An Experiment


 
Lew Newby

Lew Newby

R.I.P. 1/26/2024
About every 2 weeks I make a Fattie for my Grandson who is ADHD. Protein at Breakfast is supposed to get him through the morning and this seems to have helped him in school. I was hoping to get the protein with less fat so I could eat a little of the Fattie.

I tried using Jenni O frozen Ground Turkey and a mixture of spices that I found on the Internet to create Turkey Sausage. I mixed the spices and let it rest in the fridge for 2 days. This afternoon I got it out, flattened it out, and covered it with Cheddar Cheese. Then I rolled it all up and put it in the freezer for an hour to firm it up. I smoked it in the Kettle with 3 small chunks of Cherry,

After 2.5 hours at about 245 cooker temp the internal temp was 162 so I pulled it, wrapped in foil, and let it rest. The flavor is OK - but nothing near a Jimmy Dean or Italian Sausage Fattie - but definitely edible. It's dry but if I put a dollop of syrup on it for him he will love it.

This experiment taught me that I should stick with Pork Sausage for Fatties.
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Lew, That makes good sense. I can offer that we that we use turkey pepperoni in our ABT's and on home made pizza. The only difference is much less grease. When mixed with other ingredients, it's hard to tell.
 
Was it ground turkey or ground turkey breasts? I've never been able to use the ground breasts for anything other than meat loaf and it not come out dry.
 
Oh and I use the Publix hot Italian turkey sausage in my turkey burgers with good results. Maybe you can try that instead of make your own.
 
It was ground Turkey. I had read not to use ground Turkey breast. The idea of reducing the fat was for my sake. He's 10 and skinny as a rail so the fat in Pork Sausage won't bother him.

He ate a piece with breakfast this morning and scoffed it down. His only complaint was that it was a tad spicy.
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You might want to look into some venison sausage. The processor I use makes great sausage. Breakfast or Italian variety in hot or mild. Tastes the same as regular without as much fat. Plus if you talk to him before he makes it he can vary how much fat he adds.
 
Lew,first let me say that what you are doing for your grandson is AWESOME! Something so fun and so simple, yet you are helping him is a win/win in my book! If he didn't mind the taste, (minus the spice) keep on with what you used today. Unless you didnt like it, he did'nt seem to mind the change. If you did not like the new version, keep tweaking it 'til you find something you both love. When its all said and done though, he'll remember the time you two spent together eating breakfast far longer than the food you ate! Again, GREAT JOB!
Tim
 
Update. I cut off a small slice after I dropped Ethan off at school and nuked it for 15 seconds. The nuke job brought out some moisture and it tasted pretty darn good with a nice touch of heat. He's happy, I'm happy, and all's right with the world.
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That looks delicious!! I would try using a turkey sausage instead of ground turkey. Or you might try mixing 10-20% pork sausage with the turkey to add some fat and flavor into the fatty.

Maybe put some chopped bacon in the turkey.

Maybe make "skinnies" at half the diameter so they cook faster and retain more moisture (?) and have a higher bacon-to-turkey ratio on the slices.
 
Lew, my turkey burgers are nice and juicy. You might try adding about 1 part of ricotta cheese to 5 parts ground turkey (not turkey breast) by weight. It melts right into the mixture when cooked. The ricotta will moisten the meat mixture quite a bit, so you might have to play with the proportions a bit to see how it works for wrapping your fattie. Perhaps begin with a 1-to-6 ratio and add more if the cooked meat is not moist enough.

One time I put too much ricotta into the mix and had to add some TVP (texturized vegetable protein...soy granules, sometimes called TSP...texturized soy protein) to soak up the extra moisture and they turned out great. I decided to leave the TVP in the mix for vegetable protein and even less fat. Might be something you'd like to experiment with for your grandson. It works well in meatloaf too and is often used as a meat substitute.

Adding breakfast sausage seasonings only makes it better. Hope the ricotta works for you.

Rita
 
ground turkey from the store can be pretty darn lean (aka dry). I make a lot of turkey sausage, and I always grind up the whole bird including all of the skin (neck flap, popes nose and all). I find this gives a pretty good fat/meat ratio and all the sausages I make with it come out pretty moist. I buy turkeys in bulk when the frozen utilities hit under $1/lb and grind them when I need more sausage. If you have access to a grinder you could try that and see how you like it compared to the store bought pre-ground.
 
Lew, I forgot to mention that the part-skim ricotta works as well as the whole-milk type in the ground turkey mixture.

Bruce Aidells, in his book "Flying Sausages" also grinds the skin into the poultry meats for his sausages and I expect that the same is true for the sausages he sells too. BTW, if you shop at Costco, he has come out with an Italian-style meatball that's pretty good. I find his teriyaki meatballs too sweet for my palate.

Tony, welcome to the Board. What type of turkey sausages do you make?

Rita
 
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