Do you ever see pictures of food and think, "WOW, I bet that tastes delicious! How can I make that on my smoker?" If you're like me, this is a common occurrence. A few weeks ago, I had one of these moments when I saw a post on Instagram of a BBQ smoked fatty.
After doing some research, I planned to make my first smoked Philly cheesesteak BBQ fatty. This post will walk you through the steps I took and let you know what I won't do next time I cook one of these.
If you're asking yourself, "OK, where do you find a fatty recipe?" Look no further.
This is one of my favorite things to make on a smoker.
Table of Contents
What Exactly is a BBQ Smoked Fatty?
A BBQ fatty is ground beef or pork shaped into a log. It is stuffed with ingredients of your choosing and then wrapped in bacon. Then, it's smoked in a smoker. Most people prefer to slice it into 1-inch slices once done and serve on its own, but some people will add that slice to a bun.
I prefer to serve without the bun, I think there's enough flavor as is. If you're a sauce guy, serve with a side of your favorite BBQ sauce.
Smoked Fatty Ingredients
The base is always the same.
- Bacon
- Ground Beef
- Ground Pork Sausage
- Several Strands of butcher string
I've made this recipe dozens of times, and I always change up the ingredients a little bit. There are tons of options available to you for fillings. I've made a pizza fatty with pepperoni, marinara, and mozzarella inside. Other options include:
- Mac and cheese fatty
- Mushroom Swiss Fatty
- Pizza Fatty!
- Breakfast Fatty (eggs, hashbrowns, cheese)
One of my favorite flavor combos is the Philly cheesecake fatty. When I was in college, there was a Philly cheesecake shop just down the street from where I lived. I survived on those things during the school year.
If you're making the Smoked Philly Cheese Steak Fatty, add the following ingredients to the meat:
- Black Pepper
- Kosher Salt
- Mustard Powder
Alternatively, you can use a tablespoon of my beef rub. The flavor profile of that rub really blends well with the flavors here.
This is what I use for the filling:
- Provolone Cheese
- Cream cheese
- Diced Green Pepper
- Onion
Steps to Make It
- On a foil-lined baking sheet, create a loose bacon weave with a half-pound of bacon.
- Combine the sausage and ground beef, and place it on the bacon weave. Flatten out until the majority of the weave is covered.
- Add your filling on top of the meat and evenly spread.
- Take your cheese slices and evenly space them until the entire "flat" of meat and toppings are covered. It's okay if they overlap.
- Using the foil as a helper, tightly roll the bacon/meat/cheese/filling onto itself until you have a tight loaf.
- Layout several strands of butcher string perpendicular to the roll, and then roll the fatty back onto the string until you can pull each strand through, and then wrap and tie it off.
- Place in your smoker and smoke for one hour at 225.
- After one hour, increase your temperature to 325 degrees and cook for about an hour and fifteen minutes.
- After an hour of cooking at 325, check the internal temperature using a Thermapen or Thermopop. When the internal temp is at 165, it's done!
Cooking a BBQ Fatty
I've made this Smoked Fatty recipe dozens of times now. It's by far my favorite recipe here at SmokedMeatSunday.com. Don't be afraid to play with the filling. It's tough to mess this one up!
If you make one of these, let me know by commenting below or tagging @smokedmeatsunday on Instagram.
Smoked Philly Cheese Fatty
Ingredients
- ½ pound of bacon
- 1 lbs ground beef
- 1 lbs ground pork sausage
- 2 tbsp Nick's Beef Rub recipe link in notes
- 8 ounces Provolone Cheese sliced thin
- 8 ounces cream cheese whipped, room temp
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 White Onion diced
- 2 Jalapeno diced
- Several Strands of butcher string
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
- Place the green pepper, onion, and jalapeno in a large skillet with olive oil and simmer over medium heat until the onion becomes translucent and the green pepper wilts. Set aside.
