers take a lot longer to finish the job than a grill or conventional oven (but wuff thinks its worth it)
- Let the explosion rest at least 10 minutes after cooking for temps to stabilize and the meat to firm up
- A quick-read thermometer is your friend with this dish. You want the interior in the middle to hit 160 degrees F. Carry-over heating during the resting stage will pull it up to 165 or above, for the right "done-ness" for pork sausage
- A sweet and full bodied, tomato and molasses or similar BBQ sauce works best on this. Famous Dave's Sweet & Zesty, KC Masterpiece, Sweet Kentucky Bourbon, etc., are good examples. Vinegar or Mustard-based sauces aren't what you want here.

Ingredients:
10-14 strips of thick-cut bacon for the Weave (~1.5 LB)
12 oz roll of Jimmy Dean's Bacon Lover's Sausage
8 oz ground Breakfast Sausage
~5 oz ground Hot Italian Sausage
~2-3 tsp Smooth Moove BBQ seasoning (or your fav low-salt BBQ rub) ( https://www.amazon.com/Obie-Cues-Sm...../dp/B005HZQ6TC )

For the stuffings:
1 lb good smoked Bacon, chopped up
1 C BBQ Sauce
~2 tsp Smooth Moove BBQ Seasoning (or your fav rub)
~12 oz grated Mexican Combo Cheese

For the Caramelized Onions
2-3 large Yellow Onions, diced
2 TBS minced Garlic
2 TBS Butter
1 TBS reserved Bacon Fat
~1/3 C White Wine
1 Tbs Sugar (optional)
~1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Ciabatta Rolls (for sandwiches)
Melted Butter
BBQ Sauce
Bacon Jam

Directions:
Fry up the bacon for the interior to get bacon grease for the onions
In a large heavy skillet or Dutch Oven, over high heat, fry the chopped bacon until it gets pretty foamy and relatively crisp
Strain off the bacon and reserve the grease
DON'T CLEAN OUT THE PAN - SAVE THE FOND FOR FLAVORING THE ONIONS!

Start the Caramelized Onions - they take a while to cook
In the same skillet or Dutch Oven used for the bacon, over high heat, melt the butter and add 1 TBS bacon fat.
Add the onion and cook till translucent (about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute or two
Lower the heat to medium, or medium high. Add the baking soda and stir it in (this changes the PH and makes the onions caramelize easier). Add the sugar if using (also improves and speeds caramelization).
Continue to cook, stirring every 10-15 minutes or so, until the onions reach a deep brown caramel color and sweet, jam-like consistency.
NOTE: You may need to lower the heat as they cook. As the liquids reduce, the onions can scorch if the heat is too high.
When the onions are the proper color, deglaze the pan with the white wine. Stir up all the fond and incorporate it into the onions. Allow to continue cooking until most all of the wine is gone.

Create the Explosion
Place a layer of heavy foil down on your work surface. It should be at least 6 inches wider than the length of your bacon
Weave a nice tight mat of bacon on top of the center of the foil. Depending on the length and width of your bacon, you will want at least a 5X5 mat, but it may take more to get a nice square. Vrghr's bacon needed a 7X7 weave
Season the bacon with your BBQ seasoning/rub

Place a layer of waxed paper or plastic wrap on top of the bacon weave
Mix the three types of sausage together in a medium bowl, until they are homogeneous and fully combined
Using the bacon mat for size reference, spread the sausage in a thin, even layer across the bacon, leaving about 1/2 inch or so at both left and right sides
Season the sausage with your BBQ seasoning/rub

Spread the caramelized onions evenly over the sausage. Do the same with the crispy bacon. Cover the bacon with about 2/3 - 1 C of your BBQ sauce. Cover that with an even layer of the grated cheese.

Using the plastic wrap/waxed paper to aid you, roll the sausage from right to left (the direction you left the extra bacon ends sticking out), into a log with the stuffing spiraled in the middle. Use the paper/wrap to cover it, and squeeze it gently to seal and bind the sausage.

Remove the wrap/paper and place the sausage log back onto the bacon weave. Using the foil to aid you, roll the weave up around the sausage log. Squeeze it gently to set and bind the bacon
If you wish, you can sprinkle the outside of the bacon with a bit more seasoning rub

If smoking - roll the edges of the foil up to help act as "handles" to support the explosion. Place foil and log in the center of your smoker and smoke at ~225 for ~3 hours, or until the interior center reads ~160 degrees
At the 90 minute point, and again at 2 1/2 hours, baste the outside of the explosion with your chosen BBQ sauce

If baking in a conventional oven - Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the explosion on roasting rack or cookie cooling rack over a lipped pan to catch the grease. You want to lift the log out of the grease it will create
Baste with your BBQ sauce
Bake on center rack until interior center temperature reads ~160 degrees (check at ~90 minutes. Will probably need about 2 hours)
Baste with more sauce at ~ 1 hour

When interior reaches ~160 degrees, remove from cooking source. Wrap up in foil and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.

While Explosion is resting, slice ciabatta rolls in half to make top and bottom buns. Paint with a bit of melted butter. Broil until they are just barely starting to toast.
Remove from broiler and paint top and bottoms with a bit of your BBQ sauce

Carve a slice of the Bacon Explosion, place on top of half a Ciabatta roll. Slather with bacon jam, and top with the remaining slice of Ciabatta bread

Side with your preferred BBQ goodies (potato salad, macaroni salad, etc)

!!DEVOUR!!