Smoked Candied Bacon with Rub Yer Meat

The Bacon That Ruins Regular Bacon Forever

There are certain foods in life that really didn’t need any help.

Bacon was one of them.

Crispy, salty, fatty strips of breakfast glory have been carrying brunch on their back for decades without asking for a damn thing in return. But every now and then, a recipe comes along that looks at bacon and says, “You know what you need? A little more sugar, a little smoke, and a whole lot more attitude.”

Enter: Smoked Candied Bacon.

This is bacon that got dressed up for a night out and came home with a criminal record.

We’re taking thick cut bacon, brushing it down with maple syrup, hitting it with brown sugar, seasoning it with Rub Yer Meat, and letting the smoker turn it into sticky, smoky meat candy that will disappear faster than your dignity at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

It’s sweet.
It’s salty.
It’s smoky.
It’s slightly inappropriate how much of this you can eat in one sitting.

And the dangerous part?

This recipe is stupid easy.

No complicated prep. No weird ingredients. No fancy tricks. Just a quick rub down, into the smoker, flip it once, and wait for the bacon magic to happen.

Fair warning: once your family smells this cooking, you are no longer making a side dish. You are now hosting a hostage situation.

Why Smoking Candied Bacon Works So Well

You could technically make candied bacon in the oven.

You could also technically microwave a steak.

But we’re not animals.

The smoker adds that gentle wood-fired kiss that balances all the sweetness from the maple syrup and brown sugar. Instead of tasting like breakfast dessert, it tastes like bacon leveled up into something you’d proudly serve at brunch, on burgers, chopped into beans, or straight off the cooling rack while pretending you’re “just checking it.”

Rub Yer Meat plays a big role here too.

Because while the sugar handles the sweet and the bacon brings the salt, Rub Yer Meat adds that savory BBQ backbone that keeps this from tasting one-dimensional. It rounds everything out with just enough seasoning to make people stop mid-bite and ask:

“What the hell did you put on this?”

That’s when you smile and tell them you rubbed your meat.

Ingredients

• 12 slices thick cut bacon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons Rub Yer Meat BBQ Rub

That’s it.

Four ingredients between you and bacon enlightenment.

How to Make Smoked Candied Bacon

1. Preheat Your Smoker

Get your smoker rolling at 275 degrees.

This is the sweet spot where the bacon renders nicely, the sugar melts down into sticky glory, and the edges start getting that irresistible wrinkle of impending deliciousness.

Any smoker will do here. Pellet grill, offset, drum, kettle setup. We are not picky as long as smoke is involved.

2. Build Your Bacon Rack

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil because melted sugar and bacon grease create a cleanup nightmare worthy of therapy.

Set a cooling rack or flat cooking rack on top of the sheet pan.

Lay your bacon strips out in a single layer.

No overlapping.
No bacon spooning.
Everybody gets their own space.

3. Season the First Side

Brush the bacon generously with maple syrup.

Then sprinkle brown sugar over each strip.

Then hit it with Rub Yer Meat.

This is where the sticky, smoky seduction begins.

4. Smoke It

Place the tray in the smoker and close the lid.

Let it smoke for 12 to 15 minutes.

During this first round you’re looking for:

• fat beginning to render
• sugar melting
• edges wrinkling slightly
• the smell in your yard causing neighbors to reconsider their dinner plans

5. Flip and Repeat the Good Decisions

Pull the tray out carefully.

Flip each strip.

Brush the second side with the remaining maple syrup.

Add the rest of the brown sugar.

Finish with another layer of Rub Yer Meat.

Basically we’re giving the backside the same sweet little attention we gave the front.

6. Finish Smoking

Back into the smoker it goes for another 12 to 15 minutes.

Cook until the bacon looks lacquered, caramelized, and dangerously snackable.

Keep in mind that sugar can go from gorgeous to scorched if you wander off and start reorganizing your garage, so keep an eye on it during the last few minutes.

7. Cool Slightly and Serve

Remove the bacon and let it cool for a few minutes.

This helps the sugar set and keeps you from branding the roof of your mouth like an impatient caveman.

Then serve.

Or hide a few pieces before announcing they’re done.

That’s called pitmaster tax.

Ways to Use Smoked Candied Bacon

Sure, you can eat it straight off the tray like a feral breakfast goblin.

But this stuff also works unbelievably well:

• on burgers
• crumbled over baked beans
• on top of BLTs
• with waffles
• chopped into mac and cheese
• on smoked jalapeño poppers
• next to eggs
• wrapped around anything that needs better life choices

Honestly, if the food can handle sweet and smoky bacon, this belongs on it.

Pro Tips for Better Candied Bacon

Use Thick Cut Bacon

Thin bacon cooks too fast and can get brittle before the sugar really caramelizes.

Thick cut gives you chewy centers, rendered fat, and enough structure to hold all that sticky goodness.

Don’t Skip the Rack

If the bacon sits flat in its grease, it steams instead of smokes.

Elevating it lets air circulate and keeps things from turning into floppy pork syrup.

Watch the Sugar Closely

Brown sugar is a beautiful friend until it becomes a bitter enemy.

The final minutes matter.

Final Thoughts

This recipe is one of those dangerous little cooks that takes almost no effort and makes you look like you know exactly what you’re doing.

Minimal prep.
Big flavor.
Maximum meat envy.

Sweet maple syrup, rich brown sugar, smoky bacon, and Rub Yer Meat all working together like a greasy boy band of greatness.

So next time plain bacon feels a little too plain...

Rub it down. Smoke it slow. Candy that meat.

And if you need the seasoning that makes this whole thing slap, you already know what to do.

Grab a bottle of Rub Yer Meat and make your bacon worth talking about.