Pig Shots-my first attempt and some follow up questions

[Meatyorology]

I had planned on making these in the near future and wanted to cook them in a trial run to work out any kinks. I was in a bit of a hurry and decided to simply cook them in the oven rather than bust out the smoker and because I like my bacon crispy, I cranked up the heat to 375. Long story short, they turned out great but the top of the cheese was burnt (I simply pulled it off and you could not even tell since it had mushroomed over the top of the "cup"). It got me thinking that I should just precook the cup and sausage bottom and then fill them at the last minute before warming and serving them to get the bacon how I like it without risk of burning the filling.

I free styled a mix of cream cheese and cheddar cheese and it started to congeal and stick to the point where filling the raw cups was a bit messy. Since I am now confident in my ability to assemble and cook the cups (my biggest worry), can someone recommend a good filling recipe/ratio for topping off my pre-assembled cups? I would not mind making a few different varieties of filling either if people are willing to share their thoughts. Thanks

[Spinaker]

I go 50/50 sour cream and Creme cheese. Then I add white cheddar to the bowl and mix the heck out of it. I don't fill the shots any higher than half full to allow the cheese to expand. It keeps it from going over the top of the shot glass.

Also is help crisp the bacon, use the convection setting your oven. That will help a lot. Or use your smoker, I cook mine at about 425 F.

I have also used cowboy caviar with some habanero cheddar in the mix. But honestly, I just like the creme cheese mix.

[Corvus]

I assembled 3 dozen for a party on Friday night using the same oven method and temp as you. (too cold to cook outside here) I put the cheese mix in a quart sandwich bag, cut a corner and use as a piping bag to fill "cup" about 2/3. A few will overflow, but most won't. I sprinkle brown sugar and a med. heat rub over and bake. After an hour, I spread the shots out over two pans to allow for a uniform crisp. Rotating the pans each :10 helped. Other than no smoke taste, they went over well and I came home with no leftovers. You'll never go wrong serving pig shots or pork burnt ends.

[klflowers]

I haven't done pig shots, but I did some ABTs Sunday. I used Meatheads boursin recipe:

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/snacks-and-munchies-recipes/homemade-boursin-style-cheese-spread-recipe

I couldn't find any fines seasoning, so I used herbes de Provance and it turned out pretty good.

[IowaGirl]

I made my first batch recently as well.

First thing -- the cream cheese. DH, bless his heart, tried to save a few pennies recently by purchasing the house brand cream cheese. Bad move -- this cheese has a gritty texture and has almost none of the tangy flavor I want from cream cheese. I can't complain too much -- he's a treasure -- but I'm going to encourage him to stick with Philly from now on. The flavor with the house brand cream cheese was acceptable, but not terrific.

Back to the bacon -- I partially cooked my bacon before making the "shots" as someone in the Pig Shots thread recommended. How I did it -- Cut the strips in half, laid them flat on a foil-covered sheet pan, and baked them at 375 F for about 10 minutes. I wanted the bacon render out some fat, but not start to shrink or brown. I laid the hot bacon strips on paper towels to drain and assembled the shots while the strips were pleasantly warm. It worked pretty well for me.

After the shots were cooked, the bacon was not exactly crispy, but it was nicely chewy and firm. What with the cheese inside, I thought that was a good compromise. Even with the pre-cooking, I couldn't see how I was going to get crispy bacon without also overcooking the cheese.

edit -- Oh, yeah, and don't crowd the shots in the pan when baking if you want them as crisp as possible. Use a low sided pan and put at least 1 inch between the shots so air can circulate.