My First ABTs - The Fiasco Begins

ArnieM · September 19, 2009, 11:56:15 AM

I figured the OBS wouldn't be properly broken in until I did some ABTs. They're going in this afternoon and I'm starting a pork butt later tonight.

So, I have the J's for the ABTs and a few H's for ADTs.

Here they are, all washed up and ready to go.

These are going down on their sides so I needed to cut off the pepper tops and core them. I was counting on having one of those old el'cheapo SS potato peelers. But, I guess we threw them out when cleaning out the kitchen drawers earlier this year. So, what to use, what to use.

I dug up a couple of utensils but they kind reminded me of 18^th century surgery.

So, my wife dug around some more and found a "grapefruit" knife. The peppers were pretty large so it worked out pretty well.

I washed out the seeds and started on the stuffing. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this picture?
Edit: I forgot to mention that I used CRG's technique of dumping the peppers into salted boiling water for a couple of minutes followed by a rapid cool.

I did roughly equal parts of the two shredded cheeses shown and room temp cream cheese along with some sprinkles of Chipotle and onion powders. The mix was too stiff so I added a TBS or so of sour cream; still to stiff. Into the nuker for two 15 second blasts to soften it. Not bad. Put the mix into a piping (plastic) bag and I was ready to go - with a little mechanical help.

As I said, the peppers were going to be laying down so I used some deli smoked ham to kind of plug up the tops before the bacon wrap. Here they are, ready to go.

Meanwhile, the OBS has been preheating for over an hour. It's 61 F and quite breezy out. The OBS managed to get up to 125 F with two outside temp bricks and hot water in the bowl. I finally brought the bricks in and put 'em in the oven at 425 F.

I'm still waiting. To be continued.

ArnieM · September 19, 2009, 12:23:02 PM

Oh boy, my bad! I smoked cheese yesterday and I pulled the OBS tower heater power cord out of the SG to make sure it wouldn't generate any heat. My sincere apologies to the OBS. The ABTs are in.

classicrockgriller · September 19, 2009, 12:27:38 PM

AM, I did the same thing yesterday. Took a minute to find the problem. Glad you are smokin now.

mikecorn.1 · September 19, 2009, 12:50:21 PM

Looking good there. Love abts. I like to mix some owens breakfast sausage in with the cheese mixture.

ArnieM · September 19, 2009, 01:00:01 PM

Quote from: classicrockgriller on September 19, 2009, 12:27:38 PM
AM, I did the same thing yesterday. Took a minute to find the problem. Glad you are smokin now.

Well, that means you're smarter than I am - it took me an hour and a half. I feel so dumb. :(

HawkeyeSmokes · September 19, 2009, 01:50:38 PM

Glad it was an easy fix Arnie. I hate it when I suffer a case of CRS and things don't work! :D
Great looking ABT's there.

Tenpoint5 · September 19, 2009, 01:56:05 PM

Quote from: ArnieM on September 19, 2009, 01:00:01 PM
Quote from: classicrockgriller on September 19, 2009, 12:27:38 PM
AM, I did the same thing yesterday. Took a minute to find the problem. Glad you are smokin now.
Well, that means you're smarter than I am - it took me an hour and a half. I feel so dumb. :(

I would be willing to bet neither one of you will forget it the next time you have a "Blonde Moment"

Hopefull Romantic · September 19, 2009, 01:58:44 PM

CRG has an excuse; he's been smoking all week. What is yours Arnie?

HR

classicrockgriller · September 19, 2009, 02:03:24 PM

Now I get to blame my stupidy on old age. Not Blonde, grey and gone.

pensrock · September 19, 2009, 02:03:44 PM

I was going to mention that your tower heat must not have been on.
I have also nuked the mixture some to loosen it up if it was too thick. If I'm only doing a few peppers, most of the time I will stuff them with a spoon. Also I took a grapefruit spoon to a grinder to thin it out some and bring it to more of a point. Then sharpened the edges, works great to cleaning peppers. I loaned it to a friend or I would show a pic.
I see you used thick cut bacon. It may take slightly longer for the bacon to crisp up but it will work just fine. :)
What do you plan to use the leftover stuffing for? It doesn't look like you have enough peppers to use it all in. You can flatten out some boneless chicken breasts, lay a slice of ham on then the leftover stuffing mix. Roll up, wrap with bacon and cook away. ;D ;D

