The smoked bacon wrapped fatty has been around for a while and it is probably one of the best smoking recipes around.

For those not in the know, a smoked bacon wrapped fatty is simply a pound of sausage, rolled out flat, stuffed with cheese, veggies, other meats, whatever the mind can think up, and then wrapped in a blanket of bacon that has been weaved together carefully. It is then smoked for three hours and the end result makes your eyes roll back in your head when you taste it.

I made an attempt in one of my newsletters from last year cutting the size of the fatty in half but it still did not satisfy my desire for something smaller, simpler and more personal. Something that did not require a degree in bacon weaving or in flattening out sausage using a zip top bag.

The original fatty is as tasty as it comes but I have heard a lot of folks complain and I have even thought myself that this is a lot of complexity and work for something that gets eaten so quickly.

This is where the wheels in my head started turning and I figured, I could make something about the size of half a sushi roll that could be picked up and eaten in a couple of bites, no knife required, if one wanted to and Miss Manners wasn't seated at the table. Not to mention, I have a certain affinity for finger foods!

This miniature smoked bacon wrapped fatty is the bomb diggety and I think you'll readily agree once you've tried them.

• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Yield: About 12-14 pieces
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Smoker Temp: 225°F – 275°F
• Meat Finish Temp: 160°F
• Recommended Wood: Mesquite

• 1-½ lbs ground breakfast sausage
• 1 lb of bacon (or 1 strip each)
• Jeff's Rub (purchase recipe here)
• One or more of the filling recipes below

For the larger fatty, you would normally just layer on the ingredients such as cheese, onions, jalapeños, pulled pork, ham, barbecue sauce, etc. but since we are working with miniatures, I have found it to be much easier to go ahead and mix the ingredients ahead of time then spoon a tablespoon of it onto the sausage and wrap it up.

I have provided several recipes for fillings but don't feel constrained by the amounts or the ingredients. Let your imagination run wild.

Each of these will make enough for about 3-4 miniature bacon wrapped fatties. I usually mix up several of these fillings and make an assortment.

Reuben Filling

• 2 TBS pastrami, chopped or torn into small pieces
• 2 TBS Sauer kraut
• 1 TBS Swiss cheese, grated
• 2 TBS 1000 Island dressing (use more if desired)

Ham and Cheddar

• 3 heaping TBS of ham, diced
• 2 cheddar cheese cubes (I buy the ones already cubed. You could also use grated)
• 1 TBS of Jeff's barbecue sauce (purchase recipe here)

Hawaiian Pulled Pork

• 2 TBS of pulled pork, shredded into small pieces
• 1 TBS of pineapple, crushed
• 1 TBS of Jeff's barbecue sauce (purchase recipe here)

Buffalo Chicken

• 3 heaping TBS of diced or shredded chicken
• 1 TBS of Jeff's barbecue sauce (purchase recipe here)
• 1 TBS of Frank's Original Red Hot sauce
• 1 cheddar cheese cube (optional)

Asian Pulled Pork

• 4 TBS of pulled pork, shredded into small pieces
• 1 TBS of Sriracha sauce
• 1 TBS of Hellman's REAL mayonnaise
• 1 TBS of Jeff's barbecue sauce (purchase recipe here)

Pizza

• 1 TBS of pepperoni, diced
• 1 TBS of mushrooms, diced
• 1 TBS of red onions, chopped
• 1 TBS of mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 TBS of Jeff's barbecue sauce (purchase recipe here)

Surf n' Turf

• 2 TBS of raw* sirloin (or other tender steak), chopped into small pieces
• 2 TBS of very small shrimp or shrimp cut into small pieces
• 1 TBS of green peppers/onions cooked until al dente in a frying pan with a little olive oil
• ½ TBS of Worcestershire sauce

*I figure the steak will reach at least medium during the cooking process. If you are worried about it, you can always cook/grill it first.

