Chipotle Bacon Bombs on a Stick

Patti and I are still working on a few treats to serve “Off The Grill”. We will be at the Weekly Tasting Event at Craft Brewing Company in Lake Elsinore, Ca. Can’t wait, it sounds like fun with plenty of good beer involved so we are right on it.

With us, it has to be something smoked off the grill. A great start for anything we come up with. How about Chipotle Bacon Bombs on a Stick? We let our “Crash Test Dummies” try these out and they were a huge hit. There were no survivors…and no need for the main course. We all could have just eaten these for hours.

Patti got me a 10 pound bag of the best frozen meatballs she could find. She wrapped them with a strip of bacon and put them on skewers. Liking things with a little ZING I gave them a good sprinkling of Jac’s Tailgaters Smokin’ Dust Chipotle Seasoning and used Grandville’s Cajun BBQ Jam. Grandville’s Cajun is about a 6 or 7 in ZING for most folks.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Grill: Royall 3000 Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker

Pellets: Hickory

Ingredients: Chipotle Bacon Bombs

24 frozen pre-cooked beef (or turkey) meatballs, thawed (you can do more or less)

1 lb. bacon, sliced in half (for a little added spice use peppered bacon)

Bamboo skewers, soaked in water

Smokin’ Dust Chipotle Seasoning by Jac’s Tailgaters

Grandville’s Cajun BBQ Jam

Wrap a meatball in bacon

Then, onto a Skewer

Directions: Chipotle Bacon Bombs

Cut bacon in half, I find that kitchen shears are the easiest for cutting bacon. Then, take a piece of bacon and wrap it around the meatball and slide it on to a bamboo skewer to hold it in place.

Then, season to taste. You can use whatever you like and as much. I like Jac’s Tailgaters Smokin’ Dust Chipotle Seasoning. Put them on a platter and head for the grill. I let them “Smoke” for 30 minutes before turning the heat up to 350 for about 15 minutes or so. This is when you crisp them up and add the Grandville’s Cajun BBQ Jam. This gave Ken & Robert time for a few beers.

A good dusting with Jac’s and off to the grill!

Cooking Directions: Royall Wood Pellet Grill

Open the lid and set the dial to “180”, after about five minutes shut the lid. Give it about 10 minutes to heat up. Patti has lined the drip pan with foil for me, it makes for easier clean up. Place your meatball skewers directly onto the grill and just let them hang out in the smoke and get happy for 30 minutes or so.

After 30 minutes, turn the digital control up to 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Then brush them with your BBQ sauce, roll them and brush them again. Leave them on at 350 until the bacon is crisp, about 10 minutes or so. This is when the bacon gets crisp and the sauce does its magic. 

Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need follow closely like when you are making bread, but most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like.

On the Royall 3000 Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker

Directions: Gas Grill
Preparing Grill: Medium- Low Indirect Heat

Preheat your grill to medium heat (250-300) and turn off one side so you will be cooking with indirect heat here for about 45 minutes, or until your bacon is crisp. Add your wet hickory chips over the fire and oil the grill. A cooking spray is easiest for this. (Note: you can add your hickory directly to the grill or you can use foil smoke packets.(Two handfuls wet chips and one dry, fold foil into a packet, poke holes in it with a fork and you’re good to go.)

Note: I use a spray bottle when cooking on the grill filled with a Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke mix that keeps things moist and adds tons of flavors. (Mix is 3 parts Worcestershire with 1 part liquid smoke)

Preparing Charcoal Grill

Get the grill ready, you will want your temperature of around 250-300 degrees. Remember, you are going Medium Indirect Heat here for about 45 minutes, or until your bacon is crisp. Bank your coals over to one side of your grill. Add your “drained wood chips” and you are good to go. Your cooking times and temps will be the same as above.

Let’s Eat

About our Recipes

We do our recipes on our patio where we have a lineup of grills, including Royall Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker, Traeger, Char Griller side box smoker, Charmglow, Char-Broil, The Big Easy, Brinkman and Weber. I call it our “Wall of Grill”. Our grilling styles are healthy and low fat and will fit pellet heads, gas, natural wood and even charcoal purists. Almost any of our recipes can be done on any kind of good BBQ.

The important thing to keep in mind is TIME & TEMPERATURE. You can even do some of them in the oven or crock pot, but, then you lose all the flavors you get from cooking outdoors. But sometimes it does rain.

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste.

Take it and run with it….

Live your Passion,

Ken & Patti

http://datenightdoins.com

For REAL GOOD BBQ Jam check out Grandville’s Gourmet BBQ Jam 

Steve 360 943 2861 @ www.grandvillesbbqsauces.com

For info on Jac’s Tailgaters Seasoning

www.jacstailgaters.com