The Salty Donut's Maple Bacon Doughnut Is Available at Miami Smokers This Weekend

In a few days, the Salty Donut will do what it has done for the past four months — set up shop inside its resident courtyard in Wynwood (29 NW 24th St.), attracting hordes of hungry doughnut aficionados to get a quick fix. But this weekend, its doughnuts will be available somewhere else too — Miami Smokers. 

"We usually don't sell doughnuts anywhere else besides our shop," says Andy Rodriguez, cofounder of the Salty Donut. "But this kind of made sense because the doughnut has their bacon on it, and we've been using their bacon exclusively on it since we started."

This Friday, May 13, and Saturday, May 14, the Salty Donut's maple bacon doughnut will be sold at Miami Smokers till it sells out. Its quantity will be limited, but there is no limit to how many a customer can order. 

"We've produced this doughnut since day one," he says, "and having Miami Smokers' bacon on it has made it perfect. "

Rodriguez and his business partner and fiancée, Amanda Pizarro, say they've tried dozens of maple bacon iterations at shops across the country but always thought something was missing. When they set out to make their own, they wanted to "make it awesome," Rodriguez says. 

"I've always loved the idea of a maple bacon doughnut," he says. "But a lot of the time it's just a sloppy piece of bacon on top. The key component to us was finding the right bacon. We literally tried so many, but nothing came close to Miami Smokers. It's the perfect amount of salty, sweet, and smoky."

The Salty Donut's maple bacon, which is featured on the shop's menu year-round, takes 24-hour raised brioche dough and submerges it in a pure maple glaze. A J. Wakefield beer reduction is drizzled on top, with a sprinkle of Miami Smokers' bacon cracklings. Like every Salty Donut concoction, each maple bacon will be handcrafted the day of and delivered to Miami Smokers.

"The thought is to go have an awesome sandwich at Miami Smokers and order the doughnut as a dessert to eat there or take home," he says. "If people love it and it's something they're enjoying, then I definitely think it's something that might happen way more often. But for right now, it's just this weekend. When they're sold out, they're out."

Snagging a maple bacon doughnut at the Salty Donut or Miami Smokers will be the same price, he says. Each doughnut will cost $3.25, which is something Rodriguez says was important to both him and the folks at Miami Smokers.

"We didn't want to make it more expensive," he says. "It's the same doughnut, the same style, same quality, and same price, just at a different place. It just gives people an opportunity to go somewhere else and have a slightly different experience."

For now, this is the only Salty Donut collaboration of its kind. Rodriguez and Pizarro are open to ideas but have nothing planned.

"We just love Miami Smokers," Rodriguez says. "They're a great local brand. They kind of pioneered the meat-and-deli scene, and we did the same for craft doughnuts. We love creating as much local synergy as possible."

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