Men's Journal

Chef David Conn presents his Bacon Explosion. Photo credit: Kristen Fortier

As pork lovers may already know, the bacon explosion has officially landed in midtown Manhattan. Naturally, our indefatigable search for adventure lured MJ’s editorial team down the street to our local Irish pub to try it out.

By Martin Mulkeen

The blogosphere has been abuzz about silly, over-the-top, heart-stopping comestible creations of late, but one great man, mere blocks from the Men’s Journal offices, has now — quietly — shown the world that the bacon explosion is no joke. Meet David Conn, the head chef at the unassuming Channel 4 pub on New York’s West 48th street, who recently delighted us with his own inspired riffings on the legendary Bacon Explosion.

(Quick backstory: The traditional Bacon Explosion is a small log-shaped pork dish, in which sausage and bacon bits are rolled inside a lattice-work of bacon. This swine loaf is then cooked and served in slices. The result is rich and delicious, but at 5,000 calories per pork log, it does have its detractors.)

We were happy to find that Conn has added his own alternative touches to the dish, removing the internal bacon stuffing (”Blasphemy!” one editor cried), and substituting pulled pork, rib meat, or pork belly instead. He’s even gone so far as to make a bacon explosion stuffed with fried onion rings. “That was pretty badass,” admits Conn, who improbably is a former music professor at Cornell University. “But I see something, and then I just want to try every possibility in the kitchen.” The external bacon lattice is spiced with a secret rub that contains some amount of chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, brown sugar, garlic powder, cinnamon, and ginger. The entire explosion is then smoked for two and a half hours, all of this resulting in a smooth, elegant flavor — two words that have may never have been written about a bacon explosion before.

Conn serves the explosion in two moderation-friendly slices — one on a slider bun with barbecue sauce, the other atop a piece of garlic toast with both BBQ sauce and a bit of hot sauce beside it. BBQ purists beware: His barbecue sauce is vinegar-based, mixed with hot spice and sweetness that results in a delicious geographic medley something like “Chicago and Kansas city meets Eastern Carolinas,” he explains.

At $9.95 a pop, it’s worth trying any and all variations he’s offering. Conn also told Men’s Journal he has plans to launch a sandwich version soon that comes with tater tots. Also $9.95, this sandwich combo will be entered in the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge (a brilliant call-to-arms to motivate New York restaurants to create affordable-yet-innovative sandwich options, organized by New York’s best bargain food blog).

“It’s not that greasy,” Conn insists. “Which is amazing. The smoke flavor keeps it from tasting like it’s all fat.” Which it most certainly, wonderfully, is.

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Conn’s tips for making your own Bacon Explosion at home:

- Use high-quality bacon and lean sausage

- Roll the explosion with a piece of parchment or wax paper underneath, as tin foil will break under its weight

- While it’s important to roll it tight and check for seams, the bacon will do most of the sealing work for you. “As you smoke it on the outside, the bacon juice drips through — like a train of fat recycling itself,” says Conn.

- Experiment with your smoke. Conn recommends apple, hickory, oak, or mesquite.

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Chef David Conn is now serving the Bacon Explosion at Channel 4 (58 W. 48th St., New York, NY, 212-819-0095). This is an off-menu item, but you can ask for it — just call ahead to make sure it’s available that day.

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