Aloha Moinks


 

ChadVKealey

TVWBB Pro
AKA: Moinks, Hawaiian Style

Meatball Ingredients:
  • 2 lb ground beef, no more than 85% lean*
  • 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 16 oz, can pineapple chunks, drained (juice reserved)
  • 2 tablespoons of the reserved pineapple juice*
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 lb. regular-cut (NOT thick-cut) bacon

*If substituting leaner beef or another lean meat (turkey or chicken), add another tablespoon or so of pineapple juice.

Sauce Ingredients:
  • 1 cup of your favorite Memphis/KC style BBQ sauce (I used Big Bob Gibson's red sauce because I had a bottle to use up, but whatever you like should work)
  • 1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice

Smoker Ingredients:
  • 1-1/2 chimneys of KBB or equivalent
  • 2 fist-sized chunks of hickory or a similar smoke wood

Directions:
  1. By hand, mix the ground beef, breadcrumbs, eggs, pineapple juice, salt and pepper until all ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth and thick enough to hold its shape when rolled into a ball.
  2. Scoop about 1 oz. of the mixture and roll it into a ball.
  3. Insert a pineapple chunk into the center of the ball, being sure to seal it in completely
  4. Place on a baking sheet and repeat steps 2-3 until the mixture is gone. You should get about 3 dozen meatballs.
  5. Place the sheet of meatballs in the freezer for 1/2 hour to firm up
  6. In the meantime...
  7. Cut the package of bacon in half width-wise (you'll need 1/2 strip of bacon per meatball)
  8. Mix the BBQ sauce & pineapple juice
  9. Pour 1/2 chimney of charcoal into the charcoal ring, topped with the two chunks of smoke wood.
  10. Light the other full chimney; when it's fully lit, pour it into the charcoal ring and assemble the smoker
  11. By now, the meatballs should be well-chilled, so remove the pan from the freezer and start wrapping them in the bacon, securing each piece with a toothpick
  12. When the smoker hits 275-300 degrees, arrange the meatballs on the top grate (to minimize heat loss, I actually did this outside of the smoker, then quickly and carefully put the grate into the smoker).
  13. After 15 minutes, turn the meatballs over (again, I removed the whole grate from my WSM to a side table and threw the lid back on to prevent too much heat loss)
  14. Repeat rotating the 'balls two more times for a total of 1 hour cook time; you might also want to move them around the since the ones on the edge might cook more quickly.
  15. When they're fully cooked, raise the cooker temp to 300-325 and brush on the BBQ/pineapple juice mixture
  16. Repeat application of the sauce every 5-6 minutes, rotating/turning the meatballs to coat evenly, until all the sauce has been used or you're happy with the thickness of the glaze.
 

 

Back
Top