# Total disaster!



## smokysauce (Nov 21, 2011)

Was hanging out today with not much to do. Figured what the heck. I'll make a fatty and share it with my neighbors. Thaw out a lb. of Jimmy Dean Hot. Roll it out in a ziploc. Cut the top of the ziploc off and transfer the square onto wax paper. Add cheese, pepperoni, and spinach. Roll it up. Go to transfer the fatty to saran wrap so as to wrap and twist the ends and achieve a seamless tight little fatty. This is where things went horribly, horribly wrong. The sausage must have been rolled a little too thin or something. It basically just fell apart into a jumbled mass of sausage, cheese and other ingredients. Dang it! My question...what to do now? I'm inclined to pick as much of the non-sausage stuff out of the mess, retransfer to a ziploc and do it all over again (of course rolling it a little thicker this time. The problem is that the sausage is pretty much impregnated with shredded cheese. What you folks think? Maybe a good tight bacon weave and some tinfoil under the rack of the smoker to catch the melting cheese mess? Am I totally screwed?

Thanks, Justin


----------



## roller (Nov 21, 2011)

I have done the same thing before but saved it by making a tight bacon weave and just put the whole thing in it and roll it up...Came out great. Its all going to end up in the same place anyway...good luck !


----------



## scarbelly (Nov 21, 2011)

Roller said:


> I have done the same thing before but saved it by making a tight bacon weave and just put the whole thing in it and roll it up...Came out great. Its all going to end up in the same place anyway...good luck !


That is what I would do too.


----------



## smokysauce (Nov 21, 2011)

Sweet!. I wound up picking as much of the innard material out of the sausage, re-rolling in a ziploc and its in the freezer right now (hoping that might firm it up and make it easier to work with). Gonna get a bacon weave going right now. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the replies...helps the confidence level knowing this has happened to others and it still worked out great! If I can just pull this off, the neighbors are in for a mind blowing experience.  Thanks again...talk to you soon, Justin


----------



## JckDanls 07 (Nov 21, 2011)

I always put it in the freezer after flattning to firm it up before cutting bag off..   put stuffing in and roll it in saran wrap and back in the freezer again before the weave....   After wrapping the weave around it and saran wrapping again it goes in the fridge for a good nights sleep to let rub be absorbed...   just the way I do It...


----------



## jirodriguez (Nov 21, 2011)

Beat me to it... lol. Was gonna say, the step you skipped was 30 min in the freezer after it was rolled flat in the ziploc bag, then put in your fillings and roll up.


----------



## smokysauce (Nov 21, 2011)

Thanks for the advice folks! I think the freezer trick may have just got this thing back on track. 25 minutes or so in the freezer once I had the sausage re-flattened made it so much easier to handle and roll up. Its sitting in the fridge as we speak and actually resembles a pretty decent looking fatty. Another mistake I made is buying some bacon that wasn't of uniform length. Made my weave a little janky (got that term from this forum...thanks) but I think it'll work out just fine. Smoker is coming up to temp as I type. Bought an hour behind schedule but oh well.

     One other thing. I don't think this thing will be done in time to blow my neighbors minds today/tonight. What you'all think about smoking the fatty tonight, eating a few test slices, then wrapping the rest in tinfoil and reheating tomorrow? I was thinking maybe just throw it in the oven tomorrow in foil for awhile then unwrap the top of the foil and broil for 10 minutes or so to get the bacon nice and crispy again. Thoughts?

     Thanks again. I'll let you know how its progressing as I go along...Justin


----------



## smokysauce (Nov 21, 2011)

Well, the fatty is on the smoker. 220-230 degrees for the first hour or so. I guess I'll just keep it going til the bacon starts to darken up at which point I'll start monitoring the internal temp. This thing is looking so good. I want to kick my own ass for not having a camera that will plug into my computer. Oh well. Sipping a few beers and waiting for a fatty to finish up...could be worse. Thanks again...Justin.


----------



## jirodriguez (Nov 22, 2011)

Oven re-heat works well, or even just heating slices in a fry pan!


