Will Lamb Meatballs Taste Teh Same as Beef
Smoked meatballs are easy to eat, taste great and will be the first thing you run out of at parties. They are just that good and when they are made from beef AND bacon, well, that's a smoked meatball I can REALLY get behind!
As I told you a few weeks back, Porter Road sent over a huge box of meat for me to try out and of course, I didn't waste any time trying out a few things. One of the things that's been intriguing me the most is the 2 lb package of "Beef vs Bacon" and the ONLY reason I haven't done anything with it yet is because I've been trying to decide how to best use it.
It's a unique blend of dry aged beef and bacon from Berkshire and Duroc hogs all ground up together. What's not to get excited about!
This combination packed so much flavor that I did not have to season it as much as I would most other things.
And I know what you're thinking.. yes, you can do this yourself with some 80/20 ground beef and bacon you grind yourself in the food processor. I am told it's approximately a 50/50 mix of each.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour or less
- Smoker Temp: 225°F
- Meat Finish Temp: 160°F
- Recommended Wood: Oak or cherry
- 2 lbs of Porter Road Beef vs. Bacon*
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 2 TBS Worcestershire
- ¼ cup grated onions
- 1 TBS minced garlic
- 3 TBS Jeff's Texas style rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub)
- 1 cup Jeff's original barbecue sauce (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled sauce)
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
*I'm sure you could mix 80/20 ground beef together with some really high quality bacon and come up with something that would work if you wanted to but Porter Road has worked hard to come up with this unique blend of really high quality dry aged beef and Berkshire/Duroc bacon and I really recommend giving theirs a try.
First things first.. lay out all of the ingredients you'll need and we're not talking a lot of stuff. I wanted the bacon and beef to really come through so I kept these simple. No cheese, jalapenos, etc. or anything that I thought would mask the great flavor of this dry aged beef and Berkshire/Duroc bacon so carefully blended together.
Here's what I went with:
I like to soak the breadcrumbs first so I poured them into a separate bowl and the buttermilk over the top. A good stir was all that was required.
I then added the onions, minced garlic, egg, Texas style rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub), Worcestershire and about half of the chopped parsley.
Save a little of the parsley for garnish.
I gave it a good mix and then I left it sitting so the ingredients could get to know each other for about 10 minutes while I got the smoker ready.
To combine the bread crumb mixture into the meat more evenly, I broke the meat up into chunks and added that to a large bowl with the bread crumb mixture on top.
I proceeded to blend that carefully with my hands making sure to only mix as much as I absolutely had to. Over-mixing is not good for meatballs and tends to make them tough.
All done!
To make the meatballs more uniform in size, you can either weigh them or just use a scoop so you get the same amount of mixture for each one.
I opted to use a scale and each one of my meatballs was .8 ounces
Once I weighed the mixture, I rolled them between my palms to form a ball.
44 meatballs later, the mixture was gone. (smoked meatballs, here we come)
Use whatever smoker you have available or you can use the gas grill for these by only turning on the burners on one side and placing the meatballs on the opposite side away from the heat.
Likewise, to use a charcoal grill simply pile the hot charcoal on one side of the grill and place the meatballs on the opposite side away from the heat.
You want to try and maintain about 225 to 240°F if possible regardless of what you cook them with.
I recommend oak or cherry or a mixture of these if you have it.
Lastly, if your smoker utilizes a water pan, fill it up and use it.
Once the smoker is preheated and ready to go, place the meatballs on the grate or you can leave them on the pan if you are using something like a Bradley rack or a Weber grill pan like I do. These types of pans allow the smoke to come up through it and the grease from the meatballs to drain away.
Keep a close eye on these meatballs since they'll most likely be done in an hour or less depending on the size that you make them and the temperature that you run in your smoker.
Use a handheld thermometer that reads fast for best results. I use the Thermapen Mk4 for most things like this as it reads in 2-3 seconds.
The meatballs are done when they reach an internal temperature of 160°F however, when they reach about 150°F, you have a decision to make– keep reading!
Everyone has their own personal preference on whether to add sauce on the smoker or grill or just serve everything dry and let each person add their own sauce.
For most things, I don't sauce on the smoker but meatballs sort of had me wondering if I should or shouldn't.
First off.. I did not want a sauce but more of a glaze. For that reason, I poured a cup of my barbecue sauce (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled sauce) into a bowl and mixed in ½ cup of Worcestershire sauce. This made it really thin so it would work great as a glaze without gooping up all over the meat.
Here's what I didš
Half of them got sauce, half did not. I wanted to be able to try them both ways.
When the meatballs reach 160°F they are finished and should be removed from the heat and served immediately.
Add a little chopped parsley on top for garnish.
Everyone including myself liked the smoked meatballs glazed with sauce when eating them as an appetizer. We also tried a few of them with some pasta and those were best un-sauced.
