Candied Bacon. One word. YUM!
Check out my good buddy Al’s recipe for this wonderful bacon maple treat. If I haven’t mentioned it before, Al is the one I credit for me getting me into the fine world of smoked meats. We have competed together several times, and you can take his bbq advice as gospel.
Without further delay, I give you Candied Bacon.
Indeed I did. Introducing the Stufz Burger Press. Is this really necessary? Nope. But it was fun.
So awhile back, I saw this little dandy on one of the bbq forums. BBQBrethren, SmokingMeatForums, I forget which.
Anyway, once I saw it, I knew I had to have it. Sooo.. I bought one.
The Stufz burger press is exactly what it sounds like. A relatively easy way to stuff a hamburger patty with whatever fillings you so desire. This product enables you to stuff the patty without fear of blowouts or leaks.
My first venture is probably playing it a little safe, but hey, I love a good bacon cheeseburger. So why not stuff it.
First, the ingredients:
I started with some cooked crumbled bacon, nicely caramelized onions, and a mix of a couple different cheeses. In this pic, you can also see the naked burger press.
Then we add the meat. and make no mistake, it takes a lot. This is no wimpy burger. I figure I was well into the 3/4lb range, not even counting the filling.
Next I added cheese. This is a mix of mozzarella, cheddar and havarti.
And some caramelized onions, mmmmmm..
Toss in some of the good stuff: crumbled bacon.
Add the top layer of meat, close the Stufz and give it a little push and voila, you get a massive, cheese and bacon filled patty of doom!
And finally… Man I wish I was a better photographer. I’m definitely putting that on the list of things to do. That and purchase better buns for the next Stufz test! Behold this Beast!
I recently had a chance to test out the Thermoworks MTC Mini Handheld Thermocouple. That’s a whole lotta words for such a small package. I have to say, I’m once again really, really impressed with the quality and accuracy of the products coming from these guys.
Without rehashing every thing on their own webpage, I’d like to give you my impression of this device.
For starters, I’m going to call this thermometer “modular”. Basically you purchase a handheld unit, not much bigger than your thumb. Then you purchase the probes you think you might need. It can get a bit pricey, but I’ve never had a problem handing over a few bucks to Thermoworks. I’ll pay for quality every time, and their products have yet to disappoint.
My kit contains the handheld unit, a fast response meat probe, and a smokehouse penetration probe. The Smokehouse probe is similar to what you would see on other units. A stainless steel probe, that gets inserted and left in the meat during the entire cook.
The fast response probe is my new best friend. More on this in a bit.
Back to the modular aspect. One of the things I find most appealing about this thermometer is the ability to remove and replace probes on the fly. This means when I’m cooking a shoulder, or other big cut, I can leave one probe in place, and then when the meat is almost to temp, I can simply unplug the “leave-in” probe (leaving it in place), and plug in the insanely fast meat probe to check other areas for proper temp. After I’m done, I can just plug the leave-in probe back into the device.
My original Thermapen will register accurate temps in 3-5 seconds. The fast response meat probe, mentioned above, gives me a reading within 2 seconds. You read that right. Less than 2 seconds. I think I actually giggled like a school girl, the first time I used it on a thin cut ribeye. The probe was designed for fast cooking items like burgers and thin steaks, and it serves this purpose very very well.
My first concern, upon receiving the MTC, was the way the probes plug in. Rather than a clip in, or locking style connection, the prongs are exposed and just get pushed directly into the handheld. There is no clip or lock, and I was worried the prongs might bend, or the probe might fall out.
After using it a few times, I’m no longer concerned about this. The probes fit very snugly, and there has been no give or play in them after a few uses.
If you hop on over to the Thermoworks Site, you can check out the MTC and all it’s options. There are bags, cases, clips, probe extensions, and more.
I’ve had this probe for about a week now, and I have to say, I haven’t picked up my trusty Thermapen since getting this one. Call me a gadget geek, but I really like this thing.
Will this replace your Thermapen? Honestly, it could, but there is still something special about whipping a Thermapen out of your pocket and unfolding it. It makes a nice show 
Admittedly, Atomic Buffalo Turd does not sound like an appealing appetizer, and explaining the name is no joy either. Around our house, we often just call these badboys stuffed peppers. I don’t particularly like hearing my little girl run around talking about buffalo turds, so stuffed peppers it is.
Whatever you want to call them, ABT’s are a hearty way to bring a little bbq wow factor to any party. With an unimaginable number of flavorful filling options, you can tailor these treats to any event.
What I’m going to give you is my goto ABT. The types of cheese may vary from cook to cook, but the overall flavor is usually pretty similar. For me, there are three constants to my ABT’s: Peppers, bacon, and cream cheese. After that, it’s wide open.
The peppers I use depend on the mood that day. I like simple jalapenos, but they vary so widely in heat, they can be a bit unpredictable. What I use most often are just little sweet peppers. They are similar in shape and size to jalapenos, but have little to no heat whatsoever. Just sweet pepper flavor. My taste in ABT’s tends to drift to the sweet side. Feel free to tailor your recipe to go a little more savory if you like. It’s hard to mess these up
Please allow me to share one of my all time favorites with you.
Italian Sausage and 3 cheese stuffed ABT’s.
Ingredients:
In a medium bowl, mix the three cheeses and bbq sauce into a big gloppy mess.
Put a layer of cheese into each pepper. I usually just put a little blob in, then run it down the pepper with my thumb. (By the way, I very much recommend latex or nitrile gloves for working with Jalepenos.
Add a layer of italian sausage, and press into the cheese mixture.
Wrap the whole thing with a half slice of bacon, and stab it with a toothpick. I like to push the toothpick through the bottom, so it creates a little stick to put between the grill grates, and keep the pepper from rolling over during cooking.
Put the whole mess of peppers on indirect heat until the bacon is cooked. If you smoke these at 225, this will probably be about an hour.
I wish I could provide you better pictures of the finished product, but usually, by the time they are done, I’m so ready to chow down, pictures wind up playing second fiddle to my belly!
enjoy!
Another Tip: If you are just using cream cheese, you can put all the cheese into a plastic baggy, cut the tip off the baggy and pipe the cheese into the peppers.