This past 4th of July weekend there was a local sale on ground beef that I decided to take advantage of.
I used about 2lbs of ground beef and 1lb of sweet italian sausage meat. I placed the meats in a bowl and added in some Oak Ridge Black Ops Brisket Rub, and some Tasty-Licks Big Black Barts Brisket Rub. I also added in about 1/2 cup of panko and 1 egg to help bind the meat.
I then started forming meatballs just smaller than a golf ball.
After the meatballs were formed I placed them in the fridge so the meat could rest and firm up. After about 45 minutes i pulled them back out and wrapped as many as I could with some delicious smoked bacon. Just as an FYI, once you wrap a meatball in bacon they are transformed into "Moink Balls", or at least thats a catchy cute way to describe them. I also thought it would be interesting to roll a few of them in a brown sugar and rub mix to give them a sweet and spicy burst of flavor. (2 parts Brown sugar to 1 part Rub)
The Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker aka WSM aka R2D2 was fired up and steady around 275* burning Royal Oak lump charcoal with some Pecan and Cherry wood. I put the bacon wrapped meatballs on first as i figured the bacon would take a while to cook and crispen.
Once the meatballs were on it was time to reach for a trusty cold beverage. Mr. Huff by Hop City Brewing was a delicious Pale Ale for this hot holiday cook. Not overly bitter, quite well balanced with a sweet full bodied taste.
After about 45 minutes on the WSM I decided to take a peek and see how the bacon wrapped meatballs were doing. The bacon was cooking nice and slowly flavorizing the meatballs with all the delicious fat that weeped from the bacon. The brown sugar coated ones developed a really nice deep red color from the carmelization of the sugar with the rub.
It was now time to play the smoker rack hokie pokie and move the bacon wrapped meatballs to the lower rack to finish cooking the bacon and give it a bit of crispness and then add the non-bacon wrapped aka "Naked" meat balls to the top rack to start their cooking.
I did the same brown sugar and rub coatings on the outside of the plain meatbals and onto the top rack of the WSM.
A nice picture of the meatballs swimming in "Thin Blue Smoke" aka TBS
I let the, "naked" meatballs cook for about 30-40 minutes and then it was time to sauce up the bacon wrapped ones. I used Plowboy's Sweet 180 sauce, and gave them all a quick slather and let that settle in for another 15-20 minutes.
Then it was time to pull them from the smoker and chow down.
I made small meatball sliders using Hawian Sweet Rolls and some home made slaw.
Both the bacon wrapped and the "Naked" meatballs were a hit. The brown sugar and rub coating really added a great texture and burst of sweet and spicy. The plowboy's sweet 180 BBQ sauce was amazing, I'm not really a sauce kind of person but it was quite good and cooked into the bacon and meatballs perfectly.
http://www.cookoverfire.com/beef/bacon-wrapped-brown-sugar-coated-meatballs/
Sorry for the large pictures.
I used about 2lbs of ground beef and 1lb of sweet italian sausage meat. I placed the meats in a bowl and added in some Oak Ridge Black Ops Brisket Rub, and some Tasty-Licks Big Black Barts Brisket Rub. I also added in about 1/2 cup of panko and 1 egg to help bind the meat.
I then started forming meatballs just smaller than a golf ball.
After the meatballs were formed I placed them in the fridge so the meat could rest and firm up. After about 45 minutes i pulled them back out and wrapped as many as I could with some delicious smoked bacon. Just as an FYI, once you wrap a meatball in bacon they are transformed into "Moink Balls", or at least thats a catchy cute way to describe them. I also thought it would be interesting to roll a few of them in a brown sugar and rub mix to give them a sweet and spicy burst of flavor. (2 parts Brown sugar to 1 part Rub)
The Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker aka WSM aka R2D2 was fired up and steady around 275* burning Royal Oak lump charcoal with some Pecan and Cherry wood. I put the bacon wrapped meatballs on first as i figured the bacon would take a while to cook and crispen.
Once the meatballs were on it was time to reach for a trusty cold beverage. Mr. Huff by Hop City Brewing was a delicious Pale Ale for this hot holiday cook. Not overly bitter, quite well balanced with a sweet full bodied taste.
After about 45 minutes on the WSM I decided to take a peek and see how the bacon wrapped meatballs were doing. The bacon was cooking nice and slowly flavorizing the meatballs with all the delicious fat that weeped from the bacon. The brown sugar coated ones developed a really nice deep red color from the carmelization of the sugar with the rub.
It was now time to play the smoker rack hokie pokie and move the bacon wrapped meatballs to the lower rack to finish cooking the bacon and give it a bit of crispness and then add the non-bacon wrapped aka "Naked" meat balls to the top rack to start their cooking.
I did the same brown sugar and rub coatings on the outside of the plain meatbals and onto the top rack of the WSM.
A nice picture of the meatballs swimming in "Thin Blue Smoke" aka TBS
I let the, "naked" meatballs cook for about 30-40 minutes and then it was time to sauce up the bacon wrapped ones. I used Plowboy's Sweet 180 sauce, and gave them all a quick slather and let that settle in for another 15-20 minutes.
Then it was time to pull them from the smoker and chow down.
I made small meatball sliders using Hawian Sweet Rolls and some home made slaw.
Both the bacon wrapped and the "Naked" meatballs were a hit. The brown sugar and rub coating really added a great texture and burst of sweet and spicy. The plowboy's sweet 180 BBQ sauce was amazing, I'm not really a sauce kind of person but it was quite good and cooked into the bacon and meatballs perfectly.
http://www.cookoverfire.com/beef/bacon-wrapped-brown-sugar-coated-meatballs/
Sorry for the large pictures.
