ABT's off a drum!

scooter

Moderator
Staff member
Had some jalapenos left over from when I made BPs smoked jap scalloped potatoes so through together 6 ABTs with Nueske's bacon, cream cheese with onion & chive. Rubbed the bacon with brown sugar and dusted with, what else, bacon jalapeno rub! Through them on the drum with some pecan wood and.....oh my goodness!!!

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scooter

Moderator
Staff member
Yes, I always parboil the peppers. Not only does it tone them down heat wise but it helps get the peppers done when the bacons is done otherwise you'll have semi crunchy peppers. I like my peppers softer.
With the drum, I cooked them almost until done away from the center (approx 45 mins) then moved them to the center and gently flipped them over so the tops got nicely browned about 10 mins.

BP, my drums are racking up an impressive list of things that have turned out "the best I've ever cooked"
 

sheepdad

New member
Aah... Parboiling! Never thought of doing that. Good tip. I always seem to either over cook the bacon or under cook it trying to get the right firmness to the peppers. Great cook on some awesome looking abts. Thanks

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scooter

Moderator
Staff member
Bob, I find that jalapeno peppers come constructed in two basic types. Those with thick walls and those with thin walls. I don't know why but they just seem to come those two ways. Also you've probably noticed that they range in size as well but I haven't noticed if the size correlates with the wall thickness yet.
I get the water boiling, then set the timer for 2mins 30secs. I plop the thick walled peppers into the boiling water and start the timer. When the timer gets down to 2mins I add the thin walled peppers to the boiling water. When the timer clicks down to zero, I immediately strain out the peppers and put them into a ice bath to stop the process. This helps get a uniform doneness through the peppers I'm using.
I take them out of the ice bath and dry them off a bit with a paper towel. The peppers will be "relaxed" at this point and ready for stuffing. You'll need to practice with the timing to determine the best timing for your likes. The 2mins30secs was for my MAK and WSM and came out consistantly the tenderness I wanted.
The 2mins30secs for the drum produced a pepper that was just a bit past the tenderness I look for so I may be adjusting down 30 seconds for the next batch.

I also note that jalapenos are not a standard heat across the board as there are some that are hot and some that are really hot all in the same bag of peppers I buy. The jalapenos I buy in NorCal don't seem real consistant in the heat category. Not sure if they're like that in other regions.
 
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sheepdad

New member
Thanks scooter, I'm gonna experiment with that advice for sure. I agree on the hotness factor. Same thing with the ones I get here in CT. Some are hot and some are oh chit!! Used to think that the thick walled ones were hotter but my last 2 purchases proved that wrong. I know that most of the hot is in the seeds and white ribs but still have the variety of hotness even with the insides stripped clean.
 

jimsbarbecue

Moderator
Staff member
I have used Scooters method on parboiling the peppers and it made the ABT a hit with all the guest even those who were hesitate had more then one.
 

backbay2

New member
Parboiling!! My new lesson for the day, I smoke peppers and roast them quite a bit, but parboiling is new to me, can not wait to lay down some ABT's like this and see what they come out like........ Once again scooter, your work is amazing
 

sheepdad

New member
Well I tried parboiled technique and It worked perfectly. I was in a rush to get some ABTs ready for work after getting home late from the kids holiday assembly for school. I did a little cheating on these and used precooked bacon because I only had 2 hours before I had to be in work. Did a 2 minute boil then a quick cold water bath. Had the spicy cream cheese already made so that helped. Shook some Money all over and Smoked heavy for 1.5 hours on the drum and the OTS/smokenator @ 260 and turned out 70 pretty darn good ABT's. If it wasn't for the parboiling, I would have never made it to work on time. Thanks again scooter.
 

scooter

Moderator
Staff member
You're welcome!

With raw bacon on the drum it takes maybe 45-60 mins at 275 in the center. I kept them off the center until near the end. Turned them upside doe over the center to get an extra level of carmelization of the brown sugar on the top side of the bacon. Of course, only do that if you've got them wrapped up to we're the cream cheese will stay put for obvious reasons.
I have been known to cook them in the 300 range on a weber kettle setup for indirect cooking. 45 mins did it at that temp. Just depends on the thickness of your bacon. I used to use extra thick cut but this last time I used thin cut and I think it turned out better.


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cowgirl

New member
Great looking abts Scooter!! I need to make them more often. Or maybe I just need to move closer to you. lol
 
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