# pre-smoke ABT's



## yodelhawk (Aug 27, 2009)

yo... has anybody ever pre-smoked some abt's. Got a big party coming up on sat and have a LOT OF MEAT to smoke up. I was tinking of pre smoking about 30 ABT's and then finishing them off on the grill the day of the party. Any thoughts??? Thanks for your help.


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## forluvofsmoke (Aug 27, 2009)

It's been my experience that ABTs don't reheat very well. The texture gets way off from the norm...mushy. Bacon can be hard to get crispy again, too. They taste OK, just not something I'd want to serve to my guests.

Wish I had good news for ya, but I don't want to give any false hopes...

Eric


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## richoso1 (Aug 27, 2009)

Been there... done that.


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## target (Aug 27, 2009)

Does it work to prepare them the night before, and if grill room allows throw them on.  Not sure if them being cut night before would cause any texture or dryness issues?


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## forluvofsmoke (Aug 27, 2009)

That is a good question...I have done that (pre-prep) a few times and don't notice any difference. Now my oldest daugther does all the prep work while I tend other things...I just toss a rack full into the smoker and wait for the treats.

If you could toss 'em into a 300* smoker or grill they should cook alot quicker than @ 225*...maybe 60-75 minutes...that might give a guy some breathing room.

Eric


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## yodelhawk (Aug 27, 2009)

OK guy's... I guess I'll make them the day of the party. Thanks for your input.


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## tender loins (Sep 7, 2009)

Yodel, party has come & gone, you just make them the same day?

I co-organize a tomato tastefest party, not quite public but about 30-40 people. I made mine Friday night for Saturday's party. I smoked them w/pecan & a sprinkling of apple at about 245-250 for 3+ hours until the bacon was well done, maybe more. Then brought them inside to cool & then put in fridge until noon the next day.

I took them there and a friend nuked them for a minute or two. They were all gone within a half hour!


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## mballi3011 (Sep 7, 2009)

I'm or we here are sorry but the consences is that the abt's don't reheat very well so if you still want them you'll have to make some room on the smoker. Maybe you can use this one like I am using to get another smoker. I hope everything good well for you with your party I'm sure it will just keep your head down and everyhting will be alright.


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## tender loins (Sep 7, 2009)

you may be right, this was my first time making them (plus a test run) and can only judge my own, which were left in the smoker a long time to start with. Plus the bacon was pulled pretty tightly and assume it helped in the crispiness. I actually made about 10 the night before to see how the recipe would turn out, then made the ones for the party the night before the party. (The test run I even made a couple with Dutch's Wicked Beans!) I also nuked the peppers in water after removing the seeds & membranes, which made them pretty mild... matter of fact, it was hard to tell if the heat was the peppers or the pepper jack cheese it was that mild that almost everyone could eat them. 

I used cream cheese, a pepperoni flavored bit a little milder & thicker than a Slim Jim, (about half the size of a Lil' Smokie), then covered everything with a small strip of sliced pepper jack cheese. Then I wrapped in $1.99 PriceRite/Bar-S bacon (1/2 slice each, pulled really tight.) I actually spent a few minutes at the store going thru a case until I found a few paacks that were REALLY nice & lean with very little fat. The other half batch had peppered bacon.

Are you saying you lose crispiness, or something else, if you reheat or nuke? I think, in my specific case here, being in the smoker so long it didn't make much difference the method used for reheating. I think stretching the thin bacon & smoking for a long time makes it crispy, shrunken, and brittle; refrigerating softens it back up a little & removes the brittleness, then reheating puts it back about to where they were great.

Of course, maybe someone here will say I overcooked them??


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## eman (Sep 7, 2009)

Let me start off by saying , DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER.
I have had the problem of no room for all the abts i had prepped so the wife put some of  them on a baking sheet in the oven at 325deg and allthough the only smoke flavor they had was from the bacon they were very good .
This method actually made them come out moister than the ones from the smoker. The abts were the boat style . w/ HOT japs pineapple cream cheese and shrimp. Dusted w/ paprika, wrapped w/ cheap smoked bacon


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## pineywoods (Sep 7, 2009)

Personally I find reheated ABT's don't look as good and the bacon just isn't the same However if I'm doing ABT's you can bet I try to do extra for the fridge for myself cause I find they still are pretty tasty nuked 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 Lots of people put them in an oven or gas grill to cook them so in the end its just a matter of how you like em and how you want to fix them


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## flash (Sep 7, 2009)

Got that right, always make extra when I am making up a batch for a party get together. We don't nuke them, but put them in a toaster oven. Around 10 minutes @ 325º works really well. The broil setting will crisp up the bacon some also.


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