Yes, you read that correctly. Brown sugar bacon jerky. If you’re a fan of bacon, then this is an amazing snack you should try. All you’ll need is some thick cut peppered bacon, tons of brown sugar, an oven and a food dehydrator. You can definitely skip the dehydrating part, but then the bacon will be much less firm and chewy, and it won’t last as long in storage. This recipe is very easy, but does take a long time (6 hours of baking/drying time) due to the very low cooking temperature and drying in the dehydrator.
First, get yourself some good thick cut bacon. Turkey bacon works just as well. We like the nitrate-free peppered bacon at Trader Joes. Whatever you choose, be sure it’s cut pretty thick and seasoned well.
Get a large cookie sheet, preferable with sides so nothing spills or drips into your oven. Cover the pan with a thin coat of brown sugar. Cut each strip of bacon in half, and then coat both sides with the brown sugar. While you’re getting your hands messy with sugar and bacon, pre-heat the oven to 225 degrees.
Cover another cookie sheet with aluminum foil, spray it with Pam or some other non-stick spray, and place the brown sugar coated bacon strips on it, being careful to not overlap them. Bree had way too much fun doing this part.
Once the bacon is coated and ready, bake it in the oven for 1.5 hours at 225 degrees. Then flip the bacon strips over, and cook them for another 1.5 hours.
After the 3 hours in the oven, the bacon will have an amazing dark brown color and it will smell incredible. Transfer the strips (that you haven’t already eaten) to a food dehydrator, pat them with a paper towel to remove some moisture and dry them at the highest setting for about 3 more hours.
Check the bacon every hour or so, and flip them over while patting them with a paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible.
When you’re done, you should have crisp, firm and delicious candied bacon. You can store the bacon in ziplock bags in the refridgerator for up to a week, but trust me…they won’t last that long. Eat them plain, try them in a BLT or crumble them up in a salad. Ooh…I think I’m drooling…
