My first ABTs, kind of disappointing...

fire it up · Apr 10, 2009

So I threw on my first ever ABTs with yesterdays smoke. They looked ok but they weren't great.
Firstly I forgot to pick up a pack of bacon to wrap them in, secondly the smoker was acting up from all the wind but mostly the jalapenos were unbelievably hot. I can handle my heat but these things were ridiculous! After a few I just scraped some of the mixture out to stop the burning.

Here are the cleaned peppers...

Filled half with cream cheese and the other half I thawed out a fattie and added that to the mixture.

Sorry there are no pics of them stuffed, must have forgotten to take that one, but here is a little appetizer. Slices of fattie spread with cream cheese fattie blend...

Smoking them up...

Finished result. Smoke was rolling a bit hard and the temp was low but at least they turned out...

Overall they were just meh, I was hoping for more. Next time I do them I'll make sure to get some bacon, and check the peppers for heat before going through it all. At least the turkey legs and chicken I was doing turned out great.

Thanks for looking.

pignit · Apr 10, 2009

Man I am so hooked on these things. Here are some of my observations.

The bigger the jalapeno the milder.
Cook them directly on the grill, no foil. I think that will mild them up for you.
Make sure and clean them up good inside, no seeds, no white meat.
Gotta have the bacon. Even a little on top. When I don't roll mine in bacon I cook some up and crunch it up in the filling.
I slice just a little of the length just enough to get a pit spoon in and clean it up. I leave the stems on. Usually if it's gonna be hot the pointed end will be the hottest.
I cook em till the bacon is crisp. The longer you cook them the milder they seem to get.

Better luck next time. Don't give up on em. I don't like them extremely hot either and I always have a hot one or two that burn my lips. If I want them a little cruncheeee I'll put some toothpicks straight up on the corner peppers and lay foil on top of the toothpicks about an inch and a half above the peppers. No sides... just a top... this crisps the bacon up much faster. It works.

chrome · Apr 10, 2009

Take some shredded sharp cheddar and fill the half jalapeno, lay a little smokey on the bed of cheese, wrap with a half slice of bacon and stick a toothpick through it.
Ain't nuttin better. If ya like it a little hotter do the same with a Habanero.

fishawn · Apr 10, 2009

BAAAAAACON.....Don't leave home without it!

What kinda wood are you using? I always use Hickory & they turn out great.

bbq engineer · Apr 10, 2009

Hey Fire It Up,

Don't throw in the towel, because these can be great. Read through what PignIt said, because his advise helped me out after my first batch last fall that were to mild (Thanks PignIt...thread deleted by the crash). They gotta have bacon. from your pics, it looked like a couple of those had ends that were glowing red...next time get the non-nuclear habs!

rivet · Apr 10, 2009

Got it right. Some heat magic going on with hot peppers, it seems the longer you cook them - OVER DRY HEAT- the sweeter and milder they get. Doesn't work in a sauce or stew.

They looked fantastic, sorry they didn't turn out for you. Another thing that's noticeable, is that bacon fat also tempers their "heat" and helps sweeten the whole enchilada, so to speak

One last thing that may be just me, but science sez it's true.... cream cheese when mixed with cheddar, asiago, or mozzarella really tones down and smooth out the heat-bite. Has to do with the fat-content of the cheese.

Don't give up!

bigsteve · Apr 10, 2009

They look fine for a first try. As Pignit said, don't give up on them. If you think (ahead of time of course) the Jalapenos will be too hot, you can soak them in Milk for awhile after you core them.

As far as forgetting the bacon. I'm making some tonight without bacon on purpose. (Shhhh...... saying something like that around here will get you run outta town!)

I'll post some Q-view.

hhookk · Apr 10, 2009

I have taken some of the heat out of jalapinos for friends that don't like hot stuff like this.
Clean your peppers of seeds and white membrane inside. Put 3 cups of water and 1 cup cider vinegar in a sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil. Drop in the peppers and boil them for about 2-3 mins. Remove from water and put in a bowl filled with water and ice cubes to shock/cool them. Then make your abt's and they will be nice and mild, but still with a little bit of heat. I usually make a few this way for those that can't take the heat and a few without boiling that are nice and hot.
Don't give up. To know how to make them the way you like, you have to know what NOT to do also. :-) Good Luck. Keep smoking.

fire it up · Apr 10, 2009

Thanks everyone.
Definitely not going to give up on them, I know they will be excellent once I try them one or maybe twice more, but I will absolutely make them again, and with bacon.
Like I said earlier, I love hot things. Hell, this year I am growing white habaneros, serranos, and the dreaded bhut jolokia pepper (though I don't want to even mess with that one) but these bastards were just crazy hot.
I did pick out a few that were beginning to turn red as someone had pointed out, but when I was buying them I assumed they would be close to a regular jalapeno heat level and so I wanted a few even hotter.
Maybe the seeds they used to grow these jalapenos were grown near some habaneros last year and so the heat index went through the roof.
Anyway, not going to be a lost cause. I'm going to chope them up and use them in a sauce or something.
Oh, Fishawn, I was smoking with hickory, my favorite flavor.

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My first ABTs, kind of disappointing...

fire it up

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chrome

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