Shotgun shells - questions, the build, and the smoke

[gmc2003]

Ok so I have this box of manicotti shells that's been sitting on the pantry shelf for about a year. The weather man is telling me that we should start seeing some rain free days about mid-week. For those of you that have made shotgun shells before. I ask you these questions:

1. Meat mixture
2. Seasoning
3. Once put together how long do you let them sit - 1hr, 2hr, 3hr 4hr or overnight?
4. Thick or regular cut bacon?
5. Are they really worth the prep time(meaning did they really have that WOW factor)
6. What temperature did you smoke them at?

Thanks in advance, and I'll post up my attempt. Whether I'm successful or not.
Chris

 

[DieselTech]

Ok so I have this box of manicotti shells that's been sitting on the pantry shelf for about a year. The weather man is telling me that we should start seeing some rain free days about mid-week. For those of you that have made shotgun shells before. I ask you these questions:

1. Meat mixture
2. Seasoning
3. Once put together how long do you let them sit - 1hr, 2hr, 3hr 4hr or overnight?
4. Thick or regular cut bacon?
5. Are they really worth the prep time(meaning did they really have that WOW factor)
6. What temperature did you smoke them at?

Thanks in advance, and I'll post up my attempt. Whether I'm successful or not.
Chris

I believe Cowboy Kent Rollins on youtube has a good recipe & tutorial on shotgun shells.

 

[gmc2003]

I believe Cowboy Kent Rollins on youtube has a good recipe & tutorial on shotgun shells.

Thanks Diesel, I'm sure there are a ton of videos on u-tube, but I would rather listen to people I know and trust. The SMF family are those people. They'll give you an honest answer/opinion thru their own experiences and not someone who may or may not be a paid shill. BTW I'm not knocking Kent. I don't even know who he is. I'm not much of a U-tuber when it comes to smoking meat.

Chris

 

[912smoker]

Hey Chris I've only done them once and they were a hit.
I par boiled the shells to soften them up a little, stuffed and wrapped in thin cut bacon. Straight on to the smoker at 250 till bacon rendered. About 1.5 hrs I believe. Did a quick glaze with sauce at the end.
Others with more experience with SGS will hopefully offer more advice.
Good luck!


Keith

 

[gmc2003]

Hey Chris I've only done them once and they were a hit.
I par boiled the shells to soften them up a little, stuffed and wrapped in thin cut bacon. Straight on to the smoker at 250 till bacon rendered. About 1.5 hrs I believe. Did a quick glaze with sauce at the end.
Others with more experience with SGS will hopefully offer more advice.
Good luck!


Keith

Thanks Keith, a friend at work made them once and told me he had a hard time stuffing them after the par-boiling. He mentioned that some would tear easily. I'd like to avoid that issue.

Chris

 

[schlotz]

Ok so I have this box of manicotti shells that's been sitting on the pantry shelf for about a year. The weather man is telling me that we should start seeing some rain free days about mid-week. For those of you that have made shotgun shells before. I ask you these questions:

1. Meat mixture
2. Seasoning
3. Once put together how long do you let them sit - 1hr, 2hr, 3hr 4hr or overnight?
4. Thick or regular cut bacon?
5. Are they really worth the prep time(meaning did they really have that WOW factor)
6. What temperature did you smoke them at?

Thanks in advance, and I'll post up my attempt. Whether I'm successful or not.
Chr

I second the one from Rollins.

 

[BigW.]

For the benefit of folks who have never heard of these.

Smoked Shotgun Shells - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips

I first heard about these smoked shotgun shells sometime last year but didn't really get around to trying them until recently.

www.Smoking-Meat.com

Seems that letting them sit in the fridge for a day helps with the crunchy noodle issue. One guy here just soaks in warm water for a bit.

 

[JckDanls 07]

I've not made them but have watched others... As I was watching I was thinking how much easier it would be to stuff them using a jerky cannon or a stuffer with the small tube... I don't know... I've also heard that the part of the shell not covered with bacon is what stays hard ...

 

[gmc2003]

I second the one from Rollins.

That's two votes for Kent. I may have to look him up.

For the benefit of folks who have never heard of these.

