If you haven’t made bacon on a pellet grill yet, you’re in for a treat. Bacon cooked over the wood smoke of a pellet grill like a Traeger, Pit Boss or Camp Chef is smoky, crispy and amazingly flavorful.
Thick-sliced bacon cooks low and slow on the grill so the texture is crisp and tender, never tough. The smoke from the pellet grill adds another layer of flavor that is simply incredible. These tips will help you grill bacon on a pellet smoker that your friends and family will go crazy for!
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Why This Recipe is Worth Making
Think it’s impossible to improve on the savory, delicious flavor of crispy bacon?
I made this pellet grill bacon for brunch recently, and our guests couldn’t believe how good it tasted. Here are some of the reasons you’ll love this easy recipe:
- Great way to make bacon for a crowd
- Incredible smoky flavor
- No standing over a hot stove
- Low and slow cooking equals perfect texture
- Easy clean up
Ingredients and Substitutions
Thick sliced bacon – the thicker slices are best for cooking in the smoker. They shrink less and take a little longer to cook than regular sliced bacon. This extra time in the grill helps infuse the bacon strips with the tasty smoky flavor.
Flavorings and/or Rubs – Feel free to sprinkle the bacon with an optional rub or seasoning before cooking. See the Variations section below for some of our favorites.
Equipment Needed
Pellet Grill – We have this Camp Chef SmokePro model. If you’re in the market for a one, Outdoor Life recently tested a number of models and released a list of top pellet smokers.
Wood pellets – Choose your wood pellet type. Hickory, cherry are all delicious for this recipe, or you can use an all-around mix like Traeger’s Hardwood Signature Blend.
Baking sheet or disposable aluminum tray.
Aluminum foil – to line the baking sheet. If you use a disposable tray you won’t need this.
Heatproof oven rack – like this one. Don’t be tempted to use a cookie cooling rack, as these are often not made for cooking and can have nonstick coatings or inferior metal.
Tongs – to turn the bacon.
Potholders – to pull the hot pan out of the smoker.
Step by Step Instructions
Preheat your pellet grill to 350 F and adjust the smoke setting to your preference, if that’s an option on your smoker. We set ours to medium smoke.
We used a disposable baking sheet from the dollar store for this recipe. If you’re using a baking sheet, cover it with aluminum foil for easier cleanup. (You may need to fold two sheets of foil together to cover the whole pan.)
Top with a baking rack. This will help the bacon cook evenly.
If you’re using any kind of seasoning, sprinkle it on both sides of the bacon now and pat it lightly into the strips.
Arrange the bacon directly on top of the baking rack. It’s okay if the slices overlap a little.
Put it on the middle rack in the smoker and close the lid.
Cook for 20 minutes and take a peek. If you like, you can flip the bacon strips over before continuing to cook until bacon is brown and crispy. Your exact cooking time will depend on the thickness of your bacon and how hot your pellet smoker cooks. In ours, total cooking time was about 30 minutes.
Remove from the smoker, drain bacon on paper towels and serve.
Pro Recipe Tips
If you use regular sliced bacon instead of thick-sliced bacon, reduce heat to 350 degrees and start checking after the 15 minute mark so it doesn’t overcook.
Recipe Variations
Add a sweet or savory flavor to the bacon by sprinkling it with a rub or seasoning just before cooking. Some of our favorites include:
- Brown sugar
- Kosmos Q Honey Killer Bee BBQ Rub
- Maple sugar
- Freshly ground black pepper
- India Tree Vanilla Sugar
- Meat Church Honey Hog BBQ Rub
- Red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
My favorite way to store this smoked bacon is to wrap it in parchment paper and put the packet inside a zip-lock bag. The parchment paper helps absorb any moisture and keeps the bacon nice and fresh. For the best flavor, plan to eat it within a day or two.
To reheat the bacon for maximum crispiness, arrange the strips in a skillet and cook over medium heat until they just start to sizzle, turning once. Or reheat on a cooking sheet in a 350 degree F oven for a few minutes, until hot and crispy.
