# Chicken Fattie Question



## kandl (Aug 16, 2013)

I want to try the Cordon Bleu Fattie this Sunday.  We are going to use the ground chicken instead of chicken breasts.  My question is, will I need to add sausage to the chicken to help hold it together when we roll it and or keep it from blowing out or will simply wrapping it in bacon be enough?

I've got 1lb ground chicken

sliced black forest ham

some diced ham (not sure if I will use it or not)

Some 3 cheese (swiss/provolone/mozz blend)

and of course BACON!

Can't wait to try this!


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## pdxsmoker (Aug 16, 2013)

question on the fatty. when you wrap, do you wrap in saran or in bacon or in both? thanks! first time fatty for me.


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## kandl (Aug 16, 2013)

Generally both.  You don't have to use bacon but saran wrap helps form it up and then I put it in the fridge to let it firm up so you can handle it easier.


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## pdxsmoker (Aug 16, 2013)

and the saran wrapped fatty goes onto the smoker??


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## kandl (Aug 16, 2013)

Um no...remove it first...


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## pdxsmoker (Aug 16, 2013)

thought that was the case...but actually have seen guys on bbq tv that do that with the saran wrap.....


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## redneck69 (Aug 16, 2013)

i don't think you would...i've made patties out of ground chicken and had no issues with it falling apart...plus if your doing a bacon weave around the fattie it shouldn't go anywhere...try adding some brown sugar on top of the bacon while its smoking...creates an awesome flavor and crunch


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## kandl (Aug 16, 2013)

Thanks Redneck I'll give it a go!   and PDX I'd be very scared to put saran wrap on my smoker LOL  Visions of that plastic bowl on the stove burner that one time run through my head..


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## kandl (Aug 19, 2013)

Well the chicken cordon blue fattie was not a complete disaster, but it wasn't the best.  Flavor was pretty good but I sprung a leak and most of the cheese leaked out into the drip pan.  So far the only fattie I've been able to keep cheese inside of was the Breakfast fattie with JD sausage.  I managed to get these two pics from the start but didn't take anymore as I was disappointed in the end result.  Not sure what my problem is with keeping the cheese in.













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## bobank03 (Aug 19, 2013)

KandL said:


> Well the chicken cordon blue fattie was not a complete disaster, but it wasn't the best.  Flavor was pretty good but I sprung a leak and most of the cheese leaked out into the drip pan.  So far the only fattie I've been able to keep cheese inside of was the Breakfast fattie with JD sausage.  I managed to get these two pics from the start but didn't take anymore as I was disappointed in the end result.  Not sure what my problem is with keeping the cheese in.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hey KandL;

half the fun is trying! I can't see how many stips of bacon wide you went, but go no more than 6 and 6. How are you flattening out the ground chicken or other meats? Using the gallon plastic zip lock? Don't suppose you have a pic of the fattie before you rolled it up? 

I have made them out of JD Sausage, Hamburger and ground chicken and they ooze sometimes, but I have never had a blow out. Are you using a meat probe or something like a maverick? I usually take mine right to an IT of 165 and I haven't had any real issues. 

Sorry for all the questions, but I'd like to see you achieve Fattie Nirvana! Here is a mild JD Sausage with cheddar and jalapeno cheddar cheese with pickled jalapenos on it that I made this weekend













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One pound JD Sausage fully loaded.   Rolled and laid out on the bacon weave.  Bacon weaved and syran rolled.

                                                                                                                              If you twist up the ends good it pulls the weave and fattie                                                                                                                                                                                               together nice and tight. 

I usually let my fattie rest up an hour or so before I put it in the smoker. 

Unfortunately, I developed technical difficulties and i don't have any pics of it finished up. I threw it in the broiler for 5-6 minutes after to crisp up the bacon. 

PS No plastic wrap on the smoker. I take mine out to the smoker and roll it right out of the plastic wrap and onto the grate, nice and easy!


