We’ve dug into the archives for this recipe from Kelly Bramill. Originally posted on her Dreaming of the Good Life blog back in 2017.
Regular, breaded Scotch eggs have been one of our family favourites since I was a child, with my mum always making her own for us to take on picnics. When my BBQ obsession began however, I realised that people were smoking them….and it made perfect sense! Credit here goes to James Lowe of JL Butchers for the inspiration. He’s a master of the smoked Scotch egg, and I think it was his that I first saw on one of the BBQ and smoking forums, and I was blown away.
The thing I love about them, and this recipe in particular, is that they’re pretty much a meal in themselves. With the addition of bacon and black pudding, they’re an all day breakfast wrapped up in a big, smokey, spherical package. Grilled tomatoes and pit beans make great accompaniments, as does My Ultimate Mac ‘n’ Cheese. Or why not go all sophisticated and pair it with a green salad and a nice glass of wine!
I first added black pudding to them back in September 2015, which seemed like the perfect addition (I’m sure it had been done before, so I don’t take credit). Mixing it, either crumbled or cubed, through the sausage meat or adding an individual layer around the egg works equally as well, but choose a really good quality pudding. The same goes for the sausage meat you use. I originally opted for our favourite cumberland sausage, simply squeezed from the skins, but now we have a new favourite in Angus & Oink’s amazing Kielbasa sausage, and so that’s what I’ll be using in this recipe.
Large, fresh, free range hens eggs and a good quality dry cured streaky bacon are the only other ingredients you need, along with your favourite rub and BBQ sauce. I’m not a fan of a runny yolk (I know, heathen!), so I don’t try and achieve that with these. But I’ve added the method for if you prefer them that way.
As always, tweak my recipe to suit your own taste. They can also be made up the day before if needs be. It gives you less prep to do on the day you’ll be smoking them.
Giant Smoked Scotch Eggs
- Prep Time30 min
- Cook Time1 hr
- Total Time1 hr 30 min
- Yield4 Servings
Ingredients
- 4 large, free range eggs
- 8 – 10 of your favourite sausages (I used A&O’s Kielbasa)
- 4 thick slices of your favourite black pudding (I used my butcher’s own)
- 16 slices of dry cured, smoked bacon
- A few tbsp of your favourite rub
- A few tbsp of your favourite BBQ sauce for glazing
- Some cling film for shaping your sausage meat
Method
Prepare your eggs. If you want a hard boiled egg, pop them in simmering water for 10 minutes, remove and place in a bowl of iced water to chill completely before peeling. If you’d like a runny yolk repeat as above but reduce the time to about 6 minutes. Take care when peeling, as the eggs will be delicate, and you don’t want to lose that yolk!
I used 2 large sausages per egg as the kielbasa I use are huge, but depending on the size of yours you may need a bit more. It works out at roughly 220 – 250g of sausage meat per egg. Using a sheet of cling film, press the sausage meat into a disc big enough to comfortably surround your egg. You don’t want to be doing too much moulding and shaping when it comes to the softer eggs, so be generous.
Crumble/smoosh/cube a slice of black pudding and cover the surface of the sausage meat. As I said earlier, you can also combine it with the sausage meat if you’d like, its entirely up to you.
Next, pop your egg onto the centre of the disc you’ve just made and bring up the corners of the cling film to completely cover the egg. Gently twisting the cling film at the top also helps to seal all the edges, but be careful not to apply too much pressure. Remove the cling and gently give it a final shaping. Repeat this for the rest of your eggs and then give them a generous dusting with your rub.
Now lay out your bacon as shown in the image below, place your egg in the middle and bring up the ends to wrap it.
Set up your BBQ or smoker for indirect heat at about 280˚f. I also like to have the option of giving the scotch eggs a quick flash of direct heat once they’re cooked to crisp up the bacon. Add a couple of chunks of your favourite smoking wood (I went for a chunk of cherry from Smokewood Shack) and cook the eggs for approximately 50 minutes or until the sausage meat reaches a temperature of 70˚c/160˚f. Check with an instant read thermometer and give them a little longer if necessary.
I like to paint them with my favourite BBQ sauce for the last 10 minutes.
Serve with your favourite sides!