Barbecue Tricks

BBQ Tips and Tricks

low carb

Featured

Bacon Crust Pizza How to Make Meat Lovers Pizza

Yes it’s a twisted concept: bacon crust pizza. Or maybe a woven concept.

Bacon as the crust of a pizza? Is it really necessary?

Yes. And it’s amazing.

WATCH The Pizza Video HERE

This came about in the search for low carb pizza options like the BBQ Cauliflower pizza here. 

The trick with a bacon crust -or any bacon – on a grill is avoiding flare ups. Go low and slow.

We used a Traeger pellet cooker for the bacon and always recommend using smoke and indirect low heat for bacon. In the home, a lot of people will now cook bacon in the oven instead of a skillet for similar reasons.

bacon crust pizza
Print

Bacon Crust Pizza

For low carb pizza fans. Or high bacon fans. The key to using bacon crust is in the weave.

Ingredients

  • 1 package grocery bacon
  • 3 tablespoons pizza sauce
  • ½ red onion (thinly sliced)
  • 3 whole (canned) tomatoes hand crushed
  • 1 cup fresh mozzarella
  • ½ green bell pepper (thinly sliced)
  • Fresh basil

Instructions

  1. Weave bacon on parchment paper for easy handling. Use chilled or refrigerated bacon for easy handling.
  2. Cut bacon weave square into a round using a second – cover- sheet of parchment and a medium to large bowl. Reserve trimmed bacon.
  3. Chop ¼ red onion and sautee with chopped remaining bacon until caramelized.
  4. Smoke bacon weave in smoker at 350 degrees F for an hour.
  5. Top bacon crust with additional ingredients. One initial thin bottom layer of cheese helps to minimize leaks and softness.
  6. Add fresh basil at end of cook.
  7. Allow 10 minutes to rest and allow bottom layer to firm up before serving.Makes 4 hearty slices

SMOKED BACON CRUST PIZZA

1 package grocery bacon

3 tablespoons pizza sauce

½ red onion (thinly sliced)

3 whole (canned) tomatoes hand crushed

1 cup fresh mozzarella

½ green bell pepper (thinly sliced)

Fresh basil

 

 

 

Weave bacon on parchment paper for easy handling. Use chilled or refrigerated bacon for easy handling.

bacon crust pizzaCut bacon weave square into a round using a second – cover- sheet of parchment and a medium to large bowl. Reserve trimmed bacon.

Chop ¼ red onion and sautee with chopped remaining bacon until caramelized.

Smoke bacon weave in smoker at 350 degrees F for an hour.

Top bacon crust with additional ingredients. One initial thin bottom layer of cheese helps to minimize leaks and softness. Add fresh basil at end of cook.

Allow 10 minutes to rest and allow bottom layer to firm up before serving.

Makes 4 hearty slices

Featured

Oil-Less Fried Pork Chop With Big Boss How To

playchopWatch This Cool Trick for Oil-Less Frying
BIG BOSS 1300-Watt Oil-Less Fryer, 16-Quart

Cooking with The Big Boss Oil-Less Fryer is quick and easy, and my special Pork Skin Pork Chops come out crispy and delicious every time.  First you will need to have this fryer…  (get it here and support the site) Amazon has it and you will be amazed.
The Big Boss 1300-watt oil-less fryer cooks with low energy and offers triple cooking power with halogen, convection and infrared heat. You can cook from fresh or frozen with no thawing time, and has 2 trays, and holds 16 quarts so you can cook multiple foods at the same time. It even comes with a metal collar so you can “fry” a turkey in it. It cooks up to 3x faster than the oven without preheating, and leaves food moist on the inside and crispy on the outside with little to no fats or oil, so food is not greasy and you don’t have to figure out how to dispose of oil after cooking. There are three cooking elements working in uniform. The halogen directly heats the surface of the food for browning, roasting and flavor. The convection circulates the hot air, evenly distributing the heat for faster cooking, and the gentle infrared heat cooks food from inside out, sealing in the juices. Works great for roasting turkey, baking fish, broiling steaks, air frying chicken, grilling meats, toasting breads, steaming veggies, and even makes dessert.

