Nothing fancy, but I was asked to bring some food for a backyard cookout at a friend's house tomorrow. I decided to go with a Bacon Explosion (for the novelty factor) and a 10-pack of hot Italian links. Sadly, three sausages were destined to feed myself and a much more petite young lady, served on pretzel hotdog buns with spicy mustard and some fresh cut home fries.
The Bacon Explosion followed a simple process: one pound of bulk Italian sausage, rolled flat in a Ziploc bag and firmed up in the freezer; two pounds of thick cut bacon, sixteen strips forming a simple woven "meat mat" and the other pieces being baked in the oven (375 for 20 minutes, broiled for four minutes) and then diced; the diced bacon, along with some Sweet Baby Ray's and homemade rub over the top of the sausage "plank", then rolled into a log and dusted with more rub, then rolled inside the "meat mat" and dusted yet again. Simple, no?
The Bacon Explosion, along with the link sausages, were put in a cold smoker at 225 with three oz. of apple wood. I pulled the Bacon Explosion at 155 (3.0 hours) and the sausage at 2.25 hours when they hit their target temp of 155 as well. I let them cool a bit and then wrapped and placed in the refrigerator until tomorrow. Both will be reheated in a 275 degree oven tomorrow afternoon and the Bacon Explosion will be slathered with the sauce, brought to 165 internal, and then briefly broiled to give it some color.
On the Italian sausage, this is a nice change from beer brats or hot dogs so I recommend the technique. If you're smoking them to freeze, I'd recommend a quick shock in an ice water bath so they won't shrivel during the freezing process.
