# Skinny Fatties - Replace sausage with ground chuck???



## uncle eddie (Jun 29, 2016)

My wife is watching calories big time so I have to smoke foods to support her diet/exercise regime (she is down 56 pounds since January 5, 2016 - she is super serious about this!).  This is the reason for my question about skinny fatties.

I have never made a fatty (yet) but it is on my list of things to do.  Jimmy Dean sausage is 100 calories per ounce and ground chuck is about 60 calories per ounce...I was wondering if anyone ever tried replacing the sausage with well-seasoned ground chuck?  Maybe I should use a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of ground chuck and sausage?  Controlling the stuffing/filling calories is super easy to do so I am not worried about this.

Am I worrying about something that is not that important?  How many slices does a typical fatty make?  I would guess 8 to 10.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ed


----------



## worktogthr (Jun 29, 2016)

I have done this before and it works well.  You can also use ground turkey or chicken sausage for the fatty just be careful not to overcook it as it has less fat and can dry out.


----------



## uncle eddie (Jun 29, 2016)

worktogthr said:


> I have done this before and it works well. You can also use ground turkey or chicken sausage for the fatty just be careful not to overcook it as it has less fat and can dry out.


Cool beans...

How many slices does a typical fatty make?


----------



## dirtsailor2003 (Jun 29, 2016)

Uncle Eddie said:


> Cool beans...
> 
> How many slices does a typical fatty make?


Depends on how thick you slice the slices and how big you make the fatty.


----------



## SmokinAl (Jun 29, 2016)

I like to use 1 1/4 lbs. of ground meat.

If you use a 1 gallon bag to roll it out, you should get 10 nice slices.

Al


----------



## uncle eddie (Jun 29, 2016)

Thanks Al...now to plan the stuffing and figure out the calories.


----------



## gerk (Jun 29, 2016)

I've done fatties with ground chuck before with no problems.  For stuffing you can do things like onions, green/red/yellow peppers, etc for the calorie conscious, they turn out pretty nicely still.  I did Philly Cheese Steak style fatties a couple weeks ago (think all the ingredient of a Philly cheese steak just done like a fatty) and the family went wild for them.


----------



## SmokinAl (Jun 29, 2016)

Uncle Eddie said:


> Thanks Al...now to plan the stuffing and figure out the calories.


There are several inexpensive nutrition programs on the market now that calculate the calories for you.

Another option is to take the slices & make sliders with them.

They fill you up much faster.

Here's some I did not too long ago.

They are not diet, but you get the idea.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/243516/fattie-sliders-appetizer-or-meal-steps-qview

Al


----------



## uncle eddie (Jun 29, 2016)

Gerk said:


> I've done fatties with ground chuck before with no problems.  For stuffing you can do things like onions, green/red/yellow peppers, etc for the calorie conscious, they turn out pretty nicely still.  I did Philly Cheese Steak style fatties a couple weeks ago (think all the ingredient of a Philly cheese steak just done like a fatty) and the family went wild for them.


haha - funny you should say Philly Cheese Steak as I was already calculating the calories for this.

BTW - the difference in calories for a fatty when using ground chuck vs. jimmy dean sausage is as follows:

assuming a full pack of center cut bacon (12-oz),
1/2 pound of cheese
throw in 50 calories for the veggies
                                             *10 slices                  8 slices *

*Ground Chuck  *                  226 cal/slice             327 cal/slice

*Jimmy Dean Sausage*          322 cal/slice             409 cal/slice


----------



## daveomak (Jun 29, 2016)

Think about ground chuck and ground pork butt...    You don't have to use commercial sausage....


----------



## worktogthr (Jun 29, 2016)

I also recommend going for leaner ground beef.  Push the limits of what you can get rid of as far as fat.  So maybe 85/15 ground beef or 90/10.  Chuck is upwards of around 20% fat and calories to go along with it... So maybe the leaner beef would bring the fat and calories down


----------



## uncle eddie (Jul 2, 2016)

Rain rain rain - perfect for smoking a "skinny" fatty and my AMNPS

Ingredients as follows:

1.8 lbs ground chuck           - 1500 calories

center cut bacon - 12 slices - 420 cal

Muenster cheese                - 400 cal

Feta                                   -   50 cal

Mushroom, onion, peppers   -   50 cal

================================

Total                                  -  2420 calories

Seasonings: Salt, pepper, garlic powder

at 8 slices/log = about 300 calories per slice - My wife's calorie counting has been satisfied

It is chilling in the frindigerator right now.  Putting it in the smoker at 2 PM.  Will put up completed pics later.


----------

