Bacon Mac & Cheese

knifebld · Jun 16, 2014

Deciding to complicate things even more while smoking my first brisket, I figured I would make some smoked Mac & Cheese to go with it. Although I could have smoked it for a bit longer, it turned out quite nice. Here is the recipe I used and some pics;

- 500 gram package of elbow macaroni

- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter

- 2 cups of shredded mild Cheddar cheese

- 2 cups of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

- 2 cups half-and-half

- 1 cup of Velveeta cheese, cut into small cubes

- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

- Salt to taste

- White pepper to taste

- 1 pound bacon

Smoked with Pecan at about 235F for about 90 minutes, after about an hour I added the top layer of cheese and bacon;

photo 10.JPG

knifebld
Jun 16, 2014

Cheers!

hkinfl · Jun 16, 2014

Looks, great. Did you cook you sauce up first before combining and putting in the smoker?

knifebld · Jun 16, 2014

Basically just boiled and drained the noodles, and mixed everything in except for some of the strong cheese and bacon...too easy!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

hkinfl · Jun 16, 2014

Did it have a lot of smoke flavor when it was done?

knifebld · Jun 17, 2014

hkinfl said:
Did it have a lot of smoke flavor when it was done?

It did but I could have easily left it for another half hour or so. Cheers.

whatamess · Jun 17, 2014

Looks great, I like to stir mine up a couple times and I usually go 3 hours in smoke, then I put the cheese and bacon on top to melt, gets it nice and smokey all throughout

bobank03 · Jun 17, 2014

Smoked Mac n cheese is one of my favorites. Throw the leftovers (if you have any) in the freezer to have a little smoked goodness with other meals. You will appreciate the smokiness of the Mac n cheese even more. Great job!

knifebld · Jun 17, 2014

whataMESs said:
Looks great, I like to stir mine up a couple times and I usually go 3 hours in smoke, then I put the cheese and bacon on top to melt, gets it nice and smokey all throughout

3 hours would definitely get some smokey flavour in! Does the macaroni get a little mushy? I cooked the noodle a little less then aldente and rinsed with cold water...but they seemed just a little over done by the time I took them off the smoker....for myself anyway.

bobank03 said:
Smoked Mac n cheese is one of my favorites. Throw the leftovers (if you have any) in the freezer to have a little smoked goodness with other meals. You will appreciate the smokiness of the Mac n cheese even more. Great job!

I actually froze a full pan! I think you are right on the 'appreciating it more' aspect...maybe that's why it did not taste overly smoked to me....cause for one, I was around the smoker all day, and second the mac & cheese was a side to a full brisket I did that day.

Thanks.

whatamess · Jun 17, 2014

I don't find it gets mushy I do cook them until they are just getting soft but still firm, its a fine line haha. Yes rinse them really well in cold water to stop them cooking. I basically use Jeff's instructions that came out in a newsletter awhile ago but I use cream cheese in the sauce instead of the it calls for. Why? I didn't have enough cheddar cheese at the time but I had lots of cream cheese, and everyone loved it so that's how I make it now.

smokermacdonald · Jun 18, 2014

My first smoked Mac and cheese followed the original Masterbuilt recipe. It was excellent! But guests commented that it was too dry.

I still use that same recipe, with smoked Gouda, cheddar, and cream cheese, using a simple roux. But I've upped the milk by 50%, and now it seems to be right.

It calls for an hour of smoke, but I didn't find that it was enough. I poke holes in the Mac to allow mor smoke in. Yum!

I think I'll add bacon next time, why not!

knifebld · Jun 19, 2014

SmokerMacDonald said:
My first smoked Mac and cheese followed the original Masterbuilt recipe. It was excellent! But guests commented that it was too dry.

I still use that same recipe, with smoked Gouda, cheddar, and cream cheese, using a simple roux. But I've upped the milk by 50%, and now it seems to be right.

It calls for an hour of smoke, but I didn't find that it was enough. I poke holes in the Mac to allow mor smoke in. Yum!

I think I'll add bacon next time, why not!

