Smoking Fatties

[rabbithutch]

Something I've never done - not even the herbal kind. :eek: :biggrin:

I've read a lot of posts about fatties. An advanced search turns up over 30 thousand posts with "fatties" as the search argument. I don't know how to trim that number down to make finding information possible; so I'm gonna risk the wrath of all here by asking your advice on making them.

From what I've read, about the only thing common to them all is the bacon weave wrap. One of our folks from Texas (sorry, cannot remember the username) did a great video on making fatties. It had great footage of making the roll out in a plastic bag and of laying out and weaving the bacon. If anyone can help me overcome CRS and point me to the post, I'd be much obliged.

In mean time, I was at the HEB yesterday and picked up both 80/20 hamburger and some Jimmy Dean sausage (hot and regular) all in 1 pound packages. I believe that is the correct amount of meat for the Ziploc rollout - right? Also got 3 lbs of bacon.

I thought I'd do one fatty with the 80/20 hamburger and some onions, jalapenos, cream cheese, and cheddar cheese as a filling. I'd really appreciate pointers to other fatty recipes too.

For the sausage, I don't know whether to use it with hamburger or alone. If alone, is the hot sausage likely to be too hot. What fillings should I consider?

After making up the rolls and storing them in the freezer, what protocol should I follow before cooking? Do I thaw them down to room temp or put them on frozen or half-frozen? What temp should I try to hold for the duration of the smoke? What IT should I try to hit? I plan to use a propane torch to crisp the bacon weave.

Point me to some threads and some recipes, please.

Remember. This is my first time; so be gentle. :yahoo:

 

[rabbithutch]

OK. I dove in on me own!

Here's the sad tale. Please feel free to offer suggestions for improvements in technique and ingredients. I've only made the fatties up and put them in the freezer to chill awhile - along with the bacon - before I do the bacon weave and put them back in the freezer to be smoked later in the week.

Fattie Number One:
Here's Qview of one pound of 80/20 hamburger partly rolled out in a one gallon ziploc. I used a rolling pin.


And here's a shot showing the meat rolled out and the ingredients to be added in the background. That's 4 of those little creamy swiss laughing cow cheese wedges, a slice of sharp cheddar, and some prosciutto #2 slice.


I sliced away the top of the ziploc. This is how I stacked the ingredients: 2 slices of prosciutto on the bottom, cream cheese wedges (smashed), strip of sharp cheddar, a couple of large pepperoncitis sliced and spread out, and 2 more slices of prosciutto. I placed some Thai Hom Mali rice around the sides before the final strips of prosciutto.


Wrapped and rolled. I removed the bottom of the ziploc by carefully rolling it onto the saran wrap.



Fattie Number Two:
For the second one, I mixed half a pound of 80/20 hamburger meat with 1/2 pound of Jimmy Dean regular sausage then put it in a 1 gallon ziploc and rolled it out.


And the ingredients for this one. Guldens brown mustard, German potato salad, and sauerkraut


Started with a smear of Guldens . . .


. . . phillie cream cheese strip (not pictured), German potato salad slices (hidden) and sauerkraut . . .


. . . another layer of potatoes . .


another strip of phillie cream cheese, topped with another smear of Guldens.


And, finally, wrapped and rolled. Again, getting the fattie out of the ziploc took a little care and got it on the saran wrap. This time, I had rolled the edges of 2 pieces of saran wrap to make it bigger in order better to cover the fattie.


Both are in the freezer firming up.

I plan to do the bacon weave on some parchment (out of waxed) paper then careful unroll them from the saran wrap onto the bacon then wrap them in the parchment paper and some aluminum foil before freezing them.

I still need suggestions for handling them before during and after smoking. I am making a wild guess that they should be thawed to near room temperature before going on the smoker. I'll shoot for about 250° and try to keep it under 275 and smoke until the Maverick says I have an IT of 165°. I'm really uncertain on both the smoker and IT temps; so I'd really appreciate any help.

Also, do you put them in aluminum pans or foil to control the drippings? Seems to me that just placing them on the cooking grate is going to make a mess and the rolls might even disfigure and drip between the bars. I plan to crisp up the bacon with a propane torch.