----------



## smokysauce (Nov 22, 2011)

Oh man. I forgot how good these things are. The fatty turned out so good! It was too late last night for me to include the neighbors. I wound up eating half of it by myself between my "test slices" last night and breakfast this morning. So much for the neighbors getting in on this one...it's MINE!

     Gonna make two more today. One for the folks who live just down the road from me and one for the folks that live just up the road. I was in crisis mode yesterday after the blowout and forgot the pizza sauce and mushrooms. Got my ducks in a row today. Oh, and Jrod, read your post and fried up a slice for breakfast...excellent! Thank you...Justin


----------



## frosty (Nov 22, 2011)

Sounds like you got it under control now Justin!  Learned a bunch on this one, and next one is bound to be even better!

REmember, 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






, your tail is clear, push on.  No evidence of anything . . . . . . .


----------



## SmokinAl (Nov 22, 2011)

Yes don't forget the camera next time!


----------



## smokysauce (Nov 22, 2011)

Frosty. Just getting ready to roll out the sausage and give er another go. The freezer trick definitely saved my ass last night. Snatched victory from the jaws of defeat ha ha. And you're right about the pics...sort of glad I don't have a camera that synchs up with my cheap laptop. On the other hand, pics of epic failure are usually pretty funny. You'all would have loved a shot of the big pile of nightmare when the fatty disintegrated.

SmokyAl. Computer only has a mini-usb port. Gonna try to get it to work with my phone camera today. Either way, I'll let you guys know how round 2 is coming along.

Thanks everyone...Justin


----------



## smokysauce (Nov 22, 2011)

Well, found another thing to screw up (on a minor scale). Long story short, I overstuffed the fatty. Rolled it up and had ingredients kind of squirting all over the place. Got it in saran wrap and tightened it up as best I could. Bacon weave to the rescue again. Hopefully. Got that fatty in the fridge while the smoker heats up and getting ready to roll out another one. Third times the charm.


----------



## frosty (Nov 23, 2011)

You're gettin it done Justin, no one can ask for more. I love the bacon wrap, but I am not good at it yet. I am certain yours looks better than mine.

Keep trying, and eat the evidence!  Have a wonderful thanksgiving!


----------



## smokysauce (Nov 26, 2011)

Hi Frosty. It Worked! Successfuly pulled off the elusive two fatties on the smoker at one time 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





. Delivered them to my respective neighbors on wed. (day before thanksgiving). They'd never heard of such a thing and were appropriately blown away just from the visual. Havn't had a chance to touch base and get the reviews yet but I suspect I just earned road plowing credits for the winter ha ha. Spent the last few days hunting to no avail but what the heck...I've got a couple racks of spare ribs in the freezer ready for their destiny.

Hope you'all had a great Thanksgiving. Happy Smoking...Justin


----------



## jc1947 (Nov 26, 2011)




----------



## smokysauce (Nov 26, 2011)

Ha Ha. Don't I know it JC. About six months ago my laptop froze up. In a moment of weakness, I did what all of us have wanted to do at one time or another...I hauled off and punched the screen! Spiderweb cracked. At that point I knew there was only one humane option. I walked out onto the deck and discus tossed it into my woodpile. Game. Set. Match. Drove to the nearest wallyworld the next day (closest one is 65 miles away) and purchased the cheapest laptop I could find. Problem is, it doesn't have a port that accepts the SD card from my camera - just has mini usb ports. Tried to make my camera phone work but its a electronic rabbit hole that I can't even begin to figure out. Bottom line is that I'll probably have to upgrade my computer at some point. The worst part is (as I mentioned earlier) its usually the failure pictures that are the most entertaining. Sorry about that. Till I get a new setup, I'll just have to get everyones cell #s and text you photos...
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Thanks folks...I'll be in touch...Justin


----------



## ewetho (Dec 1, 2011)

Well they make card readers and you can always get Mini USB to USB cable and problem solved and we can have pics.


