Mmmm….bacon burgers.  I’ve given up on beef burgers, mostly, so the turkey burger is my default bun-filler.  Problem is, turkey burgers must be cooked until well-done, so they tend to be on the dry side.  My latest solution:  add a layer of bacon, thus increasing the deliciousness at least five-fold, but decreasing the healthfulness by a similar margin.  Oh, well:  at least it’s not a beef burger with bacon.

[Note:  those funny white patches on the burgers pictured above are the patties’ interiors; I didn’t oil the grill sufficiently, and ground turkey is so lean,  it tends to stick to the cooking surface.  Next time, I’ll just rub a slice of bacon over the hot grill surface.]

Cooking bacon on a Big Green Egg is a real treat; the fat drips away, leaving behind a slight smoky char.  It cooks quickly, too, so that the meaty portions remain succulent and tender.  After incinerating a few too many slices, I bought a raised grid, which keeps the bacon a more comfortable distance from the coals.  The raised grid works well when cooking vegetables and meat.  It also allows for high-heat searing on one side of the grill,  and a slightly lower temperature cooking space atop the grill:   a great thing to have if you are cooking multiple steaks to varying degrees of doneness.

Read more about my turkey burgers here, and here.