Need to make a last ditch effort to get on Santa’s “nice” list? I have three words for you….Christmas Ale Bacon! As I mentioned last week, we enjoyed the world’s greatest bacon from Cleveland’s Pork Chop Shop over Thanksgiving. In addition to your standard pepper bacon and maple bacon; they have Cajun bacon and the best bacon I’ve ever tasted: Christmas Ale bacon! It was sweet and savory and all sorts of delicious. While the only guaranteed way to get it to taste just right is to buy it directly from the source, I’ve spent the past few weekends trying to perfect the recipe.
When we bought it, we asked one of the Butcher Babes how they made it. Not because we were looking to recreate their bacon at home, simply because we’d never seen something like this before (though by the time we left the West Side Market, we saw about 3 stands selling it). She said they marinated it in Christmas Ale and then rubbed it with brown sugar and some spices. I didn’t take a close look at the bacon before John cooked it, but here it is in its original glory. If I had to guess, they marinate a giant slab of bacon, take it out of the marinade, rub it with the spiced brown sugar, and then slice it.
As for the rub itself, there’s definitely brown sugar in it. After that, it’s an educated guess. Great Lakes Christmas Ale is brewed with cinnamon, ginger, and honey, so I based my rub on that. My first attempt resulted in a candied dessert bacon. It was good, but much sweeter than I had hoped. If you want to top a cupcake with crumbled candied bacon, this might a good option for you. My second attempt was closer to the PCS Christmas Ale bacon bacon. If you want something sweetly spiced, yet still savory, this one is for you.
Since I don’t know how your Santa likes his bacon, I’ve provided both recipes :)
Merry Christmas!
- 1 pound of thick-cut bacon
- 1 cup Christmas Ale (or enough to cover the bacon)
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch of salt
- fresh cracked pepper
- Place the strips of bacon on their side in a glass baking dish (I found a bread pan worked extremely well), keeping them together in a tight bundle. Pour the Christmas Ale over the bacon, making sure it's submerged in the beer. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator for ½ - 1 hour.
- While the bacon is marinating, prepare your brown sugar rub. Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and pepper.
- Once the bacon is done marinating, drain the beer from the baking dish. Pat the bacon with a paper towel, drying off any excess beer.
- Keeping the bacon in a bundle, lightly pat the brown sugar mixture on the perimeter of the bacon. It's ok if some of the brown sugar gets between the slices, but you don't want it to be excessive.
- Place the bacon back in the baking dish, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes.
- Slowly cook the bacon in a skillet/pan/griddle over low heat, about 10 minutes each side. You want the brown sugar to caramelize, not burn.
- 1 pound of thick-cut bacon
- 1 cup Christmas Ale (or enough to cover the bacon)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- Place the strips of bacon in a glass baking dish. Pour the Christmas Ale over the bacon, making sure it's submerged in the beer. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator for ½ - 1 hour.
- While the bacon is marinating, prepare your brown sugar rub. Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
- Once the bacon is done marinating, drain the beer from the baking dish.
- Pour the spiced brown sugar mixture on a plate. Lightly dredge each slice of bacon in the brown sugar.
- Place the bacon back on a plate, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight (or at least 1 hour). The brown sugar will be syrupy when done marinating.
- Slowly cook the bacon in a skillet/pan/griddle over low heat, about 10 minutes each side. You want the brown sugar to caramelize, not burn.
