# Feels like the 1st time - Bacon-Wrap GB over Country-Style, Muenster/Mozz with Sear: Q-View



## forluvofsmoke (Jan 4, 2017)

Hey, everyone!!!

It's been entirely too long since I even had a notion to build a fatty. My fatty pies and the infamous fatty cake were the last of my fatty creations...from back in the day when I had a house full of kids to feed. That was my "go big or go home" era. But a true, rolled-fatty from my kitchen has been non-existent since sometime in early 2009 when I was smoking 6-8lbrs on the SnP 40". I think I'm over-due. So, today I kinda feel like a fatty-virgin all over again.

My daughter wanted us all to get together for dinner this evening...before I knew she wanted smoked & seared steaks I had the idea for a fatty and my meats were thawed...hmm...what to do. Fatty and steaks, that's what to do!!!

This was a simple, but oversized fatty build...too big for a decent looking, full-wrap bacon weave. So, ingredients were as follows:

-2lb ground chuck;

-1lb of mixed Beef/Pork Country Style Sausage, raw, casing removed;

-6 1.25oz slices Muenster Cheese;

-4oz coarse grated Mozzarella Cheese (to fill between around the CS Sausage);

-12oz smoked Bacon (I overlapped the wrap...sliced reached about 80% of the diameter);

This hefted like around 6lbs, but I know there's just over 4lbs total ingredients. Standard length, but the girth is far larger than a normal fatty, so no bacon weave today. I used the typical method with the 1-gal zip-loc bag for pressing, forming and rolling, but I don't roll the ingredients into layers. Instead, I heap the fillings up in the middle of the roll and use the ground meat to encase the fillings, so you end up with one layer of ground meat on the outside...and, the cheese doesn't seem to escape nearly as easily, either. This method allows you to really bulk-up the fatty, unfortunately, if you want to do a bacon weave, you have to be more careful about how much filling to use, and probably only use 3/4lb of ground meat...been a while since I've had it down to nitty-gritty measures for the perfect fatty with a weave, and even then, I usually made monster pizza fatties big enough to feed 7+.

Seasoned with a Weber Burger blend...I didn't have time to throw together even a quick rub, and this is nice and coarse, anyway. I didn't season the inside at all due to the peppery sausage core with cheese. A friend made this CS sausage for us...it put's any store-bought mass-produced sausage to shame, and is as good, if not better, than what we had from the meat shops. All in all, It should be a great flavor:













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Into the Weber OTG 26 @ 250* with briquette fire and Cherry & Hickory smoke:













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Yeah, that's a lot of grate for a 5lb fatty...more efficient than firing up the WSM 18, though, due to less mass to heat-up and the fire is closer to the meat. Get happy in the smoke, my friend:













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90 minutes into the smoke - ~99-100* I/T...lookin' good...I don't know about everyone else, but I'm dancing in my seat here waiting for dinner in another 3 hours:













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A little cold-weather lesson I (re)learned today: you know it's cold outside when your digital thermometer probe LCD goes dead after 5 minutes exposure and has to take a trip back inside to warm-up until the next temp check...yeah, it's that cold today...high was +1*F...-4*F and dropping.

I took it to 150* I/T, built up the fire for grilling the fatty and Cross-Rib Beef Steaks and rolled it over the hot coals for a bit of light charring/searing action to an I/T of 170*, then dropped it into a warm 8-qt oval crock-pot for transport to my daughter's house. I can't wait...I hate it when I torture myself cooking great food like this!!!

Oh, baby...:













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Time for a sear:













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This was a lid-on, lid-off process for flare-up control, in order to allow some handling for turning of the fatty to sear:













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Back to indirect to reach finished temps before...:













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..it lands in the crock-pot:













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Sprung a little cheese leak...it happens:













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Sorry for the cliff-hanger...just sat down to eat and I gotta sort and upload sliced and plated pics...back in a flash with the finish!!!

Thanks for peekin'!!!

