See how to smoke bacon on the Traeger Pellet Grill. Smoked bacon slices are a fast smoker recipe and great for breakfast or as a topping for smoked burgers. Let’s make it…
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Table of Contents
Why this smoking bacon recipe is so good…
- Simple – 2 ingredients!
- Smoke bacon hot and fast… It’s ready in about 30 minutes.
- Unbelievably tasty.
- New to smoked foods? See my step by step video for beginners (scroll to bottom of page).
Warning about smoked bacon on the Traeger
FYI – I find smoking bacon leads to the pellet grill dripping grease so you might want to keep an eye on it, and below the grill particularly if you’re using a Traeger.
In my experience, it often drips bacon grease between the two front wheels so I’ve personally gotten used to sticking an extra grill liner / foil / baking sheet down there to catch it.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make homemade bacon smoked to perfection.
- Pack of bacon strips (grocery store bacon is fine).
- Olive oil to grease the grates (the wire rack) so the bacon doesn’t stick.
- OPTIONAL – Want to change it up a little? Add a sprinkle of brown sugar for candied bacon.
How to smoke bacon on the pellet grill
Now I’ll walk you through it…
Quick look at this recipe
- Preheat smoker and brush grill grates with oil.
- Add bacon to grill grates (without a cast iron pan or sheet tray).
- Smoke bacon 20-30 minutes, until done.
Detailed step-by-step
- Preheat Traeger Grills or Pit Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 300 degrees F. I’ve found this is the best temperature for making bacon so it’s crisp, full of smoky flavor, and cooks quickly. At this time, spray or brush grill grates with oil so the bacon doesn’t stick when cooking. You’ll cook it directly on smoker grates.
- Prep bacon for smoking. Remove from packaging – yup, that’s it! Pretty simple.
- Smoke bacon at 300 degrees F. Place bacon directly on greased grill grates and let them cook for 20-30 minutes, until they are done to your desired level of crispy-ness and internal temperature. (I do NOT find the need to flip bacon halfway through, but often pieces are done faster / slower based on their placement in the grill.)
- Remove bacon and enjoy. NOTE – I usually find it cools within a few minutes and is ready to eat quickly. You can cool it on a paper towel lined plate if desired, or a cooling rack, but I don’t find smoked bacon to be overly greasy because the grease drips off while smoking.
Top smoked burgers, a side of smoked mac and cheese, or smoked baked potatoes with your smoky bacon.
Or make something like a double smoked bacon Starbucks copycat breakfast with my perfect scrambled eggs recipe.
FAQs
We love Traeger Hickory Pellets or Applewood for bacon on the smoker. It has a stronger flavor than something like Traeger Cherry Wood Pellets. Lighter flavored pellets are better for lighter foods, like smoked scallops or smoked shrimp.
No – that’s at 400 degrees F, this bacon is smoked at 300 degrees F.
Favorite smoker recipes with bacon
These are great dishes with smoked bacon IN them, or ON them…
- Smoked mac and cheese with bacon topping
- Onion rings wrapped in bacon on the smoker
- Smoked bacon wrapped meatloaf
- Smoked bacon wrapped pork tenderloin
- Jalapeno poppers smoked wrapped with bacon
- Smoked mashed potatoes
- Smoked baked potatoes
- Smoked burger
- “Juicy Lucy” smoked bacon wrapped burgers
- Smoked bacon
- Traeger smoked pork belly burnt ends
More Tasty Grill + Smoker Recipes
- Smoked mac and cheese
- Smoked cream cheese
- Smoked brisket flat
- 321 ribs
- Beer can chicken on the smoker
- Smoked wings
- Smoked tomahawk steak
- Traeger tri tip
- Smoked turkey breast
- Whole smoked turkey
- Smoked Traeger pizza
- Smoked onion rings
- Traeger smoked ham
- Smoked whole chicken
- Smoked jalapeno poppers
- Smoked corn on the cob
- Traeger beef ribs
- Smoked leg of lamb
- Smoked shrimp
- Grilled chicken wings
- Grilled skirt steak
- Flank steak marinade
- Grilled potato wedges
- Smoked pulled pork
- Want more? See my lineup of easy smoker recipes
See my favorite smoker tools and seasonings in my Amazon Storefront.
Meat thermometer recommendations
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill.
It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
Meat thermometer recommendations
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill.
It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
Are you a foodie, too?
Hey home chefs, hope that answers all your questions about smoker bacon slices. In the future, I want to share more about curing bacon, using prague powder and/or curing salt, and more. There’s also a smoked pork belly recipe in the works.
If you don’t follow me on instagram you totally should @sipbitego. And for more deliciousness, subscribe to the Sip Bite Go channel and see the Sip Bite Go recipe collection.
Traeger Smoked Bacon Slices Recipe | Sip Bite Go
Ingredients
- 12 oz bacon strips
- 2 tsp olive oil for greasing grill grates
Instructions
- Preheat Traeger Grills or Pit Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 300 degrees F. I’ve found this is the best temperature to smoke bacon so it’s crisp, full of smoky flavor, and cooks quickly. At this time, spray or brush grill grates with oil so the bacon doesn’t stick when cooking. You’ll cook bacon directly on smoker grates.
- Prep bacon for smoking. Remove from packaging – yup, that’s it! Pretty simple.
- Smoke bacon at 300 degrees F. Place bacon directly on greased grill grates and smoked for 20-30 minutes, until it’s done to your desired level of crispy-ness and internal temperature. (I do NOT find the need to flip bacon halfway through, but often pieces are done faster / slower based on their placement in the grill.) WARNING – I find smoking bacon leads to the pellet grill dripping grease so you might want to keep an eye on it, and below your smoker if you’re using a Traeger. In my experience, it often drips bacon grease between the two front wheels so I’ve personally gotten used to sticking an extra grill liner / foil down there to catch it.
- Remove smoked bacon and enjoy. NOTE – I usually find it cools within a few minutes and is ready to eat quickly. You can cool it on a paper towel lined plate if desired, or a cooling rack, but I don’t find smoked bacon to be overly greasy because the bacon grease drips off while smoking.
Video
Notes
Watch the full-length YouTube recipe video for Traeger smoked bacon on Sip Bite Go’s YouTube channel.
Aiden says
Doesn’t cook in 30 minutes.