Today we’re making some smoked bacon garlic aioli on the Kamado Joe. No this isn’t just another baconnaise recipe.
We’re fixing up some BLT sandwiches loaded up with farm-fresh ripe tomatoes. There is a great little farm produce stand about 15 minutes down the road. Thank you Farmers for feeding us!
This smoked bacon garlic aioli makes for a not so traditional sandwich spread. It’s also good on burgers, sandwiches, and anything else you can think of.
So let’s get started.
Smoked Bacon Garlic Aioli
Loosely interpreted, an aioli is a fancy name for a garlic-flavored mayonnaise. For you Chef types reading this, yes, there is much more to the story, but this is the starting point in our backyard recipe.
This recipe makes about 3/4 of a cup of our smoked bacon garlic aioli. But you can make it how you want.
Supplies
To get started, you’re going to need a short list of grilling and smoking supplies.
● you’ll need a cast iron pan. Today, we’re using our vintage Lodge #5 skillet
● smoking wood of choice. We’re using cherry, it’s a mild smoking wood
● barbecue towels for handling hot items and spills. We did a review on these barbecue towels, check it out here
● heat resistant gloves for moving that cast iron pan
● aluminum foil
Ingredients
Smoked bacon garlic aioli doesn’t require much from your pantry stockpile.
● 2 bulbs of garlic, split into individual cloves, using the bigger cloves
● olive or avocado oil
● pinch of kosher salt
● 4 slices bacon, thin or thick sliced, chopped
● 1/2 cup of your favorite mayonnaise
Method
Use one or two fire starters to get that charcoal going. Set your cast iron skillet on the grill grate and bring your Kamado Joe up to temperature. Let it stabilize around 350 °F (177 °C). Don’t forget to add your smoking wood of choice.
While the Joe is coming up to temperature, take a sheet of aluminum foil and fold it in half. We want a sturdy leak-proof garlic-cooking vessel. Pile on the garlic cloves in the center of the foil. Drizzle with your olive oil or avocado oil. Maybe one or two tablespoons. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Fold up the aluminum foil and seal the edges so it doesn’t leak. Set the foil packet on the Kamado Joe grill grates as it’s coming up to temperature.
Total cook time for the garlic cloves is about 30 minutes. The garlic cloves are soft when done. You’ll need to open the foil pouch and take a peek.
While garlic cloves are cooking, put the chopped bacon into the cast iron skillet. Stir occasionally until done, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove bacon from the skillet using a slotted spoon and let it cool. Chop it into smaller pieces if you want.
Yes, there will be a good amount of bacon fat to pour off and save. We use this white stoneware grease keeper with a removable stainless steel strainer for our bacon fat repository, check it out here on Amazon.
You may find bacon fat becomes your favorite culinary cooking fat. The best thing about cooking with bacon fat is the smoky and savory flavor that it adds.
When the garlic has cooled, press out the garlic mash from the peels into a small bowl. Finally, stir in the mayonnaise and the bacon.
Refrigerate until needed. It’s best after resting overnight in the chill chest.
Smoked Bacon Garlic Aioli Taste Test
We spread a generous slather of our smoked bacon garlic aioli all over our BLTs, having plenty to spare for a later burger cookout.
That creamy double smoked bacon and garlic spread really did take the BLT up a notch in flavor. Bacon and garlic is a crazy delicious flavor combination. Add a farm fresh tomato, well it can’t get any better.
With our BLTs, we paired a new beer finding. The Kiowa American style IPA from Virginia Beach based Young Veterans Brewing Company. Actually, we enjoyed several throughout the somewhat breezy 100 °F (38 °C) temperatures here in the neighborhood.
Check out my other Kamado Joe and JoeTisserie recipes and links here on my Outdoor Eats page.