- On a foil-lined baking sheet create a loose bacon weave with a half pound of bacon.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the ground beef, sausage, and beef rub
- Place the meat mixture on top of the bacon weave, and flatten out until the majority of the weave is covered.
- Spread the whipped cream cheese over the meat.
- Add the jalapeno, green pepper, and onion on top of the meat and evenly spread.
- Take your slices of cheese and evenly space them until the entire "flat" of meat and toppings are covered. It's okay if they overlap...
- Using the foil as a helper, tightly roll the bacon/meat/cheese/filling onto itself until you have a tight loaf.
- Lay out several strands of butcher string perpendicular to the roll, and then roll the fatty back onto the string until you can pull each strand through, and then wrap and tie it off.
- Place in your smoker and smoke for one hour at 225 degrees.
- After one hour, increase your temperature to 325 degrees and cook for an hour and fifteen minutes.
- Remove from smoker, clip off your strands of butcher string, slice, and eat!
I smoke several Fatty's. Hot breakfast sausage and cheddar, maple breakfast sausage and jalapeno cream cheese, regular breakfast sausage and pepper jack, ground turkey and stuffing (served with brown gravy) Italian sausage with mozzarella, peppers and onions and what I call a bacon cheeseburger fatty. Hamburger and sausage mix and Was having a great day until I got called n 2 work. jack wrapped in bacon. All are delicious.
Place a pound of meat inside of a gallon freezer bag and flatten it out. Cut down the sides of the bag to open it. Place filling on one end and roll. Smoke at 225 until done. For bacon wrapped fatty, I cook to an internal temperature of 110 then increase temp to 500 until bacon is crisp to finish.
I love the breakfast fatty options you described! I'm definitely going to try those soon!
@step 8 you increase the temperature but what is it coming from? What temperature do you start at?
Hey! 225 is the temp I use to smoke this. Thanks for checking it out!
Winston Byrd, if you look directly above Step #8, Step #7 tells you to place your fatty "into your smoker at 225°F and 'SMOKE' for one hour."
Following that in Step #8, that is when you increase the temperature to 325°F and 'COOK' (you are no longer smoking at this point) for an additional hour to hour and fifteen minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165°F, to ensure no food-bourn illnesses arise. Good luck and happy smokin'!
Can you do a fatty in your oven by sitting the dish with wood chips directly under the dish with the fatty and covering it all with foil? Or is that a big mistake?
You can still make it in your oven, just don't use woodchips.
If you want to cook it in the oven, add some Liquid Smoke to the meat when seasoning it.
Do you place the meat directly on the smoker or in the baking pan you used to assemble it. It sounds amazing!!!
I place it on a grill rack that goes in the smoker. Alternatively, you could use a roasting pan.
I’ve had good luck using a silicone sheet, it helps when lifting log from smoker.
So does the cream cheese go on top of other cheese before roll up?
So how do you use the cream cheese? Mixed with the sautéed vegetables? It is not mentioned in the steps. Thanks! Going to make this. Looks great.
I think he said to spread it over the meat layer as the first thing, then add the other cheese on top of that. I generally mix the cream cheese with the filling, but I wrap the meat around the filling, which is in one long heap. It sounds like this recipe results in more of a swiss roll, which I think I'll try.
The idea of putting cheesecake inside of ground beef is absolutely disgusting. What is wrong with you?
????????????????????. Don’t cook much do you ????♀️
How pretty!
This is a true marriage of all the senses.
Perfect for father's day.
Have you every made a breakfast fatty using 2/3 sausage, 1/3 ground beef then put scrambled eggs, thawed hash browns, cheese & mix of diced chilies & cooked onion inside? I’m especially interested in using the scrambled eggs because I can’t have whole eggs, only egg whites. This would make a quick breakfasts.
You need to check with your doctor. If doc says you can't have egg yolks because of the cholesterol, find a new doctor. That myth has been debunked for at least ten years.
Can you use a BBQ if you don't have a smoker? If so, what temperatures do I use?