----------



## justpassingthru (Dec 2, 2011)

Yeah...., what he said, ...we want to enjoy them too.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Gene


----------



## africanmeat (Dec 2, 2011)

I can see a 65 miles trip coming in your future


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 4, 2011)

Ha Ha. Thanks for the tip guys. I'm gonna look for a cardreader on amazon today and hopefully save myself the trip to wally world in Polson. Everything is better with pictures thats for sure.   Justin

PS. Looking at everyone's locations is pretty darn cool. Who knew that smoking meat was an international addiction.


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

Ok, finally got a card reader. Been smoking fatties for friends and neighbors a lot lately. Decided to make one for myself a few days ago. Rolled the sausage out in a zip loc and still managed to not get it very square. I decided not to worry about it.


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

I usually figure the bacon weave will right any wrongs I may have made in the fatty rolling phase. Problem is, I ran out of bacon so had to space the slices farther apart than normal. Plus, the bacon was irregular lengths. Again, I decided not to worry about it.


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

On to the smoker.


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

coming along nicely.


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

Bout time to pull this baby.


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

and Voila! A basic pizza fatty. Pizza sauce, mozz and cheddar cheese, peperoni, mushrooms and spinach. After one bite I forgot all about the unsquareness of the sausage and general ugliness of the bacon weave.


----------



## justpassingthru (Dec 31, 2011)

Oh yeah!!!   Smoky, you have redeemed yourself!!!

"Making them and giving them away to the neighbors, and then...,  finally made one for myself"?   ...you have a lot more will power than myself, fatties are inhaled in our house!

One small tip that will help with the blow outs, you might try wilting the spinach in a pan before adding to the fatty, heat a small amount of butter or oil in a frying pan and toss spinach until wilted, not to long, just until it shrivels, that way you can add much more spinach, ...did I say I love spinach, ...works for quiches too.   
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Happy New Year,

Gene


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

I can't figure out how to post multiple pics in one post but i've decided not to worry about that either. I know this is a fatty forum, but last night was too good to not share.

Started off with a batch of Dutch's wicked beans. Only thing I'd do different is not scrape as much of the seeds and membrane from the japs. I would have preferred a little more heat, but they were still insanely good.


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

Onto the low rack on my smoker...


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

Seems like something was missing from that last pic. Oh yeah, the ribs.


----------



## JckDanls 07 (Dec 31, 2011)

for multiple pics in each post. After the pics URL has loaded into the reply box just hit "enter" a couple of times (gives a space between pics). That will move your cursor down a couple of lines and then you just click on insert pic again. chose and submit your pic and after the URL loads then you hit enter again acouple of times for the next pic... See if that helps

  Fatties are looking awesome


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

And done. I'd include a plate pic but a) my camera battery died and b) you folks would probably accuse me of over the top braggadocio. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Trust me, the ribs were excellent and the beans were incredible. They were my first attempt at smoking something other than ribs, fatties and abts. I seriously recommend them if you havn't tried em.


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

Thanks Gene! Also, thanks for the spinach tip. I will utilize that one for sure. I'm a spinach lover as well and that has been an issue dang near every time I make a fatty. I want as much spinach in there as possible!


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

jkdnls07. And thank you for your tip. I'll give it a try for sure.


----------



## SmokinAl (Dec 31, 2011)

Everything looks awesome, glad you got the photo thing worked out.

Pretty nice pile of wood you have there too!


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

In fact, i'll give it a try later today jkdnls07. I've got another half rack of spare ribs that are rubbed and ready to go. Heck, I'll just keep posting rib pics in the fatty thread just to be a rebel.

Have a fun and safe new years eve. I figure i'll be pulling the ribs off the smoker around 10:30 PM, have a beer while they rest for a bit, warm up some jeff's bbq sauce and go to town on round two of ribs and leftover dutch's beans. Speaking of bbq sauce, I made up a batch a few days ago. Dang that stuff is good. Thanks Jeff!


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

Thanks Al! The 'pic is worth a thousand words' thing is very true when it comes to smoking and bbqing. Happy New Year.     Justin


----------



## venture (Dec 31, 2011)

Great job!

Good luck and good smoking.


----------



## smokysauce (Dec 31, 2011)

Thanks Merv. And Go Huskers. My Grandfather went to Hastings college and was a Husker die-hard fan up here in Montana. Happy New Year!

-


----------

