What’s a Fattie?
Fatties are a favorite within the Bar-b-que world, it seems that outside of that culture, most people have never heard of a fattie let alone tried one….and that’s a shame.

In the simplest terms, a fattie is a log of uncased sausage that is grilled or smoked at a low temperature for a few hours, sliced and served.

But to any foodie who has a culinary sense of creativity, a fattie is a blank canvas waiting to be painted! …and then grilled and eaten.

Fatties can be made out of any kind of uncased sausage. Original Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage seems to be the most popular.

The outside of a fattie can be coated with your favorite rub, glaze or bar-b-que sauce. Sometimes fatties are even wrapped in bacon.

But the part of the of a fattie that makes us get excited and appeals most to our creative side, is what’s inside it!

Fatties are best when they are stuffed with good, gooey fillings, like melted mozzarella cheese and pepperoni, Swiss cheese and mushrooms, or Monterey jack and jalapeño slices. People have even stuffed maple sausage fatties with apple pie filling… the possibilities are endless… and delicious!



So let your imagination run wild as you think of a filling for your first fattie, make a run to the store, and fire up the Weber!

But before you go try to wrap sausage around your favorite food …there is something that you should know.

The Problem with Making Fatties
I think the fun thing about fatties is the stuffing, so it only makes sense that I think “over-stuffed” fatties are best. But, they can be frustrating to make. The more you stuff into a fattie the trickier it is to roll and it’s always tempting to try to roll more stuffing into a fattie than it can bear.

If the filling is lumpy, it may cause a weak spot in the wall; this can result in a blow out!

When this happens the molten stuffing oozes out the side and drips down through your grill ... like lava flowing down Mt. Kilauea into the sea .... disappointing.

So, you are faced with a decision: A fattie without a lot of filling, or a fattie that is a pain to roll and has a high probability of a blow out.

…but wait, now there is a third option: Enter the Fattie Piston!

Problem Solved: The Fattie Piston in Action!
The fattie Piston is a simple device that allows you to wrap sausage around A LOT of filling very easily while minimizing the chance of a blow out.

The Fattie Piston consists of two parts. The first is a cylinder and the second is the actual piston.

The Fattie Piston works best with fillings that use cheese, but there are many other fillings that will work.

The first step is to mix all the components you want to stuff the fattie with.
Once they are mixed you need to heat them on the stove or in the microwave just long enough to get the cheese to begin to melt.

Once the cheese is melted, a square of saran wrap should be placed on your counter or cutting board and the cylinder of the fattie piston set on it vertically. Spoon the stuffing into the cylinder. You may need to tamp the stuffing down to the bottom every few scoops depending on how gooey you filling is.




Once the cylinder is filled to the top, cover it with a second square of saran wrap, turn it horizontally and place it in the refrigerator for an hour or until the filling is cold.

When you are ready to make the fattie, lay a square of Saran wrap down on a flat surface and set a log of loose sausage on it.

Flatten out the sausage and form it into a square that is approximately 9”x9”.

Take the cylinder from the Fattie Piston out of the refrigerator and using the piston, push the filling out across the bed of sausage. It should come out as a perfect cylinder shaped log. Now you have a perfectly round and solid object to roll your sausage around!






Position the log of filling across one end of the sausage square and while lifting the Saran wrap, roll the log up in the sausage.

Once you have rolled the sausage ¾ of the way around the log, you will need to re-grip, pull the saran wrap back, and then finish the roll.




The final step in rolling the fattie is to squish and form the edges and ends of the sausage together so that there are no seams. It’s worth taking your time to really smooth out the seams and ends to ensure that they don’t open up during grilling or smoking.

Once the fattie is rolled, cover it with a thick coating of your favorite bar-b-que rub


At this point the fattie is wrapped up in the Saran wrap and placed on a plate in the refrigerator for an hour to rest. This will allow the sausage to harden up and make it easier to handle the fattie when placing it on the grill. Skipping this step often results in blow out.

Grill or smoke the fattie using indirect heat at 250f till the internal temperature reaches 160f. Usually this takes 1.5 or 2 hours.
Once the fattie is done, wrap it in foil and let it rest for 45 min to an hour. This allows the filling to cool just a little so that it dosent flow out when the fattie is sliced.


Last but not least; slice, serve and ENJOY!






We sell fattie pistons for $10 and all proceeds help teens in North East Ohio go to Young Life summer camps.

To order a fattie piston you can use PayPal or a credit card here:

Fattie Piston Profits and Teenagers …


The guys that came up with the Fattie Piston really like bar-b-que … but we love teenagers.

We believe that right now, this current generation of teens is facing some of the hardest issues that teens have ever faced. And we believe now is time when people can help.

That’s why we decided that EVERY penny of profit from the sale of Fattie Pistons will be used to send high school kids in the greater Akron area to Young Life summer camps.

Young Life is a worldwide organization that believes that a relationship with God has a lot to offer teens. They believe that every kid has the right to hear the basic premise of the Christian faith and make their own decision regarding it … no strings attached.

Since 1940 Young Life has shared the truth of the Gospel with millions of high school kids all over the world while showing them LOVE and RESPECT.

We sell fattie pistons to help teens … and hopefully in the process we can help you to turn out some good bar-b-que at your next cook out.






To learn more about Young Life you can visit the Young Life website: http://www.younglife.org/

So It’s clear…
Just a quick disclaimer about Fattie Pistons … They are made out of a few pieces of PVC pipe and a cap. There is nothing fancy about them.

You’re probably thinking, “I could just make that… If I wanted to make one, I could pick everything up at a home improvement store.”

You could … But then you would have to make a trip to the store, hall the stuff home, get the tools out, and make a mess. When it’s all over, you’ll have all kinds of PCV pipe left over that you won’t know what to do with, so it will just sit in your garage for six months and be a point of tension between you and your spouse … You probably should just buy one from us.

No one here is trying to pawn off a couple pieces of PVC pipe as a fine kitchen utensil … it is what it is; a couple of pieces of PVC pipe.

We just have a great idea about how to make near perfect fatties … and we want to use it to help out a few high school kids.