ABT prep question

Todd,
I don't know where you could find them or how much they'd cost, but there is a pepper that is a mild jalapeno, I think it's called a TAM mild. They say it has jalapeno taste but little heat.
Myself, if I had a jalapeno, I'd expect the heat. I don't know of a quick way to remove the seeds and membranes(that's where most of the heat comes from), but you might use a pastry bag or a bag with a small piece cut out of the corner for stuffing.
Hope I helped a little.
Peggy

Can you make those by cutting the peppers in half lengthwise and using a vegetable peeler to scoop out membranes and seeds?
Now I'll be dreaming about this tonight.
Peggy

Or an apple corer with the sharp tip might work.

Todd, you might want to check out the chili grill website - www.irondesert.com - they have pictures showing how to make them. They recommend using an apple corer for the seeds and used to sell a cookie press to use to stuff them. Battery operated Super Shooter by Hamilton Beach. Unfortunately HB has stopped making it and the site says they are looking for a replacement but there is still a picture of it so that may give you ideas. Good luck.

Mudgie

Are you making whole or 1/2 ABT's?

we did both this weekend. If I was mass producing them, I'd get an apple corer (used a peeler last time) and get a piping bag to fill.

As for getting rid of the heat, just smoke them longer. They definitely lose some of their punch. that is unless you leave the vein and some seeds and and they get "the surprise" pepper. The longer we did them, the more it took out some of the heat.

Another idea is some "Bullhorns"

We talked about these and I ran a little dry run. I didn't have any clear photos of the ABT's for those who hadn't seen them, but these were the BH's we did.





Here's the thread in the Recipe forum.

I need to go in there and report...but man, bacon and chicken. It was good

BullHorns

Todd,I use an apple corer to take the seeds & veins out.I buy the large peppers.if you buy the small peppers the corer is to big around to fit inside the pepper.the peppers are not hot at all when you do this.you have all of the pepper taste but not the heat.of course I prefer the heat.I bought my corer from a local industrial cooking supply house but I have seen them in wal-mart here lately.

Todd-

Out of curiosity, what are you charging per piece? Prepping 500 ABTs has got to take an awful lot of labor! My hat's off to you!

I did 45 ABTs for SB using the following method...

1. Buy large japs - Avoid reds for less heat
2. Cut off tops and, unlike many others, I don't bother to cut in half.
3. Scoop out seeds and membranes with a small baby spoon.
4. For stuffing, I used an old manual caulk gun with a reusable poly calk tube and a tip with a good size opening.

Check out Home Depot or other home improvement store for the caulk gun and reusable tubes. Sterilize the equiptment and your in business. With a project like yours, you may want invest a little more in a battery operated gun.

Good luck. Hope you're getting paid well.

DLS, I've been using your system except for the caulking gun. I don't cuth them in half either, but I've been pretty good about getting all the seeds out. I saw the cookie press on the chili grill website, and I've tried a pastry bag, but I kept blowing out the bag. I don't know how they used a cookie gun with cream cheese, even it it was a little warm. The caulking gun sounds good. I'll give that a try.

I don't mind the heat myself, I'm just trying to make the customer happy. I've found that size and color(dark green vs light green) don't seem to be an indicator of heat.

I don't know how much to charge yet. The ones I did last weekend were kind of a bonus. I wanted some myself so I fixed extras. I didn't know they'd be such a hit. I do know that the price would tend to change based on if I quoted it before or after I had to de-seed all those peppers, but I'm thinking about $1.00 each.

BTW, I stuffed some with homade pimento cheese and diced brisket. Excellent!

Thanks everybody for the ideas. I think I'll try the bullhorns too. They look a little easier to prep.

Oh, and another thing. I've seen where everyone says to finish on the grill to crisp the bacon since it won't crisp in a CS. I use the precooked bacon. It is a little too crispy to wrap the pepper ulness you MW it for a few seconds, but then it wraps easily and gets crisp enough for my tastes in the CS.

The precooked stuff seems expensive until you figure shrinkage difference from raw bacon, then it's in line. Also, it's much cheaper at Sam's or BJ's.

Todd G. - Now that I think of it, my daughter, who's developed an interest in baking, got a battery operated cookie press for Xmas that works pretty well, especially with a thick mix and solid ingredients (think chocolate chip cookies). Just don't know if it has a tip that would work for filling the japs. I'll check tonight and let you know the brand name etc.

BTW, $1.00/each seems somewhat low to me when figuring your cost of materials and a pretty labor intensive project. Not like throwing a butt or brisket in the smoker then opening a beer at each temp check.

I agree ,nobody will do them for $1.

$1.75 for well done ones seems about the rate.

Also thin/cheap bacon/half slices crisp much better.

Slightly cooked in a microwave gives them a better start.

Smokin's tip of smoke longer will cut the heat.

Most cream cheese will kill the heat,if they are seeded and deveined.

Most chain supermarket japs are TAMS and mild.

Grapefruit spoons are also handy.

I have just been using a little pear knife to cut the membrane and then taking a potato peeler and running it around to get the membrane and seeds out.

With that said, I will buy and try the apple corer as that might elimate my knife step.

I've not been successful with an apple corer.. maybe my japs are too small. I slice them in half lengthwise and take a table spoon and scrape them out. You DO have to be careful of juices squirting and hitting you in the eye. I've had juice hitting me in the face.. but wear glasses.. whooo wee.. I'll bet that could burn a ton..!!!

Bill

For filling the japs, try useing a jerky shooter w/ the round atttachment this should work well. (It is similar to the super shooter on the Irondesert site.) It is much like a caulk gun but made for ground meats.
good luck!
what to you use for a filling?

Hey Todd,

I am thinking about adding ABT's to my catering menu so I will be very interested to see how you decide to do everything. My biggest question is how you plan to smoke all of these. I had thought about having a metal shop punch a piece of stainless with appropriate size holes but then I found a 48 hole or so chili holder at cabella's for around $30-40 which should be ok for me. Can you reheat ABT's?

As for working the peppers, I use an old paring knife that has been ground down over the years so that it is very thin. I slice off the top (hull) and then use the knife to scrape out the guts. This method doesn't yield as nice a product as the apple corer but you don't have to switch utensils.

As for heat, Smokin is right, Smoke them longer and it will knock down the heat. I don't think freezing would work because it will make the pepper to flimsy to work with.

Mark

For the way I make japs (see above) and in other posts.. I slice lengthwise so don't need a shooter.. although I have one of those cake decorator thingies.. I simply blend whatever (pulled pork or chicken or tuna or??0 and blend with cream cheese. I then take a small spatula and apply the mix to fill the jap halves. Easy to do and is very easy on cleanup. I tried cleaning the cake decorator after doing a batch and it took much longer to clean than the spatula.. and I'm big on the KISS methodology

When ya'll cut them length wise are you still putting them in a chili holder or are you laying them down on the smoker grate?

quote:

Originally posted by hudsobs:
[qb] When ya'll cut them length wise are you still putting them in a chili holder or are you laying them down on the smoker grate? [/qb]

Actually, I don't smoke the chilis. I put them on a rack (grate) that I use to keep roasts out of the drippings when roasting. I put them in the oven or on the grill. Reason I don't smoke them is that I typically stuff them with leftover smoked foods that I put thru a food processer with cream cheese. It's a great use for leftovers. Here in CA, Japs are available all the time.. don't know about other parts of the country.

FWIW, there are other chili's that look like japs but are very mild for those that don't like the heat. Hungarian's and Anaheim's come to mind.

I'd think poblanos, kind of small ones would work great with this, too. But you'd have to charge more. They might be easier to clean. Would require more stuffing.
Peggy