# 3 Fatty Questions.... UPDATED with Q-View



## maloff28 (Sep 22, 2012)

Good morning all.  Going to do some fatty's today (first time).  Well actually bacon wrapped meatloaf stuffed with garlic mashed potatoes and peas.  Kind of an inside out TV dinner.

Here are the questions.

1) Bacon... thick or thin?

2) Bacon... smoked or not? 

3) Do you use water or any liquid in the pan?

Any advice, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Seth


----------



## jarjarchef (Sep 22, 2012)

Not a fattie expert here. But I will give you what I know.

It depends on how hot you going to smoke for the thickness of the bacon. If you go the low and slow I would go thin, if you go hotter side (275+) you can do thick. What I found was the bacon was still on the not crisp on the thick when I did my first ones. The next batch we used thin and it was better. We like crisp bacon here. The crisp bacon does make it more difficult to slice. We did a weave both times.

We used smoked bacon. I try to get a different smoked then what I am using to get a bit different flavor layer.

When you say water in the pan or not. I am assuming the pan in the smoker, not a pan to place the fattie in. I use a modified off set smoker, so I did not put a water pan in. I would say if you want some crispness to the bacon, I would not put water. But if you want to make a sauce from the drippings. I would place a pan under the fatties with some mirepoix in it and a can of diced tomatoes. This will smoke the vegetables a bit and save all the yummy drippings. When done and letting the fatties rest, place the mirepoix (1 cup onion, 1/2 cup carrot and 1/2 cup celery) in a pot with some beef stock (4 cups) and bring to a low boil. If you have a hand blender you can just purée everything in the pot. I will place mine in the sink when I do this, just in case it splashes. If you don't have a hand blender you can use a food processor or blender to do the same thing. Just be very careful when you turn them on and don't over fill them. I place a towel over them before turning on. I have had the lids not keep the very hot liquids in and make a mess. Luckily I was not burned. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. If you want a darker brown color you can add a bit of Kitchen Bouquet to it.

For a silky smooth sauce use the blender.
For a richer sauce add whole butter ( not margarine ) to it. Once you have done this do not put back on the heat. You will break the emulsion and get an oil slick on top.

Good luck and don't forget the Q-Views....


----------



## davidhef88 (Sep 22, 2012)

If your fatty is up to temp and your bacon isn't crisp you can always put it on a hit grill for a few minutes. I usually put mine under the broiler to crisp it. Have also heard of people taking a torch to it to finish it. 


David


----------



## maloff28 (Sep 22, 2012)

Thank you.  That is very helpful.  

Seth


----------



## maloff28 (Sep 22, 2012)

Progress so far

.













IMG_0509.jpg



__ maloff28
__ Sep 22, 2012






The weave.













IMG_0511.jpg



__ maloff28
__ Sep 22, 2012






Meatloaf mixture (beef and pork), roasted garlic mashed potatoes and peas.













IMG_0512.JPG



__ maloff28
__ Sep 22, 2012






Wrapped.













IMG_0513.jpg



__ maloff28
__ Sep 22, 2012






Into the smoker.


----------



## jarjarchef (Sep 22, 2012)

Looks great... That is a fattie I could really get into..

When I was learning how to make these I found this thread that helped me a lot...


http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/87031/rollin-a-fatty-my-version


----------



## maloff28 (Sep 22, 2012)

Wow.  That is a much better way to do it.  Thank you so much for sharing.

I will do it that way next time.


----------



## jarjarchef (Sep 22, 2012)

The only thing I do different is I will put mine in the freezer for about an hour before I wrap with bacon. Then again after the bacon in the freezer for about an hour. This way they are set and easier to move around a bit. It is a trick we use when breading stuffed chicken breast, like chicken cordon blu....


----------



## maloff28 (Sep 23, 2012)

The final product.  It came out really, really well!  Everybody had seconds.













IMG_0521.JPG



__ maloff28
__ Sep 23, 2012


















IMG_0522.jpg



__ maloff28
__ Sep 23, 2012


















IMG_0524.JPG



__ maloff28
__ Sep 23, 2012


----------



## davidhef88 (Sep 23, 2012)

Those fatties look great!  So are you hooked?? 


David


----------



## ronrude (Sep 23, 2012)

I love the garlic mashed idea.  great with the meatloaf!


----------



## maloff28 (Sep 23, 2012)

Totally hooked!  As are the other 13 people that were at dinner last night!!  Next time, I will probably do all pork and roll it like jarjarchef suggested.  I was just in a bit of a hurry.

I also made an A&W root beer glaze to put on top.  It people seemed to really like that too.


----------



## daveomak (Sep 23, 2012)

Maloff morning... Fatty looks great...  Good job.. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






  ... we kick up our meat loaf by adding a bit of horseradish... If you like HR on beef or sammies, give that a try....  Garlic smashed spuds are a favorite around here too.... 

Dave


----------



## roller (Sep 23, 2012)

Nice job wish my first had come out that good !


----------



## maloff28 (Sep 23, 2012)

Love the horseradish idea!  I like HR in potatoes as well.  Do you just mix it in with the meat?  Assuming you use ground HR not the sauce...


----------



## so ms smoker (Sep 23, 2012)

Nice looking fatties. I really like your idea with the garlic mased and peas! And a root beer glaze? Good job!

  Mike


----------



## daveomak (Sep 23, 2012)

maloff28 said:


> Love the horseradish idea!  I like HR in potatoes as well.  Do you just mix it in with the meat?  Assuming you use ground HR not the sauce...


Ground HR.... I grind HR from my garden.... store bought is good too.... Just mix it in with the meat...  Try 1 heaping Tbs / 2 # meatloaf I think is what bride does...  Different HR has different heat levels..... hard to figure....  Dave


----------



## chef jimmyj (Sep 24, 2012)

That is a pretty straight forward all in one meal. Great idea and they look awesome. How about a recipe on the Root Beer Glaze...JJ


----------



## maloff28 (Sep 24, 2012)

I kind of just made it up as i went along, but essentially, I took a 2 liter bottle of A&W and reduced it down with some shallot and garlic to probably about 2 cups.  Strained out the veg. and Finished with some butter and cream.  I think i'd leave out the butter next time and just go with the cream, but it was still really good.


----------



## smokinhusker (Sep 24, 2012)

Those look great and great ingredients too! Nice job!


----------



## scarbelly (Sep 24, 2012)

Dont know how I missed this earlier - great job and very creative


----------

