Name: Candied Bacon on a Gas Grill
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 6 ounces center-cut bacon; 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar; ½ teaspoon pepper

Why This Recipe Works

Candied bacon is one of those seemingly simple recipes that’s surprisingly easy to mess up—especially on the grill. Our goal was crisp strips with fully rendered fat and a balanced kick of pepper. Using center-cut bacon was key: The evenly sized strips cooked uniformly. Light brown sugar struck the right balance—it melted and caramelized evenly without scorching, unlike granulated sugar or maple syrup. Instead of flipping the bacon or fussing with a glaze, we kept it simple by sprinkling the sugar-pepper mixture on top, then cooked everything in a cast-iron skillet on the grill. The skillet held heat evenly and caught any drips. After cooking, we transferred the bacon to a wire rack; this allowed it to firm up while cooling and prevented greasy candied bacon since it wasn’t sitting in rendered fat.

Before You Begin

Do not use dark brown sugar here. We call for center-cut bacon because we found the strips to be of more even thickness than regular bacon.

Instructions

Cut 6 ounces center-cut bacon in half crosswise. Arrange in 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Combine 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar and ½ teaspoon pepper in bowl. Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over bacon (do not flip and sprinkle on second side). Use your fingers to spread sugar mixture evenly over each piece.

Turn all burners to high; cover; and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium.

Transfer cast-iron skillet to grill, cover grill, and cook, rotating skillet regularly, until bacon is dark brown and sugar is bubbling, 15 to 25 minutes. Use tongs to carefully transfer bacon to wire rack and let cool for at least 5 minutes or up to 1 hour. Serve.