First ABTs

Kerry, those look awfully good. Like you, I did my first batch yesterday. They made the perfect side to a little blackened filet.

Ralph

I just cooked my second batch. The first were barely spicy at all. The second batch had some significant heat. I've heard that jalapenos vary all over the block on heat, but this is the first time I've experienced a swing of this calibre.

Both were delicious, though.

I believe a lot of the heat is in the seeds and the veins. If you scrape the veins out it lowers the heat. I have got to stop watching Food TV.

Craig

I scraped seeds and veins on both batches, but one was still very much hotter than the other. As were my fingers for the next 24 hours, even tho I'd washed them many times. Just a powerful batch, I guess.

There is a huge variation in the heat of peppers now days. A number of growers grow the lower heat peppers because there aren't as many pepper heads as there are pepper wimps.

just a note one of my pepper cookbooks states that if you cook for over an hour the peppers will loose some heat at 30 to 45 minutes in will retain more of the heat

I have learned to cut them in half. and fill with a mixture of sautéed shallots or some fresh chives, equal amounts of Jimmy Dean sausage, (lightly fried) and Philly cream cheese.
Clean out the ribs and seeds. I cover with a thick piece of jowl, and cook for about two - 2.5 hours around 225°-250°. I eat a couple of dozen by myself. The longer you cook them, the sweeter they get. I get my slab bacon and jowl from Burgers Smokehouse. Best I ever ate. Jowl & Bacon

Cooked 175 for a catered wedding brunch in Preston Hollow and learned several important things:
1. Always wear gloves
2. Always wear glasses
3. Never go to the bathroom without washing your hands first.
4. Cut the tops off and clean out membrane and seeds
5. Rinse the peppers afterwards thoroughly
6. Cut a small part of the bottom tip off. Allows air and liquid to escape
7. Mix softened cream cheese with your favorite ingredient and use a big tip piping bag. (I used old bay flavored cream cheese and lump crab in half and Garlic & Herb old bay flavored cream cheese with a medium raw shrimp stuffed in the other half
8. Par cook bacon to the limp stage
9. Wrap bacon around top portion and secure with a tooth pick. Served two purposes a. holds the bacon in place and b. keeps the peppers from falling through the support stand.
10. Cover the top of a full size 4” hotel pan with chicken wire stretched tight. Each pan will support about 50 ABT’s
11. Place in cooker (FEC100) at 275 for 45 minutes to an hour. Less time equal hotter peppers so a lower temp with more time will really bring down the temp.
12. Never go to the bathroom without thoroughly washing your hands first even though you have had on rubber gloves. Couple of gringo’s working with my Hispanic cooks did not learn this painful lesson, so it is repeated for emphasis.

They were all consumed and got another brunch for 75 out of this job. Same menu

I took the previous two posts and kinda mixed them this weekend.

I tried cutting in half, and for me and other they were easier to eat, I cooked bacon till limp. Then put in FEC for about an hour or so at 275.00.

I was pleased with the results.