Everyone loves a good bacon cheeseburger in the summer, but what if we could take that classic and turn it up to be an 11 out of 10 burger? We did just that by using the MasterBuilt Gravity Series XT to make a sweet, salty and smoky bacon jam, cold smoked gouda and some juicy beef burgers. Using the MasterBuilt makes the whole process so simple and you can easily become the star at your next barbecue party!
To make the bacon jam you’ll need:
- 1lb Bacon, cut into 1/8 inch cubes
- 1 Shallot, minced
- 3 cloves of Garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup Maple Syrup
- 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 sprig of Rosemary
- 5 sprigs of Thyme
- Fresh Cracked Pepper
- Small Sauce Pot
- Wooden Spoon
- Start by lighting your grill and set it to medium-high heat. This can also be done on a stovetop.
- Put all the cut-up bacon into a small sauce pot and put on the grill to render, stirring occasionally.
- Once, the bacon has rendered out and is crispy, lower the heat to medium and add the minced garlic and shallot.
- Continue cooking the mixture until the shallots and garlic start turning translucent.
- Pour off any extra fat at this point, you only want about 1 tbsp remaining with your bacon, shallots, and garlic. You can save this fat to add extra flavour to future recipes.
- Add the brown sugar, maple syrup and fresh herbs, and stir until all of the brown sugar has dissolved.
- Cook the bacon jam for 20-30 minutes or until the maple syrup and brown sugar have thickened to a jam consistency.
- Remove from the heat and remove the sprigs of thyme and rosemary. Transfer to a heat-safe container and allow to cool for 30 minutes before putting into the fridge.
This bacon jam can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, it's best to pull it out of your fridge and allow it to come up to room temperature before serving. The jam is fantastic with brie and crackers, use it in a buttery pasta dish, or use it to top burgers like we did! For our burger we froze a block of gouda overnight then placed it on the highest rack of the MasterBuilt with it set to 180F with wood chunks mixed and smoked it for 20 minutes. Then we cranked the MasterBuilt up to 700F to get a great sear on our burgers. Watch us make the burgers (here!)