ABT

• 1 TBS of cream cheese, softened
• 1 TBS of mixed cheese, grated (Mexican blend, 4 cheese blend, etc.)
• 2 TBS of jalapeño, cleaned, deseeded and chopped
• 1 TBS of lil' smokies, chopped into small pieces

Once your selected fillings are made and ready, set them aside.

By the way, if you come up with different variations, post them in the comments area below for everyone to enjoy!

Divide 1 pound of sausage into 10 equal sized balls.

How I made the FIRST SIX of them (not the easiest way)

When I first started messing with these, I made the sausage balls then pressed all of them flat on a piece of wax paper.

I then spooned on about 1 TBS of the filling in the center of the sausage.

I then carefully removed the sausage from the wax paper by working my hand under it all the way around and folded the sausage over and around the filling sealing the edges by pinching it.

It worked but it was a little time consuming and the sausage was sticking to the wax paper and making me mad.

New plan!

The BETTER WAY

I then discovered that I could simply make the sausage ball then flatten the sausage into a boat right there in my hand.

It was also easy to stuff with the filling right there in my hand.

With no need to work it off the wax paper, it was fairly quick and easy to fold it over like a taco and pinch the edges together to seal it closed.

Form into shape by rolling in your hand and pressing in on both ends just a little bit.

Wrap in a single strip of bacon..

Roll in a plate of my dry rub..

And Voila!

Just to give you an idea of the size of these.. I'll compare it to a normal sized jalapeño pepper.

Actual dimensions of the miniature bacon wrapped fatties are 3-½ x 1-½.

In order to keep them separate, I placed each individual kind in a separate plate with a small label on the edge of each plate notating what the filling was.

I also made a diagram showing where they would be located on the smoker grate.

I ended up making 16 in total and figured I could place them like so..

I used my XL Big Green Egg for cooking these.

Set up the smoker for cooking at about 225°F to 275°F (if you are able to) with plenty of smoking wood to last about 1 hour. I recommend using mesquite for a good smoke flavor in a limited amount of time.

With these, a little hotter than normal is better as it helps to crisp the bacon.

Here's some information that I have written on various smokers.

• Bradley 4-Rack Digital Smoker – An electric smoker that is fully automated and keeps the temperature where you set it. It also keeps the smoke flowing via an automated mechanism that moves a new wood puck into the smoker every 20 minutes. See this smoker and read reviews on Amazon.com
• Weber Smokey Mountain 22.5 Smoker – the king of charcoal water smokers. Add charcoal, water and wood and you're good to go for several hours. 3 dampers on the fire bowl allow you to dial in the air perfectly for maintaining perfect smoking temperatures. See this smoker and read reviews on Amazon.com
• Big Green Egg – Ceramic cooker that uses charcoal. Add lump charcoal, light it and add some wood.. set the top and bottom vent and you're good to go for hours on end due to the thick walls that hold heat incredibly well.
• Great Outdoors Smoky Mountain Propane Smoker – A propane smoker that works exceptionally well. I have had mine for more than 8 years and it still works great. See this smoker and read reviews on Amazon.com
• More smokers on the way..

Note: In colder weather, it is advisable to preheat the smoker at least an hour or more before you are wanting to use it. Keep the door closed as much as possible and even skip basting if necessary to maintain proper smoking temperatures.

Place them directly on the grate making sure, as I did, to notate the filling of each group.

You can easily cook these hotter to help crisp up the bacon a little better but they will get done in about 35-40 minutes if you do them as hot as 275°F so watch the temperature and when they reach 160 in the center, they are done regardless of how hot you decide to smoke them.

Another option for crisping the bacon is to precook it until it's about half done. Partially done but still flexible enough to wrap around the filled sausage.

These are more of an appetizer for game day, tailgating, parties, etc. so I just recommend you bring them in and let everyone dive right in while the cheese and filling is still bubbling.

