Hello friends and welcome to the very first newsletter of the decade! This is the January 2010 issue and I am so excited about this one since we are covering one of my most favorite smoked delicacies.. the bacon wrapped stuffed sausage fatty most commonly called a Bacon Explosion on the internet.
Around here we just call it a fatty and everyone knows what we are talking about.
If you have never tried eating one of these or making one then you are in for a real treat.. it is unbearably delicious.
I cannot take any credit for inventing this process.. we have been making sausage fatties for many years over at the SMF forums but wrapping it in a bacon weave takes it to that whole new level and with my instructions, you will be able to make these at home and wow your friends and family.
My seven year old calls it "heaven in your mouth" and I think you will agree;-)
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By the way.. if you missed the videos from our last several newletters then you should definitely take a look. We have had a total of 49,945 views since November 5th and that is remarkable if you ask me!
Our channel can be found at http://www.youtube.com/tulsajeff where you can subscribe and you will be notified every time we upload a new video. ENJOY!!
Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Sausage Fatty
To begin this journey you have to have some supplies and the supply list really depends on how many fatties you are planning to make.
I highly recommend that you do at least two at a time but again, that is entirely up to you. Here is my list of supplies for two fatties:
3 lbs quality, thick sliced bacon
2 lbs regular Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage
8 oz Pepper Jack cheese slices
2 jalapeno peppers
1 batch of Jeff's naked rib rub
1 batch of Jeff's barbecue sauce
2 gallon sizes ziploc bags
2 pieces of wax paper (I use parchment paper)
Preparation
I like to do all of my preparation before even starting to put the fatties together. Remove the seeds from the peppers and then dice them up or slice them however you like, make the rub and the sauce, etc.
If you are using onions or other veggies, you can go ahead and slice and dice those as you see fit and set them aside.
The bacon weave will require thirteen pieces of bacon per weave and if you are making two weaves, you will need twenty-six pieces total. Count out and set aside the bacon you will need for the weaves and fry the rest up real nice and crispy. Place it on a paper towel to absorb some of the grease and set aside.
Weaving the Bacon
This may look difficult but once you do it one time, you will see how easy it really is.
Lay out 7 pieces of bacon horizontally on the wax paper butting them up to each other with no overlapping.
Now remove the 2nd, 4th, and 6th piece and lay them aside.
Lay a piece of bacon vertically all the way to the left and on top of the horizontal pieces.
Replace pieces 2,4 and 6 that you removed earlier to the exact location that you removed them from.
Fold horizontal pieces 1, 3, 5, and 7 back to the left over the top of the first vertical piece.
Lay down the 2nd vertical piece just to the right of the 1st vertical piece and lay horizontal pieces 1, 3, 5, and 7 back down into their original location.
You get the idea.. continue this alternating pattern until you have 6-7 vertical pieces of bacon woven into the 7 horizontal pieces.
This completes the weave that will be wrapped around the roll of stuffed sausage.
Sprinkly a healthy portion of my rib rub onto the bacon weave(s) and set aside.
Flattening out the Sausage
Place the one pound sausage roll into a gallon sized ziploc bag and seal it up.
Then use your hand or a rolling pin to flatten it out to an even square. To avoid air pockets you can snip off a corner or two of the bag to allow some air to escape.
You can also just flatten the sausage out into a square that is approximately the same size as your bacon weave or slightly smaller without using a bag.
If you used the bag to make the square of sausage, use a very sharp knife to cut the top of the plastic away from the sausage.. down one side, across the bottom and up the other side to where the zipper is located.
You should then be able to lift the sausage square up and flip it over carefully onto the wax paper allowing you to then remove the remaining bottom of the plastic bag from the sausage.
Stuffing the Sausage
What you put on the sausage is a matter of preference.. I made one the traditional way with a layer of my sauce, 5-6 slices of pepper jack cheese, 10 pieces of bacon fried crispy and torn into small one inch pieces.
The second one was simply 5-6 pieces of pepper jack cheese, spinach greens, chopped red onion, and one seeded, chopped jalapeno.
Note: place all of the stuffing in the bottom two thirds of the sausage square for best results.
Rolling the Stuffed Sausage
Lift up the wax paper and roll the sausage as tightly as possible making sure that the ingredients are rolled up into the sausage. An assistant is very helpful with this process.
Be sure to remove the wax paper as you go so it does not get rolled into the sausage as well.
When it is completely rolled up, very carefully lift up the roll of sausage and place it on top of the bacon weave at the bottom end.
Rolling the Bacon Weave Around the Sausage Roll
As with the sausage, lift the bottom of the wax paper up to help start the bacon weave around the sausage.
Continue to roll the bacon weave until it is completely around the sausage roll. Be sure to keep the wax paper pulled back so it does not get rolled up with the bacon weave.
