ABTs? and to soak or not to soak

[thesmokindogs]

Hi everybody! Sorry I wasn't very active this season - had a lot of things good and bad going on. I've only fired up my smoker twice. Hope everyone has had a great summer and fall so far.

First question. I just made my 3rd batch of bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers per Jeff's awesome recipe. I didn't use shrimp this time though which cut the cook time by about an hour. Why are they called "ABTs"?

My other question is about whether or not to soak the wood chips. Today is the first time I have used dry chips. Ordinarily I soak them for about 30 minutes before adding them. By not soaking them today (because that's what the recipe says) I found that I went through a lot more of them but I haven't noticed any really discernible difference in the quality of the final product. Is this one of those totally subjective practices? Just curious.

Here's some pics of my peppers. We did 5+ dozen peppers which yields 10 dozen poppers

Thanks!

 

[BigW.]

They look great. And to answer ? "Atomic Buffalo Turds"

 

[jcam222]

Man that is one fine looking batch of ABT’s. Yep Atomic Buffalo Turds! I do not soak my wood. I really think it does no good and likely is detrimental. Hopefully it’s ok to link in this article. https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cooking-science/myth-soak-your-wood-first

 

[chef jimmyj]

Wet wood chips don't make Smoke until they dry out. You want chips to burn up. This gives the best flavor. Switch to Chunks to get longer burns between reloads...JJ

 

[eddiememphis]

Wood doesn't absorb water, that's why they make boats out of it.

Jcam222 has the link.

Wet wood steams until it can burn. This will alter the temperature you are trying to achieve, unless you factor that in.

 

[Fueling Around]

Nice batch of turds and good question where the term came from.

Soaking chips or wood skewers is a waste of time in my opinion. Previous posters said it well. Water makes steam that screws the process.

#eddiememphis
Wooden boats do absorb water to a degree. That's why when a wood boat has been out of water and dried out, it leaks as the proverbial sieve when returned to water until it swells up again.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Your ABT's look great! The other guys got you covered on the wood chips. Looks like you have a propane rig I would second the wood chunks. I use chunks in mine and works great!

You can play around with the filling and put whatever you want in there with no real difference on the time. I like using thin bacon and smoking at 250 for 2 hours.

 

[Hawging It]

Soaking wood is a waste of time. You are producing steam until they dry out. Nice looking ABT's

 

[HalfSmoked]

Fine looking batch of ABT'S. Like said they have you covered on the wood chips. But something else to consider is a Amazen Pellet tube of tray you can get long smokes with out refills.

Warren

 

[thesmokindogs]

Thanks everybody! And LMAO about the acronym!

Message received about soaking the wood!

SmokinVOLfan, I tried the chunks once but MasterBuilt doesn't recommend it. I had a full blaze going on the 3 chunks I had put in!

Warren, thanks for the tip! I'll look into that!

Happy Halloween everyone!!

 

[Fueling Around]

Fine looking batch of ABT'S. Like said they have you covered on the wood chips. But something else to consider is a Amazen Pellet tube OR tray you can get long smokes with out refills.

Warren

Forgot OP is using a cabinet smoker.
Very good observation and pointer on the A-Maze-N products line.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Fueling Around Thanks for the like it is appreciated.

Warren

 

[HalfSmoked]

thesmokindogs Thanks for the like it is appreciated.

What kind of pooch is that?

Warren

 

[MedicineMan]

Why are they called "ABTs"?

We call them Texas Twinkies down here. Going to try this today!