# First ABT's. Not bad but....



## meat hunter (Mar 6, 2009)

?


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## bassman (Mar 6, 2009)

They look good to me.  Of course, I'm not on a diet either.:D


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## cman95 (Mar 6, 2009)

Looking good there Meat Hunter. Bassman...we are on a diet....see-food diet!


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## meat hunter (Mar 6, 2009)

Thanks guys. I forgot to mention one thing. Maybe you or some other members can help. I thought that the jalapeno would be somewhat soft when you bit into it, but they were crunchy. Almost as if they were raw. Everything else was  (Cooked) the sausage and bacon was semi crispy. Did I do something wrong? I would like them to be softer almost like the pickled Jalapenos you get in a can but not as soft if that makes sense. Thanks.


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## got14u (Mar 6, 2009)

maybe try blanching them in boiling water for 10-20 minutes. then proceed to make abt's. might soften them up some...those look great tho.


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## richoso1 (Mar 6, 2009)

Very nice looking ABT's you ended up with my friend. You say "counter-productive", well don't say that to the taste buds, they'll run your skinny but out of town!


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## roksmith (Mar 10, 2009)

you might try another variation of the Turds..
I like to just cut off the top of the pepper, scoop out the insides, fill with cream cheese then wrap the whole thing in sausage.
If you get it nice and sealed up with sausage, the cream cheese will stay inside and the pepper will get nice and soft..kinda like a stuffed green pepper.


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## tucker81 (Mar 10, 2009)

Meat Hunter, this is a little off subject but I was wondering if you know anywhere around our area that sells those stuffed cherry peppers. Maybe you haven't even looked but they look delicious. Anyway good looking abts. Thanks


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## meat hunter (Mar 10, 2009)

I sweat I was going to do that on my next batch. Ahh, great minds think alike
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






. I have a buddy at my old place of employment who is going to punch out some 5/8" holes for me in a sheet of stainless steel. About a 12x12 inch piece. That way I can set the ABT in the holes and it will hold them upright.


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## meat hunter (Mar 10, 2009)

You talking about those little ones, about the size of a ping pong ball more or less. Usually found at salad bars? Green ones and red ones?


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## smoke freak (Mar 10, 2009)

I hope you meant 10-20 seconds...


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## smoke freak (Mar 10, 2009)

Sounds like an ABT fattie. Hmmmmm.


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## forluvofsmoke (Mar 10, 2009)

Hey, Meat Hunter...

Those ABTs look fine to me, maybe a _little_ extra fat is still in the bacon, judging by the pics...seems to be a long smoke for that small of pieces, so I would say it's too low on temp, especially with your mention of peppers not getting very tender. You may want to look around and see who else has a chief and PM them to see if they've done ABTs on theirs, and what the results were.

I don't know how high your temps can get in the Big Chief...my understanding is that they are well suited for fish and jerky because of lower chamber temps. If you can get it up to about 250-275 your bacon will render down more and crisp up really well. If you have a kettle grill, you could try smoking them on it with offset rows of coals, just to get higher temp for the bacon fat.

Eric


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## kingudaroad (Mar 10, 2009)

Just smoke them a little longer or hotter, and the japs will get softer and the bacon will lose more fat. 

Do not attempt to trim fat from bacon. That is just so wrong in so many ways.


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## meat hunter (Mar 10, 2009)

No, big chief not get that hot, big chief only get to 225. Big chief says he will melt if he get any hotter. <------Talking like an Indian. No I dont dare take that thing that high. I have to wrap it in 6" of household insulation just to get it to 225. By then, the plug on the back in like a jelly worm. Everytime I do that, I keep lookin out the window to make sure my shop is not going up in flames LOL. I just need to get going on my smoker and keep this thing for drying herbs and  making jerky stuff like that. 


And yes, Kingudaroad, I was thinkin about timming up the bacon, but Idid realize. That was wrong, in many many ways.


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## garlic (Mar 11, 2009)

Thanks for a very informative post. reading the ABT colums I just had to try them. (Sorry no pics this time). I did not half mine but stuffed them with X sharp cheddar, Sage sausage on the out side and thick cut bacon around that. Grilled them till the bacon got a little crisp and the cheese had melted. WOW I'm impressed, The next ones we may do will possibly have chopped Habaneros with the cheese and spicier sausage. The Jalapenos were very mild this time. I had done Habanero poppers with Cheddar and X hot itialian sausage stuffed inside and broiled until they loosened up some. If you do this use alot of caution and have plenty of milk on hand, they did turn out great but the repeat burn was an issue.


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## davenh (Mar 11, 2009)

Now you got me wondering how they would be using the pickled japs..lol.


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## falmund (Mar 23, 2009)

Those look bloody marvelous...I am so ecstatic for warmer weather so I don't have to spend so much money on lump to keep my temps up.  I want to try everything.  Those ABT's look positively to die for.


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## pignit (Mar 23, 2009)

I'm suprised they were crunchy after cooking them that long. Mine turn out the opposite. If I do them in the propane cooker at a higher temp, they come out crunchy when the bacon is done. When I do them in the MES at a lower temp and longer, they come out softer. I actually like the crunch better. They tend to be milder as they get softer. Something I've started doing that I saw here on the forum is cooking the bacon some before I wrap the jalapeno. Take the bacon up before it starts to crunch up any and drain it on some paper towels before you put them on the ATBz.


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## azrocker (Mar 23, 2009)

I wonder if you could finish them on a grill to get the soft? Great q-view. Would give points but I am out


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## meat hunter (Mar 6, 2009)

?