Brush on another coating of the barbecue sauce and you are ready to place on the smoker.
Preparing the Smoker
Prepare your wood, charcoal, electric or gas smoker for about 230-240 degrees. I used mesquite for this experiment since I wanted a really nice robust smoke flavor.
Feel free to use your favorite type of wood. I would imagine that pecan, oak, apple, cherry, etc. would all be wonderful woods to use.
Smoking the Fatties (some of you just got excited when you read that)
Place the fatties on the grate. The bacon wrapped stuffed sausage rolls will take about 2-3 hours to reach 165° in the center. I recommend that you keep the smoke flowing for at least 2 hours. Use a thermometer and remove them from the smoker when they reach 165°.
I have read that it takes about one hour per inch of thickness. I am not sure how well that holds true but one of mine got done about 30 minutes before the other one. The one that got done early was thicker than the one that took the longest so.. go figure.
Let the temperature tell you when it is done no matter how long it takes.
Crisping up the Bacon on the Outside
When you first remove the fatty from the smoker, the bacon on the outside will not be crispy. If you prefer crispy bacon then simply pop it into a 500° broiler for a couple of minutes but keep a very close eye on it will burn.
I have also wondered if you could place the whole fatty on a griddle once it is done smoking and do a fry on the outside of the bacon weave after it is finished. I have not tried this but I have a feeling it would work.
You would probably want to put toothpicks thought the fatty to make sure the bacon does not come unwrapped. You would also have to turn it a few times to get all sides crisp.
If you happen to try this, let me know how it goes.
Serving the Fatties
There are no rules as to how to eat these. Let them rest for about 10 minutes then slice them into 1/2 inch pieces to be eaten as is, on a large biscuit or make a sandwich out of it. Either way, they are simply delicious and you will do these time and time again, I promise!!
A Healthier Fatty?
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More Information
More educations materials for making fatties can be found at the SMF. We have had several members put together tutorials and write-ups on wrapping, weaving the bacon, etc.and they are all really good.
My Famous Rib Rub Recipe and BBQ Sauce Recipe
Folks.. I never stop amazing myself at how good my rib rub is on various kinds of meat.
I always use my rib rub with very few exceptions on the stuff that I cook here at home.. this month I used the rub and the sauce on the bacon wrapped fatties and it made all of the difference in the world.
In fact, I made one fatty with my rub and sauce and one without and there was a definite difference between the two.
I believe my recipes are the best hand down and here are a few testimonies to prove it:
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Hey Jeff, first off i would like to thank you for selling your rub/bbq sauce recipe. I had so many thumbs up new years eve when i used it
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I would like to Thank You for the Rib Rub Recipe, I made this for my family and the results were unanimous, everyone said that the ribs were the BEST they ever tasted, and the meat was very tender and moist. I haven't tried the BBQ sauce recipe yet, but I will in the near future
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Awesome. We spent New Years day smoking ribs for first time ever and used both your dry rub and BBQ sauce recipes. Everything was great.We're converts!
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Jeff, I have tried allot of "bottled" sauces and a few home made ones to……This stuff is GOLD! It was a big hit Labor day..
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You deserve the very best and is is completely within your grasp! Only $18.95 and worth every penny. Not only do you get the best rub recipe and sauce recipe available, you are supporting this website and helping to make sure the bills get paid so we can keep on doing what we do to teach thousands and thousands of people across the world the art of smoking meat.
NOTE: My system is automated which means you should get a download email within MINUTES of ordering..check your spam/junk folder first then contact me to get the recipes sent to you as an attachment.
The Official SMF January Throwdown
The December edition of the SMF Throwdown was a huge success. Here is where you can read all about the winners and their amazing recipes.
t is time for the January throwdown at SMF and this month it is all about appetizers!
Get on over to SMF and sign up for a free membership so you can participate in the never ending fun.. truly!!
The official contest rules and such can be found at the following link:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86472
To register as a new member of SMF go to http://www.smokingmeatforums.com
If you don't get a confirmation email within an hour or so of signing up, let me know and I can help out.
See ya' there!!
Our New Smoking-Meat.com Fan Page on Facebook
Due to the large number of friends we have had sign up on facebook.. I have been advised to create a fan page which is a much better use of Facebook in the long run.
I will keep lots of smoking meat information flowing and you will be able to see it firsthand.
In Closing
Thank you for being a part of the smoking meat family which includes the newsletter, the forum, the smoking-meat.com website and many other resources that we try to provide to help you and countless others learn this great art.
A HUGE thank you to all of you who support the site with your donations and by purchasing the recipes and other products that we sell.
Thank you!!
Until next time.. keep smoking and God Bless.
Jeff Phillips
About Jeff Phillips
