Smoked Shotgun Shells

 

Ingredients

• ▢11 manicotti shells
• ▢1 lb ground sausage (hot or mild)
• ▢8 ounce block of cheddar cheese
• ▢1 lb bacon (thin sliced)
• ▢1 cup Jeff's barbecue sauce
• ▢1/4 cup Jeff's original rub

Instructions

• Press manicotti shell into ground sausage to fill about 1/3. Add a ½ inch square x 1-inch long piece of cheese into the shell then finish stuffing sausage into the rest of the shell.
• Tightly wrap a single piece of bacon around the manicotti shell. It is best to stretch the bacon first so it is long enough to wrap and cover the entire shell. Place the wrapped shells onto a pan with a rack.
• Brush barbecue sauce onto the top and sides of the bacon wrapped shell then apply a coating of Jeff's original rub.
• Place pan of stuffed, wrapped shells into fridge for 2 hours or even overnight to help the shells to soften a little. (Not absolutely necessary but improves the bite)
• Set up smoker for cooking at 225°F using indirect heat. If your smoker uses a water pan, fill it up.
• Place the pan of appetizers onto the smoker grate and let them smoke cook for 2 hours or until the bacon starts to get crisp. It is sometimes helpful to crank up the heat to 275 for an additional 30 minutes to get a better texture on the bacon.
• Brush sauce onto the wrapped shells and let them caramelize in the heat for about 10 minutes before removing them from the smoker.
• Serve immediately.

Note: might need to crank up to 350-375 to get the bacon to however crispy you like it.

Source: https://www.smoking-meat.com/october-7-2021-smoked-shotgun-shells#recipe