ABT questions

[zueth]

I want to do some ABT's this weekend for a party and would prefer to do them the day before and then heat them in the oven the day of.  Will that work?

I am going to use left over pulled pork for the meat.  Most recipes that I have found call for you to mix the meat with spices in food processor, fill one side of pepper with meat, then fill over side with cream cheese.  Could you not mix meat and cream cheese together and then fill pepper?

Anybody add other cheeses such as pepper jack or cheddar.

I am thinking 1 hour of mesquite or hickory at 220, does that sound about right?

What temp should i reheat in over and for how long?

[pensrock]

I always mix the meat with the cheese. I always start with cream cheese then add what ever I want. Chopped bacon, pulled pork, brisket, crumbled sausage, brats, any meat will do. I also have mixed shredded cheese to the cream cheese. I have done three cheese, cream/cheddar/mozz, and several other cheeses. If you want to kick them up some, I chop up a hab and mix it into the cheese.  :)

I do mine around 250 F with an hour of smoke, then leave in till pepper is soft and bacon is crisp. If you want to finish them the next day, I would try: smoke for one hour around 225 or so, allow to cool and put into fridge, then put into a preheated oven or grill till bacon is crisp and insides are hot.

[OU812]

You sure can cook the day before.

Smoke/cook at 220 for 2 hr, I would use 1 hr Hickory.

Pull outta the smoker, allow to cool then put on a tray and throw in the fridge overnight.

I try not to use the oven much in the summer, except to make bread.  ::)

I reheat on the grill using indirect heat, all you need to do is warm them up say 20 min on the grill or 30 min in a 250 deg oven.

If doin in the oven I would invert a rack and place the rack of ABT on a rimmed pan before goin in the oven.

For a small batch a convection oven works well also.

I always mix the meat with the cream cheese, when using pulled pork I will take the cold pork and run it through the grinder to make it little chunks rather than strings of meat, then mix with the cheese.

1lb meat to 1lb cream cheese works for me.

You can add any kinda cheese you feel like to the cream cheese, I like sharp cheddar.

I also mix in some of the seeds from the jalapenos till the cheese has a bite to it.

I stuff both sides with the cheese meat mixture then put the pepper back together and wrap with bacon.

They freeze good too, after the cook I will put a bunch in a bag and vac seal for a later date and warm like above.

[zueth]

Thanks for all the input, so basically I am looking at smoke/cook at 220 with hickory for one hour and finish cooking for another hour.

Let cool, put in refrigerator over night, next day preheat over to 250 and put ABT's on a inverted smoker rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet for about 30 minutes.

How many jalapenos can you fill with 1lb meat and 1lb cream cheese?

[OU812]

I would say 15 to 20 depending on the size of your jalapenos.

Let your bacon come to room temp before wrapping, makes it easer to put the bacon were you want it.

[zueth]

thanks.

[Buck36]

I love the tip by OU812 about grinding the meat. I have made quite a few ABTs but never with ground pork. That is definitely on the to do list.

[Habanero Smoker]

A food processor either full size or mini, is also good way to chop cooked meat fine enough to add to your cream cheese mix.

[zueth]

I made these this weekend, used a food processor to chop up the pulled pork and mixed it with cream cheese and some jan's rub in Cuisinart mixer.  Then filled the jalapenos with mixture on both sides and put together and wrapped with bacon.  Smoked/Cooked at 220 for 1 hour with hickory, then cooked for an additional hour.  Reheated in oven at 250 for 30 minutes, they turned out great.  Thanks for the input.

I was surprised with the different in spiciness between peppers.  one pepper would be very mild and the other very spicy.

These things sure are a lot of work :)

[Tenpoint5]

But they are oooooh soooooo goooood!!

[zueth]

Anybody have any advice on how to pick jalapenos? do you go by color, shape to determine spiciness?

[OU812]

Anybody have any advice on how to pick jalapenos? do you go by color, shape to determine spiciness?

I go by the shape of the end opposite the stem, the more pointy the hotter, more round the more mellow.

Stay away from the ones that look like leather, theyve been on the plant longer than the ones that dont look that way and most times tougher.

Works for the peppers I grow.  ;D

[Habanero Smoker]

The heat in jalapenos can vary. A rule of thumb that I follow is, the shorter the pepper the hotter it is, but mainly it depends on the conditions and environment that the peppers were grown. As peppers ripen and change colors, they mellow out some.