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## kandl (Aug 19, 2013)

bobank,  I'm still having fun making these for sure.  The breakfast one was a huge success.  I've never had a complete blowout but the last two I've made started oozing early and by time they were up to temp all the cheese was pretty much gone from the inside.  This one still had a slight bit of cheese in it but not near enough for me.  Wife loved it though. I guess I am my toughest critic.

I went 7 wide on my weave and then I didn't count how many I went "high" in the weave.  maybe I should cut that back a bit.

I am using the gallon ziplock bag with corners snipped and a rolling pin to roll it out.  Comes out perfect. I place all my toppings (fillings) on leaving an inch or so at the top for it to seal when rolled up. I don't have a picture of this one but somewhere I have a picture of the breakfast one I did.

I don't have a maverick or anything of the likes yet. I'm using a wal-mart digital meat thermometer and I run up to 165 every time.

Mine look almost exactly like your photos durring the process.  

All 3 that I have done I've wrapped in saran wrap and placed in the fridge for a while usually a few hours.

And I've never had anything plastic on the smoker!  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  I unrolled it from the saran wrap right onto the grate and smoked at about 250ish until IT hit 165.

I am NOT giving up on these i will keep at it.


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## kandl (Aug 19, 2013)

Here is a link to my breakfast one with more pics.  I followed the exact same methods with all 3 that I have made.   but the plain Hamburger (pizza fattie) and the ground chicken (cordon bleu) fattie both leaked all the cheese out.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/146241/first-time


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## bobank03 (Aug 19, 2013)

Where is the cheese leaking from? The ends or somewhere in the middle?


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## kandl (Aug 19, 2013)

Appears to be coming from the middle on the bottom side.   That being said i do place it on the smoker so that the ends of the weave are at the bottom on the grate but they've all seemed to be pretty tight weaves and stuck together well.


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## bobank03 (Aug 19, 2013)

I'm wondering if it is coming through the seam? I always use the gallon bag to help me roll the fattie and then when I get it all rolled I work the seam a little extra to make sure i get it good and tight. I think usually both the bacon weave seam and the rolled meat seam, always wind up together. Also when I have the fattie syran wrapped, and twisted on the ends, I push the sides in a little with my palms and then twist the ends a little more. Then I roll the whole fatty a couple of times on the counter to make sure it is all nice and tight. Not sure if that will help, but add those couple of extra steps the next time and see if they don't help.

Maybe even give the cheese a little more space to the edge so it isn't tempted to escape!


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## kandl (Aug 19, 2013)

Thanks! I will try those tips next time.  I didn't mess with this chicken one too much because the chicken was VERY soft and difficult to roll up to begin with. I did twist the sides and try to seal the ends up but didn't roll it around at all.  But I bet you are right that both of my seams are in the same spot and not sealed good enough.  Just a good excuse to try another one soon!


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## bobank03 (Aug 19, 2013)

Absolutely! I agree, the chicken was hard to work with. It came out really good though I seasoned mine a lot. I haven't used bacon when I do ground beef though because I don't use real lean beef and the tend to be a little dry on the outside, but very good on the inside. 

I think the best part of fatties (other than the eating them part) is that it gives us experience with using our smokers and keeping good temps and stuff like that. I was going to even suggest that when you make your next fattie that you put it seam up so that it and the bacon weave seam are offset. Worth a shot! 

Keep working on them and enjoying them and your smoker and have fun! 

Maple bacon seems to really work well with the fatties and don't use thick cut bacon as it takes forever to brown up.


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## kandl (Aug 19, 2013)

I agree!  I use Farmland Applewood smoked bacon not thick cut.  Next time i'll stager the seams and see what happens.  I didn't use bacon on the ground beef one we did either which was the second try and I thought that was why it leaked was because we had no weave and it got dry and cracked.  I really like the idea of a Taco fattie or that Chili Cheese Dog fattie so I will try one of those next and see what we get.

It is loads of fun experimenting and trying new things and in the grand scheme.. fatties are pretty cheap to experiment with!


