# First time fattie



## reinman (Apr 8, 2009)

Well I'd lurked for a while learning. I'd smoked sausage, brats, dried venison, and ribs. But some of the ideas I found here looked great. Last week I tried a stuffed pork loin, so I thought this week I'd try my first fattie.

After reading a lot of posts on fatties, I could see a lot of people get very inventive when it comes to what you put in one. But for the most part the ground meat part seemed pretty much the same. Well never being one to conform, I figured if we could get inventive on the inside, why not on the outside as well. My son in law and I make a lot of venison and pork brats. One we make we call Cajun, and I thought why not use that recipe for the ground meat.

I started with 1 pound of ground venison and 1 pound of fresh ground pork. To this I added the following.

1 tsp chili powder                2 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder              1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp minced garlic              1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp all spice                 1 tsp thyme

Here are the spices just before a good mixing.



Next I added the stuffing.

Cream cheese, red peppers, onion, sweet yellow banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, and some of my homemade BBQ sauce.



Sorry  I didn't get a picture of everything on it before I rolled it up, but I was so concerned if I'd be able to get it rolled up, I forgot to stop for another picture. Turned out is was a snap to roll. I'm not sure if everyone does this, but after I slit the sides of the bag, I lifted the plastic and then put it back down. Then I filled the bag over, and put the stuffing on this side. I figured by loosening the bag on both sides, it might not stick as easily to the bag.



I put it back in the fridge till tomorrow afternoon. Then I will take it out and put it in some of that sock stuff they use for rolled roasts. I bought a big roll of it today for $14.



My plan is after it is in the sock I will coat it with my dry rub mix. Tomorrow I will also stuff a whole round steak I bought with Philly cheese steak fixings and put that in the smoker too. I'll post on the beef forum when I get that one going, and update here when I start the smoker tomorrow.

I do have a question. My fattie is 2 pounds of meat. If I run my smoker at about 275, roughly how long does it take to get a fattie of this size done? My stuff pork loin last week took about 3 hours.


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## the dude abides (Apr 8, 2009)

That looks great.  Nice job for your first.

As to your question...a lot of it kind of depends on how thick the meat was.  I usually to a pound to a pound and a half.  The meat is 1/4" to 1/2" thick before I roll it.  I usually run the smoker around 250 and mine take a little over two hours.  

But it would be a wise idea to invest in a thermometer for all your cooking.  Even a cheapo like this...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B000FHFRCO
would help a lot.

Try to get that sausage up to around 160 or so.

Good luck.  Be sure to send us some more photos as you go and of the finished piece.


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## fire it up (Apr 8, 2009)

Nice job on your first fattie, can't wait to see how she comes out.
My smoker usually runs around 220-225 at its best average and usually I smoke them for around 3 hours.  Like Dude says you should use a thermo but I have to admit I have done many a fattie without probing them one bit and have never had one fail...maybe it is just a gift for fatties, I dunno.  2lbs @ 275 would probably be around 2 1/2 - 3 hrs.  So many variables can cause so many different cook times so don't take my times as 100% accurate until after the fact.
Also, make sure to let your fattie rest under foil for at least 10 minutes so your ingredients don't pour out on you when you cut it.
Good luck!


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## reinman (Apr 8, 2009)

Thanks, I was thinking 2 1/2 to 3 hours. My stuffed pork loin was 3 hours to get to 150 inside, but that was a windy day that made even heat a little tough.

I have 2 probes so I'll put one in the meat and put one in the smoker to double check the smoker temp. My fist probe lasted a couple years and gave out. Well the reading started going all over the place and you couldn't trust it, so I bought another one.

Today I got the old one back out and put in a new battery, but it did the same thing as before. Then I flipped the switch for the alarm to shut it off, and the temp was right. I plugged in both probes and held one in each hand and watched the temps go up. They both went up the same, though one is always 2 degrees below the other. Then I layed them on the counter and watched them both go back down. I did this three or four times and both did the same each time. So I guess if I leave the alarm off on the old timer it will work right.

I should have some pics tomorrow when I get it all done.


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## reinman (Apr 8, 2009)

Well I have them in the smoker. I put the fattie in the sock and put my dry rub on it. It was a little tougher getting it in the sock then I thought, but it did make it in.



In front of the fattie is the round steak I stuffed with green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and swiss cheese. It went in the sock a little easier, but I'd already tied it with string so that made a difference.

When I started a put the probe in on the fattie and took the other one and just hung it loose in the smoker above the rack. I wanted to test the thermometer on the smoker. I was amazed to find they were the same. I then pulled that probe and let it cool a while. After a bit, when the smoke slowed down a bit. I opened the smoker and put the probe in the round steak. Last time I looked the round steak was at 119 and the fattie was 121.

Here's my smoker. I did want to thank those that have given tips to improve our smokers. I took out the chip box and put in a pan I picked up at a Goodwill store for 50 cents. I foiled the top and poked a few holes in it. I think I had some of the best smoke coming out that I've had so far. I've still got a few wood chunks, apple and red oak, soaking in the water. I plan to add them during the last hour.