Be sure and try some both ways and let me know which you prefer.
✅ My rubs and sauce will be the best thing you've ever tasted and it's a great way to support what we do!
You can also order the formulas for my rubs and sauce and make these yourself at home. Grab those HERE and download immediately.
Smoking Meat: The Essential Guide to Real Barbecue – The book is full of recipes and contains tons of helpful information as well. Some have even said that "no smoker should be without this book"!
With more than 1000 reviews on Amazon.com and a rating of4.7 out of 5 stars, it comes highly recommended and is aBestseller in Barbecuing & Grilling books on Amazon.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | German Edition
Smoke, Wood, Fire: The Advanced Guide to Smoking Meat – Unlike the first book, this book does not focus on recipes but rather uses every square inch of every page teaching you how to smoke meat. What my first book touched on, this second book takes it into much greater detail with lots of pictures.
It also includes a complete, step-by-step tutorial for making your own smoked "streaky" bacon using a 100 year old brine recipe.
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Printable Recipe
Porter Road Smoked Beef vs. Bacon Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs of Porter Road Beef vs. Bacon*
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 2 TBS Worcestershire
- ¼ cup grated onions
- 1 TBS minced garlic
- 3 TBS Jeff's Texas style rub
- ¼ cup Jeff's original barbecue sauce
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
Instructions
Step 1: Make the Meatball Mixture
- Place the breadcrumbs into a separate bowl and pour the buttermilk over the top.
- Add onions, Texas style rub, Worcestershire and chopped parsley.
- Give it a good mix and then leave it sitting so the ingredients could get to know each other for about 10 minutes while you get the smoker ready.
- Break the meat up into chunks and add that to a large bowl with the bread crumb mixture on top.
- Blend that carefully with your hands making sure to only mix as much as absolutely necessary. Over-mixing is not good for meatballs and tends to make them tough.
Step 2: Form the Meatballs
- To make the meatballs more uniform in size, you can either weigh them or just use a scoop so you get the same amount of mixture for each one.
- Roll the mixture between your palms to form as many uniform meatballs as you need.
Step 3: Set Up Your Smoker
- Setup your smoker for cooking at about 225 to 240°F using indirect heat.
- I recommend oak or cherry smoke or a mixture of these if you have it.
- Lastly, if your smoker utilizes a water pan, fill it up and use it.
Step 4: Smoke 'em
- Once the smoker is preheated and ready to go, place the meatballs on the grate or you can leave them on the pan if you are using something like a Bradley rack or a Weber grill pan like I do.
- Keep a close eye on these meatballs since they'll most likely be done in an hour or less depending on the size that you make them and the temperature that you run in your smoker.
- Use a handheld thermometer that reads fast for best results.
- The meatballs are done when they reach an internal temperature of 160°F however, when they reach about 150°F, you have a decision to make– keep reading!
Step 5: To Sauce or Not To Sauce
- If you want to glaze the meatballs with sauce, then read on. Otherwise skip to step 6
- Pour a cup of my barbecue sauce into a bowl and mix in ½ cup of Worcestershire sauce.
- Glaze the meatballs with this sauce mixture then let them finish cooking.
Step 6: Serve
- When the meatballs reach 160°F they are finished and should be removed from the heat and served immediately.
- Add a little chopped parsley on top for garnish.
Notes
8 Comments
Source: https://www.smoking-meat.com/september-19-2019-porter-road-smoked-beef-vs-bacon-meatballs
I have made these Meatballs a few times. Love em. If I may suggest using a ice cream scooper to size them. They always come out the same and its fast as well. Thx!
The instruction do not say when to add the garlic and the egg, so I forgot to add the egg which is why my meatballs were falling apart.
Steven, So sorry and thank you for letting me know. I have corrected this by adding the minced garlic and egg to the instructions. Hope your next batch turns out a LOT better!
Hey Jeff,
Love your recipes and first time posting. Made these yesterday for a Friendsgiving and the flavor was great. Had a couple issues with them falling apart and one question.
Does the 1/4 cup of sauce go into the meat mixture?
The barbecue sauce is optional for brushing on after they are finished. I am wondering if you soaked the bread crumbs with the buttermilk before adding it to the mixture?
Meatloaf, meatballs, etc. is always a balancing act of dry ingredients to wet ingredients and then the eggs are the binder, along with the bread that sort of hold it all together.. even small changes can make a difference.
Lowfat buttermilk?! Are you on a diet? Why would you go an ruin 2lbs of perfectly good meat?!
Scooter, the process by which buttermilk is made (churned if it's the real stuff) means the fat goes to the butter and the buttermilk is naturally low in fat. To have anything other than low-fat buttermilk, you'd have to add fat to it from somewhere. I assume that you are not accustomed to purchasing or using buttermilk in other recipes?
Love your recipes Jeff. You seem to come up with some great ones. Keep smoking