The ham and cheddar cheese cut open.. cheese oozing nicely even after it's been sitting for a few minutes.

The reuben version was especially good but I felt like I wanted more sauer kraut taste. You'll have to see if you agree with me on that.

And finally, the Hawaiian pulled pork was absolutely heavenly!

After the fatties came off the smoker, I had the “bright idea” to use colored toothpicks to differentiate between them. You still have to make a quick cheat sheet to tell you which filling belongs to which color but you might like this option better than labeling them on plates and the toothpicks can easily handle the smoker heat as well.

***Note: you get the Texas style rub recipe free with your order!

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Printable Recipe

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Miniature Smoked Bacon Wrapped Fatty

Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

1 hr

 

Call it a bacon wrapped fatty or a bacon explosion but the bottom line is that these baby's are one of the best things since sliced bread. I have discovered that making them miniature sized just ups the ante on awesomeness!

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Hot Smoking

Servings: 6 -8

Author: Jeff Phillips

What You'll Need

• 1-½ lbs ground breakfast sausage
• 1 lb of bacon (or 1 strip each)
• Jeff’s Rub (purchase recipe here)
• One or more of the filling recipes below

Instructions

Prepare the Fillings

Reuben Filling

1. TBS pastrami, chopped or torn into small pieces
2. TBS Sauer kraut
3. TBS Swiss cheese, grated
4. TBS 1000 Island dressing (use more if desired)

Ham and Cheddar

1. heaping TBS of ham, diced
2. cheddar cheese cubes (I buy the ones already cubed. You could also use grated)
3. TBS of Jeff’s barbecue sauce (purchase recipe here)

Hawaiian Pulled Pork

1. TBS of pulled pork, shredded into small pieces
2. TBS of pineapple, crushed
3. TBS of Jeff’s barbecue sauce (purchase recipe here)

Buffalo Chicken

1. heaping TBS of diced or shredded chicken
2. TBS of Jeff’s barbecue sauce (purchase recipe here)
3. TBS of Frank’s Original Red Hot sauce
4. cheddar cheese cube (optional)

Asian Pulled Pork

1. TBS of pulled pork, shredded into small pieces
2. TBS of Sriracha sauce
3. TBS of Hellman’s REAL mayonnaise
4. TBS of Jeff’s barbecue sauce (purchase recipe here)

Pizza

1. TBS of pepperoni, diced
2. TBS of mushrooms, diced
3. TBS of red onions, chopped
4. TBS of mozzarella cheese, shredded
5. TBS of Jeff’s barbecue sauce (purchase recipe here)

Surf n’ Turf

1. TBS of raw* sirloin (or other tender steak), chopped into small pieces
2. TBS of very small shrimp or shrimp cut into small pieces
3. TBS of green peppers/onions cooked until al dente in a frying pan with a little olive oil
4. ½ TBS of Worcestershire sauce
5. *I figure the steak will reach at least medium during the cooking process. If you are worried about it, you can always cook/grill it first.

ABT

1. TBS of cream cheese, softened
2. TBS of mixed cheese, grated (Mexican blend, 4 cheese blend, etc.)
3. TBS of jalapeño, cleaned, deseeded and chopped
4. TBS of lil’ smokies, chopped into small pieces
5. Once your selected fillings are made and ready, set them aside.

Prepare and Fill the Sausage

1. Divide 1 pound of sausage into 10 equal sized balls
2. Flatten a ball of sausage onto your hand forming a boat
3. Place about a TBS of filling into the boat
4. Fold the ends of the boat together and pinch edges to seal
5. Form into shape by rolling the sausage in your hand
6. Wrap an entire piece of bacon around the filled sausage
7. Roll the bacon wrapped sausages in a plate of rub

Smoking the Bacon Wrapped Fatties

1. Place directly on the grate of your smoker
2. Smoke at 225°F to 275°F for about 1 hour or until they reach 160°F
3. Serve immediately