What makes a meatloaf exceptional? Being stuffed with cheddar, wrapped in bacon and then smoked. Credit has to go to our neighbors who do a bang up job cooking things in their smoker! They made a smoked bacon bomb one day and Kev and I were pretty sold on the idea. I put a few unique touches on it and now have recommendations for future ones here for you!
Smoked Bacon Bomb Ingredients
For a smoked bacon bomb that will serve four adults, see my shopping list below.
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 2.5 to 3-pounds ground beef (90/10 is my suggestion)
- 12 ounces of raw bacon
- 1 cup thinly shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup diced red onion
- Salt and pepper
- For smoker: Hickory wood chips and apple wood chips
- For smoker: Apple cider vinegar
General Tips
- Don’t use overly lean beef, fat keeps it juicy while cooking
- The breadcrumb mixture keeps the meat together, use more if needed
- If you bought a really lean beef just add more milk/egg to the mix, they add moisture during cooking
- Have all ingredients out and accessible before you start handling the meats to avoid washing your hands repeatedly
Setting Up Your Ingredients
Use a large cutting board or clean counter spot for the meatloaf assembly.
In a medium bowl, whisk the breadcrumbs, milk and egg until combined.
Pre Heat the Smoker
Before you start assembling the bacon bomb set your smoker to 225 degrees. Preheating takes about 10 minutes so it’ll be ready to go when your loaf is. For flavor, Kevin uses hickory and apple wood chips with apple cider vinegar instead of water in the smoker during cooking.
Pro Tip: If you plan to smoke other meats at all, this bigger bag of hickory chips will be great to have on hand because hickory is basically a base flavor for meat smoking!
Stuffing and Cooking Your Smoked Bacon Bomb
The bacon bomb is essentially a stuffed, wrapped meatloaf. So you want the beef to stick together, similar to a meatloaf. Since I stuffed this though, I made two halves instead of one large loaf.
1. Knead in bits of the breadcrumb mixture and red onions evenly. Roll the loaf until breadcrumb mixture and onions are well mixed. Save a few pinches of breadcrumb mixture for later.
2. Salt and pepper your meatloaf to taste. Personally, I don’t use salt, but it’s about your preference. I add a healthy shake of pepper to mine.
3. Shape each half with a little cove for the cheese in the middle.
4. Add cheese to the cove on one half and cover with the other half.
5. Use remaining breadcrumb mixture on edges as you mold them together to seal.
6. If you haven’t already, open the bacon and separate several pieces for easy access as you wrap. Having never done this before, wrapping the bacon was my most challenging step so prep is key.
7. Begin wrapping the loaf a few inches from one end towards the middle. It’s harder to wrap the ends on a curve so I started about one strip’s worth into the loaf, then went across the middle to the other end. Afterwards I came back and wrapped the other end.
Pro Tip: DO NOT overlap the bacon heavily! The edges will touch and slightly overlap, that’s fine, but straight up covering pieces with other pieces is going to cause them to cook unevenly. No one wants to eat raw bacon!
8. Once your bacon bomb is fully assembled place it directly onto the rack of the smoker, centered. Cook time is approximately one hour per pound. Done temperature is when the loaf hits 180 degrees at the center.
9. Once your bacon bomb is fully cooked slide it off the rack onto a very stable surface (i.e. cutting board or heavy plate, beware of flimsy cookie sheets, etc. this sucker is heavy) using a spatula or other item.
10. Let the loaf cool for 5 minutes. Slice generously and serve!
Serving Your Finished Bacon Bomb
We didn’t need ketchup or sauce because the smoker and onions give it an amazing level of flavor. However, use whatever you like and serve alongside your favorite sides!
Personally, I think my Cooper’s Hawk copycat Sriracha Aioli Brussels Sprouts (pictured above) are the PERFECT balance of greens for the your meat and cheese. But any favorite side dish will do!
