Bacon Week 2015 continues! I don’t know what I’m going to do when this week is over. Probably cry a lot.
Today I’m helping you find your spirit animal – that is, an animal-infused spirit.
That’s right, we’re making BACON MOONSHINE.
About 10 years ago it seemed like everyone was making infused vodkas with whatever various confectionery they could lay their hands on – redskins, jelly beans – who gives a shit, it was boring. But I did recall seeing a bacon infused vodka, the idea of which lay dormant in my mind until Bacon Week 2015.
The concept is actually really simple:
1. Pick a spirit – I chose Whipper Snapper Distillery’s Moonshine as it’s more interesting than vodka but subtle enough to not overpower the bacon.
2. Cook a whole bunch of bacon – I cooked mine in the Weber with extra smoke just to load it up with as much flavour as possible.
3. Put the bacon in a sterilised container and cover with the moonshine.
4. Leave in the fridge for a week.
5. Strain the liquid through a fine cloth, put back in a container and freeze for an hour and strain again. The freezing helps solidify fat and other impurities.
A note on the straining – in theory you should repeat the freezing process a couple of times, but after tasting I quite liked having a few of the impurities floating around to give a salty kick and an ever-so-slightly greasy mouthfeel (that sounds bad, but trust me!) to make it really shine as a bacon infused spirit.
Give it a try some time, it’s really easy! I’ll be putting up some cocktail recipes on the site really soon so stay tuned.
Gusface Grillah 
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Surely every week is bacon week?!?
Of course! But last week was just an extra special celebration of all things bacon!
You should look up “fat washing” when it comes to infusing flavours into spirits. We make a smoked brisket rye whisky at my bar, and the cocktail we make with it is called the uptown fatboy. Fat washing is super easy and accessible to anyone with a non-reactive container and a freezer. And use a coffee filter to seperate the impurities from the washed spirit. I really enjoy your site, I’m learning so much about bbqing! Keep up the great work!
Cheers! Yeah I subsequently learnt that fat washing was basically what I was doing here although I didn’t filter it as much as I probably should have!