Chocolate Covered Bacon = Choco-Bacon

So I have been getting a ton of emails and comments from my friends that I have failed to make a bacon dessert.  So I decided to make chocolate covered bacon.  Salty and sweet and 100 percent awesome!!!  Before I started, I discussed the possibilities of chocolate bacon with my friend Jeff and his sister Spud.  Spud had a some insight into the process behind chocolate covered bacon.  She told me that the bacon had to be extremely crispy and the chocolate tasted better when it was dark chocolate as opposed to milk chocolate.  So I picked up a pound of bacon and 8 ozs of Ghirardelli.

I must admit that the salty sweet factor in choco-bacon is a great combination.

Choco-Bacon

• 1 lb thick cut bacon
• 8 oz dark chocolate – at least 60% cacao

The key to great choco-bacon is super crispy bacon.  The only way to cook a ton of bacon and have it cook evenly is to bake it in the oven.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and then place a rack in the pan.  Next place the bacon on the rack in a single layer.

If you don’t have a rack you can place the bacon directly on the aluminum foil, but you will have to flip the bacon a couple of times during cooking.  The rack eliminates the need to flip the bacon as the grease just drips below the pan.

Cook the bacon for 20-40 minutes.  This depends on the thickness of the bacon and if you are using a rack or not.  The bacon cooks a lot faster when it is not on a  rack.  Cook the bacon till it is browned and crispy.  The time between perfectly cooked and burnt is about a minute, so make sure to keep an eye on the bacon.

Remove the bacon from the rack or pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels.  Allow the bacon to completely cool.

While the bacon is cooling setup your double boiler or place a tempered glass bowl over a pot of simmering water.  Then cut up the dark chocolate into small pieces. We will need to temper the chocolate so that it is glossy and hardens at room temperature.

Place 2/3rds of the chocolate into the double boiler.  Stir until melted.  Check the temperature with a candy thermometer or an instant read thermometer.  Don’t let the dark chocolate exceed 115 degrees.  When the chocolate reaches 110 degrees remove it from the heat, wipe the bottom of the bowl or double boiler and then continue stirring.

Add the remaining chocolate and continue to stir.  Stir until the chocolate reaches 85 degrees.  If there are any chunks of chocolate that have failed to melt, remove them from the chocolate.

Now place the bowl or double boiler back over the heat for 10 seconds, remove from the heat and then start dipping the bacon into the chocolate.  Place the bacon in the bowl and using a spoon drizzle the chocolate over the bacon.

Once the bacon is covered, allow the loose chocolate to fall off the bacon strip.

Place the coated strips of bacon on a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper to all the chocolate to cool and harden.  To speed up the cooling process you can place the choco-bacon bars in the refrigerator.

When the chocolate has cooled and hardened, place the bacon strips in a seal-able plastic container until you are ready to eat.  If it is warm where you live, you may want to store it in the refrigerator.

Salty and Sweet, these are the perfect candy treat.  Didn’t mean to make a rhyme but it works. You have to give this a try.  It is awesome!!