I realize now that I forgot to put any jalapeño in them; so I guess I'll split some and put them under the bacon weave. Will this cause problems?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[rabbithutch]

As Paul Harvey used to say, "Now here's the REST of the story!"

Here's my first bacon weave. I let the bacon get too warm and it stretched badly. The second one came out much better with bacon that was straight from the 'fridge (but I didn't get a pic).

IMGP0901.jpg

• rabbithutch
• Jul 22, 2012

And here are the bad boys going on the mini-WSM (Sat. 21JUL2012).

IMGP0905.jpg

• rabbithutch
• Jul 22, 2012

Notice that I threw some brats on to keep 'em company.

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• rabbithutch
• Jul 22, 2012

And TBS . . .

IMGP0906.jpg

• rabbithutch
• Jul 22, 2012

Here they are resting.

IMGP0909.jpg

• rabbithutch
• Jul 22, 2012

And . . . here I'm showing off some of the peppers I grew in containers beside the fatties and brats.

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• rabbithutch
• Jul 22, 2012

More of the ripe peppers . . . mostly cayenne and sweet banana in this shot.

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• rabbithutch
• Jul 22, 2012

After resting and slicing but before plating . . .

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• rabbithutch
• Jul 22, 2012

Finally, the money shot . . .

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• rabbithutch
• Jul 22, 2012

Smoking time was longer than I had planned but the mini-WSM stalled at about 200° although the IT on the fatties kept rising. Finally, I added briquettes and stirred up the fire and got the mini up to 250° and took them off when IT hit 171° and 168°. Total time was about 4 hours, give or take. The brats got a good but not burned bark. They were delicious with spicy brown mustard and sauerkraut.

My photography skills need work. I read somewhere that using flash is a no-no so these were shot with just the lights in the range hood. The color is a bit darker and deeper than they really were. I'll try using overhead kitchen lights next time. Although you can't see it, I got a great smoke ring on both fatties. I was shocked to find that the bacon weave was crisp all around on both fatties. I think this was due to the long smoke at lower temps. I was prepared to use propane to crisp it up but that was not needed.

I learned a lot on this first attempt. I will not load the center so heavily next time but will spread the stuffing a bit better. Cream cheese didn't do anything for me. I should have put jalapeños and maybe some of the others in them. The meat was not salted and peppered enough. I will try fresh basil and maybe some thyme next time. I think fresh tarragon might be good in a pork fattie.

I'm sure I can and will do better next time. The Finance Department was satisfied - but I think that was because I cooked instead of her.

 

[smokinhusker]

Don't know how I missed this but you did an outstanding job and they look great!

 

[thrifty token]

You have given me hope when I finally get the nerve to try.....

 

[smokinhusker]

You have given me hope when I finally get the nerve to try.....

Try them...they aren't that hard to make...I just put a breakfast one on the smoker and will post a thread later.

 

[rabbithutch]

You have given me hope when I finally get the nerve to try.....

They really aren't hard to do. Like you, I was a bit intimidated by the great variety and tasty results others had produced. At the end of the day, if it all goes in the trash only a few dollars will have been wasted. However, they are so easy that you needn't fear failure.

Go for it! You'll be glad you did!

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Why,you did a fantastic job there "Buba" , just let your imagination go and (usually ) it turns out good.

Your Bacon Weave looks like mine, I'm hoping that with practice I can smooth mine up at the 'before' cooking shot , however like most of 'em they do look pretty good after the Sauna. I need to break down and make some Bacon and have some good thick Bacon to wrap with LOL

Have fun and ...

 

[sqwib]

My photography skills need work. I read somewhere that using flash is a no-no so these were shot with just the lights in the range hood. A flash will wash out an image but sometimes a flash is needed, use your flash and if the images are washed out, try diffusing or bouncing the light if possible.

It all looks great to me!

 

[scarbelly]

Congrats on your first of what I bet will be many of these. They are so simple once you get the hang of the weave 

 

[rabbithutch]

Thanks for the photography tips, SQWIB!

You can see that the camera has great color balance on outdoor shots but the indoor shots shifted rather dramatically toward red. It is a Pentax digicam and might have a color shift control that I haven't found yet.

 

[zahlgren]

Great Job!!