Eric


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## weev (Jan 4, 2017)

Sure looks good but crap it's cold out its 12 out but with windchill it's -6  a little two cold for me


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 4, 2017)

Sliced up...I thought I'd seen it all...the smoke from the smoked country sausage reacted with the ground meat of the fatty encasement...who'd of thought?













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My daughters cheesy hash-brown casserole:













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Steak garnish:













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Ah, that was good!!! The fatty had layered flavors between the bacon/ground beef and the smoked country sausage...wow, I'd do this again, for sure!!! Smoke flavor wasn't intense, just a nice smooth finish...partially blocked from the bacon, I suspect, as the smoke ring on the outside wasn't that deep...ah, but then we are talking beef here and not pork. The inner smoke ring from the reaction in the ground beef with the smoked country sausage just took me by surprise...cool...never have seen that one before. The texture of the fatty was drier due to the types of meat I used, but I did want a leaner finished product. It was dry enough that it almost crumbled under the knife when slicing, so pretty dry, but part of that was probably related to the meat being previously frozen and it still had ice crystals when I began working it...not the best conditions, though it still came through it alright.

That casserole was REALLY good, too, BTW!!! I didn't ask her for the recipe, but it does have sour cream, which put it over the top, IMHO. Great way to get your meat n taters!!!

So, that's about it. Pretty simple ingredients, obviously a carnivores delight. Oh, forgot to mention this: smoke time before searing was close to 3 hours to hit the 150 I/T I planned for before searing. I seared for about 15 minutes, tops, then went back to indirect heat for a bit to hit 170*, then to a warm crock-pot for transport. Total cooking time was roughly 3.75 hours, then the steaks hit the grill with a freshly built-up fire for a 10-minute sear.

ENJOY!!!

Great smokes to all and to all a good night!!!

Eric


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 4, 2017)

Weev said:


> Sure looks good but crap it's cold out its 12 out but with windchill it's -6 a little two cold for me


Thanks! Yeah, it's a bit chilly for me, too. It was -9*F with mild winds when I pulled the steaks to cover and towel-wrap to insulate for a quick trip across town to have dinner. But, what can I say, I'm a die-hard when it comes to outdoor cooking, especially when I can make something I haven't made before, or for a long time.

Eric


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## SmokinAl (Jan 5, 2017)

Wow Eric!

The fattie looks fantastic!

Actually the whole meal looks fantastic!!!

Well done my friend!

Point!

Al


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 5, 2017)

Great Looking fatty! I love putting linguica or kielbasa in my fatties!

Point!


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 10, 2017)

SmokinAl said:


> Wow Eric!
> 
> The fattie looks fantastic!
> 
> ...


Thanks, Al!!! That was a tasty meal...still has me wanting to go into fatty-mode again. There's just a limitless amount of fillings you can use.


dirtsailor2003 said:


> Great Looking fatty! I love putting linguica or kielbasa in my fatties!
> 
> Point!


Thanks!!! Hey, I've wanted to use pepperoni sticks sometime...hard to find around here (don't have a stuffer), but I bet that would be a unique slice of heaven.

Eric


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## ab canuck (Jan 10, 2017)

Looks fabulous...... I think I am going to make an attempt at one of these babies.


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## tropics (Jan 10, 2017)

Eric sorry I can't see how I missed this post That is simply put Food Art Points

Richie


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## disco (Jan 10, 2017)

What a great take on a fatty! Point!

Disco


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 11, 2017)

AB Canuck said:


> Looks fabulous...... I think I am going to make an attempt at one of these babies.


Thanks, brother! If you haven't rolled-up a fatty yet, they're aren't difficult.


tropics said:


> Eric sorry I can't see how I missed this post That is simply put Food Art Points
> 
> Richie


Thanks, Richie! Hey, don't sweat me sliding this in under your radar. I miss so much stuff on here anymore...I can't even imagine...there's just not enough time to go round anymore.


Disco said:


> What a great take on a fatty! Point!
> 
> Disco


Thanks, Disco! They are a really good with CS sausage as a filler. Rolled in pork sausage would have been even better than GB, but I wanted a leaner fatty this time around.

Eric


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