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## tucson bbq fan (Aug 19, 2013)

I have found that using a sushi roll bamboo mat helps to make a tight packed fatty roll.  As I start to roll it up, I put the mat over and squeeze it in, then roll some more, squeeze, etc.  It gives me a tight pack on the roll and I don't get leaks through the seams.













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to seal the ends, I wrap the saran wrap length wise on the roll, then grab the ends of the saran wrap and twirl it.  The saran wrap tightens up and compresses the ends and helps to seal them as well.  Of course, remove the saran wrap before cooking


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## kandl (Aug 19, 2013)

Oh! that looks like it would work well.  I don't do sushi but I could probably justify it for Fattie use only.


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## bobank03 (Aug 19, 2013)

Yep, thats a great idea! Like the sushi mat. 

Have you boil tested your thermometer to be sure it is accurate? Just to be sure you aren't cooking out the cheese? 

I also meant to say that I am going to try the brown sugar on the outside that redneck69 suggested in the post above.


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## tucson bbq fan (Aug 19, 2013)

They only cost a couple of bucks in most cooking gadget stores.  I know you can get them at bed bath & beyond.  I use it for lots of things.  Here are a couple fo photos of the end saran wrap twist & squeeze to make that part clearer (I was just finishing a couple of pizza fatties so I took some extra photos)

wrapped before twisting after putting on the bacon wrap













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see what the end looks like - loose and not tight













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grap the ends of the saran wrap and roll it in the air a bunch of times (like a sausage) till it tightens up and compresses the whole fatty an inch or so in length - see what the end looks like now?













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I'll put this back in the fridge for a couple of hours to set, then onto the smoker.


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## kandl (Aug 19, 2013)

I haven't boil tested any of them but I use the lid thermometer as a rough guide as I know its not correct.  I also have an over thermometer directly on the rack and I check meat temps with the digi stick I got at wal mart.  I should test all 3 to figure which one if any are the most correct. LOL

I don't think I twisted mine that tight but I did twist the ends up like that and then put twist ties on them and into the fridge.


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## redneck69 (Aug 19, 2013)

wrap and twist fattie like this before the bacon weave is put on....ill even toss in the freezer for 1/2 hour to help firm it up some....than wrap the bacon weave and reroll with saran wrap and pull it nice and tight..just like Tucson has done in his pics..


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## bobank03 (Aug 19, 2013)

redneck69 said:


> wrap and twist fattie like this before the bacon weave is put on....ill even toss in the freezer for 1/2 hour to help firm it up some....than wrap the bacon weave and reroll with saran wrap and pull it nice and tight..just like Tucson has done in his pics..


Redneck, you and Tucson have some great ideas for all of us to try. Thanks for sharing. Hadn't thought of pre-rolling and partial freezing to firm them up. Great idea especially with the ground chicken.


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## gmc2003 (Aug 20, 2013)

I'm not sure on how you placed the ingredients, but I always leave a little room on all sides to help with the seal. Also I lay the sliced meat down on top of the ground sausage or chicken. Then I place the rest of the goodies on top of that. Finally I place the cheese closer to the part of the fattie that will be first rolled trying to keep it away from the seam. When I use a bacon weave I usually don't line up the seams of the fattie and the bacon. It's worked so far for me. Only one real blow-out(and that was due to an overstuff).

Chris


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## kandl (Aug 20, 2013)

As soon as I read that it hit me.  I don't remember for sure how I did my pizza one but I know this time I put the cheese right on top the chicken and then the sliced ham on top of that.  and I'm betting I also had my seams lined up and probably didn't get them sealed well so there are 3 possible reason why I had a bad turn out.  Gonna try it again and see how it goes.


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## bgosnell151 (Aug 25, 2013)

Try a lb and a half and don't roll it out as thin.  I don't think the chicken is as dense as the sausage.  You could also use sausage and put some grilled for fried checken strips in it to make the cordon bleu.


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