Get my step-by-step recipe for smoking a cheesy egg breakfast fatty wrapped in bacon on a backyard offset smoker.
Egg and Sausage Breakfast Fatty
Smoked on My Meadow Creek SQ36 Smoker
At our house, breakfast foods are welcome any time of day, especially those cooked over a wood fire and bursting with the flavors that only bacon and sausage can bring to the table.
If you’ve been around barbecue for a while, you’ve most likely heard of or even eaten some variation of a fatty. Of course, there are hundreds of different ways to make these, but I was inspired to try one with eggs as part of the stuffing.
Ingredients
The Bacon Weave
For the weave, I used 14 pieces of thick-cut John F. Martin bacon, 7 horizontal and 7 vertical. Lay out 7 vertical slices side by side, then weave a horizontal slice along the one edge. Next fold up the vertical slices that are under the horizontal piece and add the second horizontal slice. Lay them down again and do the same for the next slice, this time lifting the other set of vertical slices. Once you’re done, you should have a square blanket of bacon.
Depending on the size of the bacon slices, a 6x6 square might work better.
The Eggs
Sauté the onion and pepper in a skillet and add the eggs. Scramble and fry the eggs.
The Assembly
Evenly spread the sausage over the bacon within an inch of the edge. 2 pounds may be too much sausage for your preference, so if you prefer not having the fatty as full, cut it back to 1 or 1-1/2 pounds of sausage. Feel free to add more egg or whatever else you want.
Add the eggs to the fatty and sprinkle on some of your favorite barbecue rub. I used John Henry’s Big Daddy’s Smokehouse Rub.
Shred some cheese and heap it onto the top of the eggs. I used cheddar and mozzarella.
Using the plastic wrap under the bacon, roll the sides of the fatty up to form a log. Stretch and weave the tails into each other and sprinkle the outside with a seasoning, such as John Henry’s Big Daddy’s Smokehouse Rub. (I forgot to season mine until after it was wrapped, and it works just as well to season it right before you cook it.)
You can use less filling and overlap the edges of the bacon more, but I prefer this method, which keeps more of the bacon surface exposed to the heat. It can be challenging to get the weave pretty, but take your time, and remember that the flavors will offset any flaws in the weave!
Wrap the plastic wrap tightly around the fatty and set it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it. This helps it firm up to keep the seam intact when you’re cooking it.
Ready for the smoker
The Cook
Unwrap the fatty and cook it with indirect heat. I cooked it at 275–300 degrees F on my Meadow Creek SQ36 offset smoker with 100% hardwood charcoal briquettes and a couple of chunks of pecan wood.
My SQ36 Meadow Creek smoker
On the smoker
30 minutes into the cook
Turned and nearly done
Ready to slice
Once the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165 degrees F it’s done. It should be done in less than 90 minutes, but it will depend on how hot your smoker is running.
Slice the fatty into 1” slices and serve.
If you are cooking on a charcoal smoker, it’s important to keep an eye on the fuel. It took mine two hours because I was busy in the office and let the fire die down. I use a propane torch to fire my smoker, which makes it easier to correct a mistake like this, but it can still be frustrating when you’re trying to cook on a schedule. I turned the fatty upside down and moved it toward the firebox to finish it more quickly.
What is an offset smoker?
Offset smokers have a firebox on the side and are fueled by charcoal and/or wood.
A thick slice of the fatty on a toasted homemade bagel with homemade grape juice made this a simple, yet delicious meal. I topped it off with a sourdough cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee for dessert.
What is an offset smoker?
Offset smokers have a firebox on the side and are fueled by charcoal and/or wood.