Gonna try poking a few holes next time to see the difference....great tips thanks!

driedstick · Jun 26, 2014

That looks great - nice job

A full smoker is a happy smoker

DS

rgautheir20420 · Jul 3, 2014

Thanks for the recipe knife. I'm making this tomorrow morning to bring to a friends house for the 4th celebration. They're making burgers and brats on grill, so I figured smoked man 'n cheese would be a nice accompaniment. I expect it will show up all other dishes there

sqwib · Jul 3, 2014

Awesome looking Mac n' Cheese

knifebld · Jul 7, 2014

rgautheir20420 said:
Thanks for the recipe knife. I'm making this tomorrow morning to bring to a friends house for the 4th celebration. They're making burgers and brats on grill, so I figured smoked man 'n cheese would be a nice accompaniment. I expect it will show up all other dishes there

Cool, hope you had a great day! Cheers!

paprika pal · Jul 7, 2014

That looks great. I believe I will put that on my list of what to smoke next. Always looking for good sides. Thanks

smoked g · Jul 11, 2014

I’ve smoked several of mac-n-cheese in my MES since getting it less than a month ago. The first batch was with the Masterbuilt recipe and it was dry so we had to start experimenting. Three versions later 9we love mac-n-cheese!); the cheese and macaroni part are 100%. We already figured out it needed bacon in it. It had a good light smoke flavor to it (pecan wood) but I’m struggling with a topping. Looking for something that is crunchy but at the same time cheesy. I’ve tried cheese-nips and Doritos but neither seemed to be what I’m looking for taste and texture wise. I did learn that with a topping like these that you need to hold off until the end to add it as it tends to absorb all the smoke and can get a little soggy if you have high humidity (or leave the water pan in).

lexscsmoker · Jul 21, 2014

knifebld said:
Deciding to complicate things even more while smoking my first brisket, I figured I would make some smoked Mac & Cheese to go with it. Although I could have smoked it for a bit longer, it turned out quite nice. Here is the recipe I used and some pics;

- 500 gram package of elbow macaroni

- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter

- 2 cups of shredded mild Cheddar cheese

- 2 cups of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

- 2 cups half-and-half

- 1 cup of Velveeta cheese, cut into small cubes

- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

- Salt to taste

- White pepper to taste

- 1 pound bacon

Smoked with Pecan at about 235F for about 90 minutes, after about an hour I added the top layer of cheese and bacon;

photo 10.JPG

knifebld

Jun 16, 2014

Cheers!

This looks INCREDIBLE! For someone like myself who needs instruction, could you please post some step by step info? I REALLY want to make this next week. Thanks.

knifebld · Jul 22, 2014

LexSCsmoker said:
This looks INCREDIBLE! For someone like myself who needs instruction, could you please post some step by step info? I REALLY want to make this next week. Thanks.

Hey Lex, thanks for the compliment! :)

Here are the prep instructiuons;

Ingredients
- 500 gram package of elbow macaroni
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 cups of shredded mild Cheddar cheese
- 2 cups of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1 cup of Velveeta cheese, cut into small cubes
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- Salt to taste
- White pepper to taste
- 1 pound bacon
Preparation
- Cook Bacon & chop into large size chunks
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat; once it's at a rolling boil add a generous amount of salt. Toss in the noodles, and cook until al dente, then rinse with cold water
- In a medium sized saucepan, melt eight tablespoons of butter. Stir in the cooked noodles. Then toss in all the cheeses, but reserve 1 cup of sharp cheddar. Add the half-and-half and the eggs to the pot and mix well.
- Sprinkle with salt & white pepper to taste
- Transfer the mixture to aluminum pan. Toss the rest of the cheese over top and add the remaining butter as well
Smoking
- Smoke with ½ Pecan & ½ Apple
- Preheat smoker for 235F (always maintain temp between 225-245)
- Place the open pan of mac and cheese on the grate and let it enjoy the smoke for 1 ½ hours
- Add grated cheese & bacon, cover (optional), and continue smoking for 30-45 minutes

lexscsmoker · Aug 4, 2014

knifebld, I gave this recipe to my mother-in-law to do while I smoked my bbq chicken. The mac n cheese was a huge hit. My kids, nephew and niece loved it. Thanks again. This will be used again and again.

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