Sequence 01.Still001Pork Skin Pork Chops you will need:
The Big Boss 16 Quart, Oil-Less Fryer
1 bag pork skins
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp Cayenne pepper (to taste) – we like it spicy!
4-6 thick cut pork chops
1 egg
Bacos – Imitation Bacon Bits
Olive oil spray (optional)

chopplayerCrush the pork skins into a fine powder, and pour into a mixing bowl. Add the pepper, garlic and cayenne, and blend thoroughly with a fork. Beat the egg in a small bowl and add a little water. Dip each pork chop in the egg wash and dredge in the crumb mixture to coat on all sides. Place the chops in the wire basket provided with the Big Boss, and place on the higher rack. Spritz the chops with a little olive oil if desired.
Plug the Boss in, set the temperature at 400 degrees and set the timer for about 16-18 minutes. Turn the pork chops half way through, and use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Pork should have an internal temperature of 145°. The chops will come out crispy and moist!

Featured

Cauliflower BBQ Pizza – Low CarbBQ

pizza2.Still003My family loves a good pizza… I’m from Chicago so it’s kinda in my DNA.   I always go for the DEEP dish heavy thick slices from Pizzaria UNO (one a pretty wide spread chain that has it’s origins in Chicago).

But, alas, the pizza caught up with me and in January of this year I signed up with MediWeightloss.   Thankfully MJ, my wife. was on board too and in the next few months I lost 55 pounds.

Part of the routine was a low carb Acute phase.    Needless to say pizza is a tough one.  However we found that on YouTube cauliflower pizza crust is all the rage and we loved it.  Watch us make the BBQ version HERE on YouTube.

No, it’s not exactly the crun-chewy crusty carbloaded bread we may be craving, but if you love cheesey toppings equally as much this faux crust should be a suitable base to curb your craving for a heavy slice.

cauliflowerHere’s what you’ll need to make the crust:

1 head cauliflower
1 egg
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup mozzarella cheese
¼ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup almond meal

Wash and dry the cauliflower before cutting off the florets. Discard the stems and leaves. Chop florets into small pieces and pulse in a food processor until it looks like snow (about 30 seconds).

crust2Pour cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave on high 4 minutes. Let it cool slightly and pour cooked cauliflower onto a clean dish towel or cheese cloth. Wrap up tightly, and holding over the sink, squeeze repeatedly to remove as much water as possible. This is key! Dump squeezed cauliflower into a mixing bowl. Add egg, spices, cheeses and almond meal, mixing thoroughly.

Pour mixture onto a piece of parchment paper and spread out, shaping into a circle about ¼ inch thick. Press a paper towel over the top to remove excess water. Place parchment paper on a preheated grill stone on the grill, close lid, and grill approximately 10 minutes on medium heat until browned.

While it cooks, gather the toppings:

¼ cup BBQ sauce
½ cup pulled pork
½ red onion, sliced
¾ cup Mozzarella cheese, divided

low carb cauliflowerTo turn the crust, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a second baking sheet, slide the crust off the grill onto that second baking sheet. Place the parchment lined baking sheet upside down on top of the crust, carefully flip and remove the original piece of parchment paper from the top. Now using the new parchment paper, slide the flipped crust onto the grill stone. Close the lid and grill another 5-10 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Add toppings to the pizza right on the grill:

BBQ sauce
(I mixed a sweet tomato based BBQ sauce with a low fat vinegar based sauce and added a little sugar free syrup)
Mozzarella cheese
Pulled pork
Red onion
Mozzarella cheese

1pizza 1Close grill lid and cook 5-10 minutes. Remove using a pizza peel.

To cook this in the oven, preheat oven to 450° and follow the same procedure. Alternate toppings:

Marinara
Turkey pepperoni
Mozzarella cheese

You can also prepare this with frozen cauliflower florets. Thaw the florets completely and prepare the same, decreasing the microwave time from 4 minutes to 2 minutes. The turkey pepperoni will curl in the oven, so put some cheese on top.

 WATCH the BBQ Pizza video HERE