FAQs
If you want your bacon extra crispy after cooking this recipe, increase the heat of the pellet grill to 400 degrees F. Return the pan to the grill and cook for a few more minutes until the bacon sizzles and is crispy to your liking. The exact timing will vary.
When stored properly in a sealed container, wood pellets will last for several years. If they’re kept inside the smoker, they may be susceptible to moisture. This not only damages the pellets, it can gum up the works of your pellet grill. So if you’re not going to use them within a week or two, it’s a good idea to empty the pellets from the grill hopper into a container for storage.
We like to cook bacon at a temperature of about 350 degrees F. This ensures that the bacon gets nice and crisp, but it’s still a moderate temperature that minimizes bacon shrinkage and maximizes flavor.
More Popular Bacon Recipes
If you love the smoky flavor of bacon cooked on a pellet grill, you’ll love our Smoked Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin.
For more meat wrapped in meat, try our Bacon Weave Meatloaf or Bacon Wrapped Little Smokies.
If you love super crispy bacon, you’ll go crazy for our Extra Crunchy Bacon with Flour in the Oven.
Homemade Bacon Jerky is the tastiest snack – chewy, bacon-y and low carb, too.
You might also enjoy delectable Maple Candied Bacon, always one of our most-clicked recipes!
Here’s the full, printable recipe:
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Bacon on Pellet Grill
Equipment
- Pellet Grill Smoker
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 oven safe baking rack
- aluminum foil
- tongs
- pot holders
Ingredients
- 1 pound thick cut bacon
- seasoning rub of your choice (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the pellet grill to 350 degrees F. Cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil, and insert a heat-proof baking rack.
- Sprinkle bacon with your rub of choice (if using), and pat it lightly into the strips. Arrange the bacon on top of the baking rack. It’s okay if the strips overlap a little, as they will shrink slightly during cooking.
- Put the tray on the middle rack in the smoker and close the lid.
- Cook for 20 minutes and take a peek. If you like, you can flip the bacon strips over before continuing to cook until bacon is brown and crispy. Your exact cooking time will depend on the thickness of your bacon and how hot your pellet smoker cooks. In ours, total cooking time was about 30 minutes.
- Remove from smoker and drain bacon on paper towels. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
ADD YOUR OWN PRIVATE NOTES
Whenever you come back to this recipe, you’ll be able to see your notes!
Nutrition
Got questions? Just ask! I’m happy to help. You might also enjoy the web story for cooking bacon in a smoker.
If you enjoy this Pellet Smoker Bacon recipe, I’d be thrilled if you clicked the little stars above and gave the recipe a 5-star rating. If you post your creations on social media, tag #BENSABaconLovers so I can share! Thank you for your support. – Eliza
Nutrition Disclaimer: All nutritional information shared on this site is an approximation. I am not a certified nutritionist, and any nutritional information should be used as a general guideline.
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Oh yum! You had me at smoky, crispy and amazingly flavorful. This bacon looks so good and so easy too.
I’ve done bacon with a rub and it is great. Loved it and so did the others who had some.
Thank you for your comment, and I’m so glad you enjoyed bacon prepared this way! It’s SO tasty, and I’m glad your friends enjoyed it, too. ~Eliza
Hubs gave this a go last weekend with some super thick cut bacon and it was AMAZING! Took about 35-40 minutes. We used it to make amazing BLTs!!!!
This is such a helpful guide to making perfect crispy bacon!! Thank you so much!
The bacon is super flavorful, and it’s not difficult recipe at all.
Thanks for such a lovely reminder of enjoying some crispy grilled Bacon. Looks so mouth melting delicious.
Such a great bacon recipe! One of my faves!
This is awesome! My new favorite way to cook bacon. Thanks for the great idea!
I love no food more than bacon. I typically bake a big batch, but I love the idea of cooking it on a pellet grill. Anything that gets a more smoky flavor into bacon is awesome.
Outstanding recipe thanks so much! tasted so much good!
This is mouth watering! Can’t wait to give this a try!