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## rivet (Apr 8, 2009)

Good looking fatties, show us some done pics! I'd recommend you get a probe thermo like The Dude says- these units are good. Dial types run around a buck or two less, both work fine.

You're better off sticking your meat to make sure everything is done.


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## bigsteve (Apr 8, 2009)

I don't think I've ever heard of a round steak.  What cut? Is it taken off rare/med or do it cook it through for pulling?

Enquiring minds want to know.....


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## tasunkawitko (Apr 8, 2009)

steve - round steak is the big steak you see in the store with the round bone over toward one end. it's taken from the hindquarter and is a good flavorful steak. used a lot with swiss steaks and others. good when braised, broiled grilled and of course as BBQ ~ ;)

if you cook it hot and fast, it should be taken off medium, if you cook it slow and keep it moist, i am willing to bet it pulls well and would fall apart like melted butter - this is what our swiss steaks do when prepared properly!


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## bigsteve (Apr 8, 2009)

I knew that........


Oh _THAT_ round steak.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






   The one in his Q-view is all rolled up like a fatty.  I thought he meant the steak was physically round, because he rolled it up.


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## reinman (Apr 9, 2009)

Well they both got done in 3 hours. The fattie was 155 when pulled and the rolled round steak 149. We let them rest for 10 minutes tented and then went to it.

The one in front is the round steak. And it tasted just like a Philly cheese steak.Next time around I might have them run it through the tenderizer, and see how that comes out. Should be easier to roll.



The fattie is the one in the back. Not as spicy as I thought it might have been. I do think the spices in the meat took away from the flavor of the dry rub I put on. I think the next one will have a dry rub and the basted with BBQ sauce near the end.


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## bigsteve (Apr 9, 2009)




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## fire it up (Apr 9, 2009)

Looks great reinman!  Beautiful job.  
I'm 45 minutes away from Philly, why not send me some samples and then I can see how close to Philly chesesteak you got her, and maybe a sample of the fattie too...


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## reinman (Apr 9, 2009)

I'd love to send you some, but I was feeding my son in law and younger daughter's boyfriend. Needless to say there was slim pickings after we got done.


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## the dude abides (Apr 9, 2009)

Dang Newbie.  Nice work.  Might wanna bring that beef up a little higher in temp and let it rest a half hour longer and that might help with the tenderness.  But that's sort of a tough piece of meat to begin with (Corn fed Iowa beef guy here) so tenderizing it certainly won't hurt the process.







 for trying something we haven't seen.  At least in recent memory.


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## reinman (Apr 9, 2009)

I'll try getting the temp up more on the beef the next time, thanks. I was kind of going by the way I'd done deer backstraps on my grill. I don't cut my backstraps into steaks but just cut them in half. I would put a dry rub on the backstrap and place it on the side with indirect heat. I'd roll it over a couple times just to expose the other side to a little more heat, and keep my grill at about 300 degrees. It usually took about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to get the backstrap up to 145 degrees. I'd let it set just a bit, and I'd end up with a nice med rare juicy piece of meat.

Of course round steak is not the same as a good backstrap.

Saturday is suppose to be nice, I'm thinking brisket.

Oh by the way I'm not too far from those Iowa cornfed beef, though mine is probably Nebraska corn fed beef. I'm about 40 miles northwest of Omaha.


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## bbq engineer (Apr 9, 2009)

Good looking stuff Reinman! I bet it was tough to keep it all together and get it in the sock...next time, sock it with some Bacon! As Emeril would say, it is a pork fat thing!


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## txbbqman (Apr 9, 2009)

Nice looking grub, way to go


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## smokingscooby (Apr 9, 2009)

Great looking Fatty! They always seem to disappear very quickly!
Good Job


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## grothe (Apr 9, 2009)

Great job reinman....really nice lookin grub!!


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## bigbaldbbq (Apr 9, 2009)

Just curious. Did you saute the peppers, onions, and mushrooms before you put them in the round steak? That looks awesome and I'm sure my wife and friends would love for me to try something like that.


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## reinman (Apr 9, 2009)

Thanks everyone it was a lot of fun to make. For the fattie I will probably go with bacon in the future or baste on some BQ sauce. The outside was a bit drier then I'd like. But I figured with the sock on there the BQ sauce would get knocked off, so I just went with the rub.

I can think of a few uses for the sock, so I'm sure I'll use it eventually.

Nope everything went in raw. Now remember I used high temp cheese. I thought regular cheese might melt out fast since you can't really seal up the round steak. This would probably work with a flank steak too, if you can get a whole flank steak. Though in this case you may roll it up sideways since it would be too thick to roll up lengthways. With my round steak I held it in place with toothpicks first. Then I tied some string around it and removed the toothpicks, and finally I was able to use the sock.

Here's an idea that may help putting a sock on a fattie or something else. Buy a small funnel that is about the size of the fattie or the rolled up steak. Cut the tip off. Now slide it on one end and pull the sock up over that. Once the sock is on pull the funnel off. The funnel I bought was too big so I didn't get to try it to see if it would work good.

If it works I'll take credit. If it doesn't, you didn't hear it from me.


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