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## bassman (Mar 6, 2009)

They look good to me.  Of course, I'm not on a diet either.:D


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## cman95 (Mar 6, 2009)

Looking good there Meat Hunter. Bassman...we are on a diet....see-food diet!


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## meat hunter (Mar 6, 2009)

Thanks guys. I forgot to mention one thing. Maybe you or some other members can help. I thought that the jalapeno would be somewhat soft when you bit into it, but they were crunchy. Almost as if they were raw. Everything else was  (Cooked) the sausage and bacon was semi crispy. Did I do something wrong? I would like them to be softer almost like the pickled Jalapenos you get in a can but not as soft if that makes sense. Thanks.


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## got14u (Mar 6, 2009)

maybe try blanching them in boiling water for 10-20 minutes. then proceed to make abt's. might soften them up some...those look great tho.


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## richoso1 (Mar 6, 2009)

Very nice looking ABT's you ended up with my friend. You say "counter-productive", well don't say that to the taste buds, they'll run your skinny but out of town!


----------



## roksmith (Mar 10, 2009)

you might try another variation of the Turds..
I like to just cut off the top of the pepper, scoop out the insides, fill with cream cheese then wrap the whole thing in sausage.
If you get it nice and sealed up with sausage, the cream cheese will stay inside and the pepper will get nice and soft..kinda like a stuffed green pepper.


----------



## tucker81 (Mar 10, 2009)

Meat Hunter, this is a little off subject but I was wondering if you know anywhere around our area that sells those stuffed cherry peppers. Maybe you haven't even looked but they look delicious. Anyway good looking abts. Thanks


----------



## meat hunter (Mar 10, 2009)

I sweat I was going to do that on my next batch. Ahh, great minds think alike
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






. I have a buddy at my old place of employment who is going to punch out some 5/8" holes for me in a sheet of stainless steel. About a 12x12 inch piece. That way I can set the ABT in the holes and it will hold them upright.


----------



## meat hunter (Mar 10, 2009)

You talking about those little ones, about the size of a ping pong ball more or less. Usually found at salad bars? Green ones and red ones?


----------



## smoke freak (Mar 10, 2009)

I hope you meant 10-20 seconds...


----------



## smoke freak (Mar 10, 2009)

Sounds like an ABT fattie. Hmmmmm.


----------



## forluvofsmoke (Mar 10, 2009)

Hey, Meat Hunter...

Those ABTs look fine to me, maybe a _little_ extra fat is still in the bacon, judging by the pics...seems to be a long smoke for that small of pieces, so I would say it's too low on temp, especially with your mention of peppers not getting very tender. You may want to look around and see who else has a chief and PM them to see if they've done ABTs on theirs, and what the results were.

I don't know how high your temps can get in the Big Chief...my understanding is that they are well suited for fish and jerky because of lower chamber temps. If you can get it up to about 250-275 your bacon will render down more and crisp up really well. If you have a kettle grill, you could try smoking them on it with offset rows of coals, just to get higher temp for the bacon fat.

Eric


----------



## kingudaroad (Mar 10, 2009)

Just smoke them a little longer or hotter, and the japs will get softer and the bacon will lose more fat. 

Do not attempt to trim fat from bacon. That is just so wrong in so many ways.


----------



## meat hunter (Mar 10, 2009)

No, big chief not get that hot, big chief only get to 225. Big chief says he will melt if he get any hotter. <------Talking like an Indian. No I dont dare take that thing that high. I have to wrap it in 6" of household insulation just to get it to 225. By then, the plug on the back in like a jelly worm. Everytime I do that, I keep lookin out the window to make sure my shop is not going up in flames LOL. I just need to get going on my smoker and keep this thing for drying herbs and  making jerky stuff like that. 


And yes, Kingudaroad, I was thinkin about timming up the bacon, but Idid realize. That was wrong, in many many ways.


----------



## garlic (Mar 11, 2009)

Thanks for a very informative post. reading the ABT colums I just had to try them. (Sorry no pics this time). I did not half mine but stuffed them with X sharp cheddar, Sage sausage on the out side and thick cut bacon around that. Grilled them till the bacon got a little crisp and the cheese had melted. WOW I'm impressed, The next ones we may do will possibly have chopped Habaneros with the cheese and spicier sausage. The Jalapenos were very mild this time. I had done Habanero poppers with Cheddar and X hot itialian sausage stuffed inside and broiled until they loosened up some. If you do this use alot of caution and have plenty of milk on hand, they did turn out great but the repeat burn was an issue.


----------



## davenh (Mar 11, 2009)

Now you got me wondering how they would be using the pickled japs..lol.


----------



## falmund (Mar 23, 2009)

Those look bloody marvelous...I am so ecstatic for warmer weather so I don't have to spend so much money on lump to keep my temps up.  I want to try everything.  Those ABT's look positively to die for.


----------



## pignit (Mar 23, 2009)

I'm suprised they were crunchy after cooking them that long. Mine turn out the opposite. If I do them in the propane cooker at a higher temp, they come out crunchy when the bacon is done. When I do them in the MES at a lower temp and longer, they come out softer. I actually like the crunch better. They tend to be milder as they get softer. Something I've started doing that I saw here on the forum is cooking the bacon some before I wrap the jalapeno. Take the bacon up before it starts to crunch up any and drain it on some paper towels before you put them on the ATBz.


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## azrocker (Mar 23, 2009)

I wonder if you could finish them on a grill to get the soft? Great q-view. Would give points but I am out


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