Smoked Shotgun Shells - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips

I first heard about these smoked shotgun shells sometime last year but didn't really get around to trying them until recently.

www.Smoking-Meat.com

Seems that letting them sit in the fridge for a day helps with the crunchy noodle issue. One guy here just soaks in warm water for a bit.

Jeff, Holy crap I forgot about him. Thanks for reminding me that he did these some time back, and I'll be reading that post for sure.

Chris.

 

[gmc2003]

I've not made them but have watched others... As I was watching I was thinking how much easier it would be to stuff them using a jerky cannon or a stuffer with the small tube... I don't know... I've also heard that the part of the shell not covered with bacon is what stays hard ...

Appreciate it Keith, and I have a brand spanking new cannon sitting on the shelf(probably about 5 years old now). I used to talk to tropics about making Kielbasa, but never did do it.

Chris

 

[gmc2003]

Ok so it looks like Weds. is the day of reckoning. I'll be making them on Tuesday and smoking them on Weds. I went to the grocery store today and picked up a little over a pound of 90/10 burger, and a pound of sweet Italian sausage. I wanted hot sausage, but the wife gets forehead sweats from BBQ potato chips so I decided on sweet to save our 44 year marriage. My plan is to go with noodles out of the box. No par boiling. Stuffing will be the meat, a block of Cabot cheddar, and a block of Monterey Jack. I have some marinara sauce that I'd like to make more like a pizza sauce to add. I'll Google how to do that - unless someone has a tip they'd like to share. I bought a pound of thick cut bacon that I'll give the roller treatment if it's not long enough to cover the whole noodle. The BBQ sauce will be KC original heated with a pad or two of butter. Again to make the wife happy(her favorite), and I don't mind it at all. I still haven't decided on what rub to use, but I have a few to choose from sitting on the pantry shelf.

Chris

 

[JckDanls 07]

I love it when a plan comes together ... I'm in ...

 

[JIMSMOKES]

I've done them twice. First time was a tuff hard crunchy parts mess. Second time I soaked manicotti in heavly seasoned water while I fixed stuffing kinda wet. Stuffed them like I'd pack a wheel bearin then wrapped in thin bacon leavin no shell exposed. Let sit in fridge overnight.
Good? Yea but for the amount of work? I'd rather make pig shots.
I get more requests for my Moink balls and steak/tuna bites. LoL

 

[gmc2003]

I love it when a plan comes together ... I'm in ...

Come together, that's what I'm hoping for.

I've done them twice. First time was a tuff hard crunchy parts mess. Second time I soaked manicotti in heavly seasoned water while I fixed stuffing kinda wet. Stuffed them like I'd pack a wheel bearin then wrapped in thin bacon leavin no shell exposed. Let sit in fridge overnight.
Good? Yea but for the amount of work? I'd rather make pig shots.
I get more requests for my Moink balls and steak/tuna bites. LoL

Thanks Jim good to know. I'll probably use your advice on soaking for a few of them.

Chris

 

[JIMSMOKES]

Thanks Jim good to know. I'll probably use your advice on soaking for a few of them.

Chris

The soak was short so shells were firm but slippery as long as they were wet.

 

[Fueling Around]

Tried once but not a big pasta fan. My wife is not a pasta either. Luckily she really loves the heat.

...
Good? Yea but for the amount of work? I'd rather make pig shots.
...

I love pig shots. I use a piping bag to fill
My last batch was dry cured low sodium slab bacon. I loved them, but not the wife. Slab bacon got overly smoked for her taste.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

I still have a box sitting in my pantry. I was fired up when I first heard about it but other things took over.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

That's two votes for Kent. I may have to look him up.

I a huge Kent Rollins fan. Learned so much from him and a great guy. He the one that that finally got me to make great Catfish.

 

[Newglide]

Looks like you got the info you're lookin for so far. I did them once. They were pretty good, I'll do them again sometime, they are a good bit of work. I also soaked the noodles while I made the stuffing. Make sure you cover the entire noodle with bacon. Anything left uncovered gets hard.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Sounds like SmokinAl trick of pounding out thick bacon would work here to give complete coverage of shell.