ABTs - one rod or two?

[ptehan]

Today I went with one rod in for my ABTs. My wife is still recovering from the heat! Will they mellow more with two rods in and will the bacon crisp up?

[GBA]

No & no

[Dr ROK]

You can microwave the bacon a bit before putting on the peppers to help a little with crispness. Not sure what you mean with rod?

[fzxdoc]

I think he means putting the second rebar in to lower the temp of the PBC and therefore cook the ABTs longer.

[bbqoaf]

If you are referring to spicy heat, remove some (I go about half) of the white flesh on the inside of the peppers when you split them. I did some poppers a few months ago where I did not remove any white flesh and they were way too hot.

[SoCalTim]

Take all the inner's out, including the veins from the Jalapenos ... no heat. No heat - Happy Wife. Happy Wife = Happy Life.

[ptehan]

I scooped out the seeds and membranes, believe it or not. I think we just hit the jackpot with extra spicy ones!

[fzxdoc]

ptehan The longer you smoke the peppers, the more mellow they are. I like doing them low and slow. Even so, sometimes they're still too spicy hot for my husband to eat.

For bacon, I get thin sliced center cut bacon. It crisps up pretty well. You can par cook it, but it's hard to wrap par cooked bacon around the ABT, at least in my experience. I have to toothpick the heck out of it to hold the bacon on.

Your ABTs look amazing, BTW.

Kathryn

[Dr ROK]

As mentioned above, most of the heat in a jalapeno is located in the membranes that the seeds are attached to. Scrape this out and the heat is MUCH lower. Just remember to wash your fingers after doing this! Your eyes and other sensitive areas will thank you later. I use dawn dish soap and rub it all over my fingers before running water over them. Does a good job removing the jalapeno oil from your skin.

[Henrik]

I agree with others. Clean out the peppers properly, and you're safe. As for the cleanliness: nitril gloves really help when doing ABTs (and other chile dishes).

Bacon crisp: my bacon always crisps up, and I put them on indirect heat (at roughly 120 °C/250 °F). If yours don't, leave it on indirect heat until almost done, then move it over to the direct heat and give them a quick sear. The bacon is so thin this should take less than a minute.

[Gator Lau]

I can't find the abbreviation list. I know what I see, but what are ABTs?

[MBMorgan]

Atomic Buffalo Turds

[lschweig]

I had the same question so now I know the answer.

[Gator Lau]

Thanks, but I like The name Bacon Poppers better

[ptehan]

So do I. I am trying to put off my two year old leaning the word turd for as long as possible

[tbob4]

I grow and work with lots of peppers - the easiest way I have found to take that heat out is to cut the top off and use an old style apple/potato peeler inside. Put it in and give it a few circular turns. Most of the inside will peel and shake off. Give the inside a good rinse. Most of the seeds and ridges will be gone as well as 1/2 of the heat.

[Steve B]

Maybe there's something wrong with me. But why the heck would you want to take the heat out of a hot pepper.
For me the hotter the better.
And jalapeños are really not that hot. But I'm kinda crazy that way.

[tbob4]

You are not crazy, at all. I like them hot, as well. However, I seem to be in the minority in my family. Wait, maybe that makes ME the crazy one.

[Mr. Bones]

Me three, Steve B , tbob4 !!!

"I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane"

[BriggsBBQ]

Two maybe three things make Jalapenos hot. 1. The seeds, take them out it will ton them down some. 2. The stems, on the inside of the pepper if you dig those out with a spoon they will get very mild. 3. This one I am not sure about but my father in law says the more wrinkled the pepper the hotter it is, he's Mexican so he has more pepper experience than a typical gringo but I have yet to verify that fact. Mr. Bones Steve B sometimes your better half has a more delicate pallet. Now that you know the hot triggers you can make a batch that is mild, medium and hot.