ArnieM · September 19, 2009, 02:35:58 PM

Quote from: Tenpoint5 on September 19, 2009, 01:56:05 PM
Quote from: ArnieM on September 19, 2009, 01:00:01 PM
Quote from: classicrockgriller on September 19, 2009, 12:27:38 PM
AM, I did the same thing yesterday. Took a minute to find the problem. Glad you are smokin now.
Well, that means you're smarter than I am - it took me an hour and a half. I feel so dumb. :(
I would be willing to bet neither one of you will forget it the next time you have a "Blonde Moment"

Hmmm. Now, where did I leave my shoes?

ArnieM · September 19, 2009, 02:37:20 PM

Quote from: HawkeyeSmokes on September 19, 2009, 01:50:38 PM
Glad it was an easy fix Arnie. I hate it when I suffer a case of CRS and things don't work! :D
Great looking ABT's there.

Thanks, final pics and evaluation coming later.

ArnieM · September 19, 2009, 02:38:48 PM

Quote from: Hopefull Romantic on September 19, 2009, 01:58:44 PM
CRG has an excuse; he's been smoking all week. What is yours Arnie?

HR

I've been drinking adult beverages all week. It's medicinal, due to my arthritis.

ArnieM · September 19, 2009, 02:46:37 PM

Quote from: pensrock on September 19, 2009, 02:03:44 PM
I was going to mention that your tower heat must not have been on.
I've previously said, "We live and we learn." Somehow, though, I seem to be smoker-challenged.
I have also nuked the mixture some to loosen it up if it was too thick. If I'm only doing a few peppers, most of the time I will stuff them with a spoon. Also I took a grapefruit spoon to a grinder to thin it out some and bring it to more of a point. Then sharpened the edges, works great to cleaning peppers. I loaned it to a friend or I would show a pic.
Sounds good. Does everyone here have bench grinders, welding outfits, sheet metal shops, etc.?
I see you used thick cut bacon. It may take slightly longer for the bacon to crisp up but it will work just fine. :)
It worked out OK. I knew we had bacon but didn't discover it was thick cut until I went to use it. We adjust.
What do you plan to use the leftover stuffing for? It doesn't look like you have enough peppers to use it all in. You can flatten out some boneless chicken breasts, lay a slice of ham on then the leftover stuffing mix. Roll up, wrap with bacon and cook away. ;D ;D
Actually, I put the left over into the fridge. I thought I could use it this Sunday on crackers or something. Why does everyone always come to my house?

ArnieM · September 19, 2009, 03:29:57 PM

Actually, after all that they came out pretty good. I've never even had an ABT before, let alone cooked one. Summary follows the pics.

This is after 1:20 of Hickory, total of 2 hours, flipped and rotated about half way through.

A little closer view.

Summary:

These things are fabulous! So, I put 'em on a plate in the center of the table. The conversation went something like this, she first:

Boy, they smell really good.
Yup.
I'll try one of those ABT things.
Me too.
It's a little hot, but delicious.
I agree.
<We knocked off another one each.>
I said, I'm having one of the ADTs.
Are they hot?
I'll let you know.
<A half glass of milk and a spoon of sour cream later ...>
Yep, they're hot.
Should I have one?
I dunno. They're kinda hot.
But, they're so cute.
Yep, but I don't know if you should have one.
Hmmm, I think I'd really like to have one. (I can't remember when I won the last joust.)
Maybe you should just cut one in half.
Nope, I'll just eat it. This is really tasty.
<Now we have the wailing and gnashing of teeth - it's still going on down there in the kitchen.>
<Her>I'm saving one one for my brother.
You mean the yogurt guy?
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

They were really good despite my screw-ups. Next time, I'll skip the Habaneros. They're really pretty tough to handle.

Well, my butt is on the counter. I'll be putting it in about 8 PM, an hour and a half or so from now. I left the OBS hot but it's supposed to be pretty cool tonight.