Grilled Bacon Wrapped Meatballs with Fischer & Wieser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Fischer & Wiser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce


I have been looking forward to trying out Fischer & Weiser's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Barbecue Sauce. Toni sent me out a sample bottle right before I went to the beach. The packaging is really nice, and the sauce looks beautiful through the glass.

Raspberry Barbecue Sauce

It's easier to see what the Fischer & Weiser looks like when I have it poured in the bowl to sauce up some MOINK grilled meatballs. The color is just great, and you can see that the sauce looks home canned with the chunks of raspberry clearly visible.

The smell was great, so I had a quick taste before I started grilling. Wow. This sauce tastes like candy. Honestly, I could have kept eating right out of the jar. But, that would not be a very balanced dinner, so I put on the MOINKs.

MOINKs Ready to Go on the Grill to Slow Smoke

Larry at Barbecue Grail came up with MOINKs which are Moo (hamburger) and OINK (bacon) - hence the name. They are really simple to make. Just buy or make meatballs and wrap a half slice of bacon around. Secure with a toothpick (soak those in water for 20 minutes so they don't burn). Grill or smoke slowly until the meat is close done. Sauce. Finish grilling until the sauce caramelizes.

Sauced Up Barbecue Meatballs with Bacon

I was talking on the phone and ran late getting our meatballs on the grill, but they smoke pretty quickly. They can go right on the grates, but I find it easiest to use my grill wok. With the lid down on the grill at medium heat, the meatballs barbecue even and don't even need turned. On the grates, I usually have to turn them.

Here you can see that I added the Roasted Raspberry Barbecue Sauce to the MOINKs. I used a brush, but I sometimes use tongs and lift and dip each one and then put them back in. Either method works fine.

Grilled Meatballs with Raspberry BBQ Sauce

My son was starving, so he dove right in. I was close behind. We both thought the Fischer & Wieser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce was great on the MOINKs. The very sweet flavor with only a slight hint of heat went just right with the meats. They were some of the best MOINKs we've had.

This barbecue sauce would be good where you want a nice sweet kick. The MOINKs are excellent, and I'd say the sauce would go very well with chicken and pork too. Frankly, I think it would be good on hot homemade biscuits just out of the oven as well or even ice cream.

International MOINK Day 2010 - Crank Up the Grill and Make Some Bacon Wrapped Meatballs

Today is World MOINK Day - not that we ever need an excuse to fire up some MOINKS on the smoker or grill. It is pretty neat to see others across the globe doing the same though, and if you've never tried MOINKs, then I invite you to join in the fun.

First of all, you may need to know what MOINK balls are. They are the creation of The BBQ Grail, and you can read the history of MOINKs at his site.

The basic idea is that you take frozen meatballs (thawed), wrap them in bacon, and slow grill or smoke them. The idea is simple but delicious, and The Holy Grail is not impressed if you try to fancy up his MOINKs. He does cut us homemade meatball rollers some slack, since we can't all find frozen meatballs at our grocery store.

How to Make MOINK Balls



First you let your frozen meatballs thaw out, or just roll up your own as I've done above. And, then add seasoning. The Holy Grail uses Yardbird Rub, but I have Not Your Average Cajun Seasoning on mine. It's not a spicy mix - just a solid, balanced and really nice flavorful seasoning.



Then you wrap the meatballs in half slices of bacon and stick a toothpick through to hold the bacon in place. Be sure to soak the toothpicks for 20 minutes or so first, because dry wood does burn. And, you do not want to catch your toothpicks on fire.

I usually add a little marinade on my MOINKs before they go on the barbecue grill. A lot of people dip them in barbecue sauce for the last little bit of grilling time for more flavor, but my boys prefer them without sauce. So, I just splash a little something on. In this case, it was just apple juice.



MOINK balls can go right on the barbecue grill grates, but I use a grill wok. That makes it super simple. I don't have to turn or move the MOINKs once I put them in.

Here you see the grill wok in a Traeger smoker, but I've also used a PK Portable Cooker and the Weber Kettle grill with the coals offset. They also work on gas grills. With the Char-Broil Big Red, I just use burners on one side and put the MOINKs on the side without heat so that they just slow grill.



Here are our National MOINK Day MOINKS. And, yes, they do taste as great as they look. I first made them during the winter when the Winter Grillers at Grillers Index were talking about them, and now I make them really often. Everyone goes wild for the MOINKs, so I get MOINK requests every week or two.

Click on the little map button below and see BBQ Grail's map of MOINKers. There were so many on the east coast, I could not get my little marker on NC or even see NC, so my lavendar marker is in the ocean. I did not really MOINK on a boat though (-: But, that would be interesting.