My second attempt at caramel bacon popcorn went better than the first. I again worked from the Grandma Paula caramel corn recipe. Except I cut the caramel sauce in half since I didn't think I was making enough popcorn. (In retrospect, I found this to be in error). 
While the popcorn is popping, make up the caramel. Bring butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt to a boil for five minutes. Then add the baking soda and turn off the heat. Stir and watch chemistry in action. 
This time I added the peanuts after 15 minutes, the bacon at 30 minutes, and the chocolate at 45 minutes into the 1 hour in a 200 degree oven. Stirring every 15 minutes. The chocolate melted completely and made kind of a mess of things. Next time I added the chocolate right at the end after it came out of the oven. 
I find a roasting pan works better than a half-sheet because the high rim helps keeps most of it in the pan when stirring.
Adding the bacon and peanuts late made them not get overcooked, but they didn't really get fully incorporated. The chocolate just made a mess of things, though it still tasted good.
Next time: add the chocolate right at the end. Add the peanuts to the sauce, then the sauce to the popcorn. Don't cut the caramel sauce in half.
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