Less fat in my ABT's

[meat hunter]

Well last week, I made my first good batch of ABT's. Others I have made I did not really like. The only thing about these last ones, and really for any I have made, is the amount of fat/grease from the bacon. Now don't get me wrong, I love bacon, and bacon fat just like the next guy, but it seems that the ones I have made are just too greasy. Is there anything you do to reduce the amount of grease from the bacon or are there better cuts of bacon to use where you have a bit more meat and less fat? Just curious.

 

[beer-b-q]

You might try precooking the bacon a little and letting it lie on a paper towel to absorb some of the grease...

 

[ronp]

Try turkey bacon from Sam's club.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

This doesn't reduce the bacon fat much, but my oldest daughter precooks the sausage before mixing it into the cream cheese for the filling. I didn't like the flavor at first, but it's actually quite good once you get used to it...it just doesn't get any smoke to the meat, but then it would have to penetrate the bacon and/or pepper as well...I'm not sure if it does or not.

Anyway, when I smoke them, I try to run about 225-250* to start, then crank it to around 285-300* to crisp/brown the bacon...this seems render out alot of fat because I have a boatload of grease in my pan when they're done.

Eric

 

[mballi3011]

If you are worried about healthy like Ron says try some turkey bacon or don't use bacon at all.

 

[funmerlin]

I've had some pretty good luck substituting the 1/3rd lowfat cream cheese, and the 2% milk shredded cheddar. And I've been using the center cut bacon, which while a bit more expensive, is supposedly a little less fatty. There's also some low-salt brands. I got a bunch on sale and froze them.

Neither is going to be all that healthy, but they won't be quite as bad. And they seem acceptably tasty to all my weight-conscious friends.

 

[ellymae]

If you want to get some somke into the sausage just smoke it first - as we all know a lot of the fat will cook out - then chop it up and add to your ABT. I like using thin cut bacon and will often just cut off the bits that are only fat - Keep testing!

 

[flyboytr]

I use a brand of sausage called Tennessee Pride. I do not know if it's a local or regional product. However...When browning it in a skillet there is no measurable fat that cooks out. We now use this in all our sausage dishes. Several weeks ago they were out of my brand...and I used a different brand. I was amazed at the amount of fat that cooked out during browning.

 

[pitrow]

I can't recommend turkey bacon, I tried it and to me it turned into a consistency and taste like cardboard. I like to use super thin cuts of bacon for wrapping japs, and I try to also find the leanest ones I can. Then I like to cook them until they are very crispy. By starting off with thin lean slices you cut the grease to begin with, and by cooking them until they're very crispy most of the grease has cooked off. Usually it just drips off the jap, I've never had a problem with them being too greasy.

 

[plj]

I sort-f agree with you - my first few batches were good, but I didnt understand why you guys rave about ABTs. This in spite of the fact that I'm a bacon lover, jalepeno lover, cheese lover, etc ... OK, there's not a food on earth that I dont like so far, LOL.

Anyway, the first batch of ABTs that I made that were simply awesome did NOT have bacon on them! I cooked them standing up on a rack underneath a couple of fatties that were fully bacon wrapped, so they had a lot of bacon drippings on them but most of it ran off into the drip pan. That'll probably end up being my preferred method from now on, maybe it'll work for you too.

 

[smokin-jim]

I think Ron and the others are on to something. This may have been mentioned already, but another thought would be to use a turkey or chicken sausage. In the Northwest we do a lot of different sausages that are lighter and leaner. They are actually quite good. If you used lighter sausage and the turkey bacon, it would definitley cut down on the grease.

 

[enterprise]

Turkey bacon is the way too if you don't want alot of grease or Canadian Bacon is goood but not as good as turkey

 

[scpatterson]

Ive done teh Turkey bacon and I like it... Now I cut mine and stand them up so the grease form the bacon goes into the smoker and not into my ABTs...But let me say that you can try ham cold cuts is really good too and you dont get the fat but you ahve to smoke your peppers first almost done and then wrap in the ham...I like these just as much

 

[fire it up]

I half cook my bacon before wrapping ABts, lay it on paper towels and press more on top of it to remove the grease, then after smoking and letting rest I set them on another paper towel and kind of slide them so all the grease that collects on the bottom will be wiped off.

As previously said turkey bacon is another option, some folks don't like it but I think turkey bacon is great!

I have even made vegetarian ABTs with fake bacon, not made from soy but obviously not the same.
They weren't bad, didn't have the flavor of real bacon by any means but weren't terrible.