Beef Clod Heart in the Smokin-It

[Ackmack78]

Hey, new guy here, I figured I'd post the smoke I just started. I picked up a beef clod heart, I had no idea what it was but when you find beef under $2/lb you buy it. Got an 8lber for $15.
Googling around I saw it's cooked like a brisket so I'm giving it a shot. The plan is 225-250* until probe tender.
I trimmed maybe a half lb off. There wasn't much to trim just a little hard fat and some silver skin. I was in a rush to dry brine it and it was so cheap I cut off more than I needed to in the interest of speed. The fat cap was pretty thin so I just left it, overall there was not a lot of intramuscular fat, it's pretty lean. The rub was black pepper, onion, garlic and a dash of cayenne.
845pm Put it in the Smokin-it set to 225* with 8oz of smokinlicious red oak and a few charcoal briquettes. The plan is to wake up, check the IT and raise the box temps if needed.

Rubbed & ready to go


Here we go. Fat cap down, let er rip. Don't mind all the probes, it's a new smoker and I'm testing out the grate temps.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Welcome. Looks like you are off to a good start. How do you like the Smokin-It? Smokinlicious Red Oak, a Brand Name or adjective?...JJ

 

[Ackmack78]

Welcome. Looks like you are off to a good start. How do you like the Smokin-It? Smokinlicious Red Oak, a Brand Name or adjective?...JJ

Smokinlicious is the brand, theyre out of New York and sell a bunch of hard and fruit woods. I picked up some red oak, hickory, and cherry from them but they got pretty much anything you could want except mesquite. Seem to be pretty reasonably priced too.
As to the smokin-it, I've had it 2 weeks and so far I'm loving it. It's the PID model 3 w wifi, pretty much set it and forget it. The only thing is I haven't been able to get enough smoke flavor out of it yet, but I'm getting there. Every one says go light on the wood but apparently we like a lot of smoke. If there was one area where they could really improve it would be their app. Ya it works but the functionality is out of 2012.

 

[indaswamp]

Clod heart is a good cut of meat. Great for shredded or chopped beef. If you want slices be careful cooking it, it'll fall apart easily.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Watching this and have been reading about beef heart. I was just given one and have been looking for ways to cook it. Years ago, I would make it into cube steak and fry it with onions and gravy. I'm going to smoke this one somehow....

 

[SmokinEdge]

Welcome from CO.
Waiting for the finish.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Welcome from Iowa! Waiting for the finish also! Good idea checking temps throughout your smoker

Ryan

 

[Ackmack78]

12 hours in & the IT is 160, it's gonna be a slow one. Time to crank that sucker up to 250. The bark is setting nicely, top is still a little soft but this smoker runs moist & takes a little longer to set the bark.

 

[Ackmack78]

Just finished at 4pm. It was a long one 19.25 hours. Pulled it from the smoker, wrapped it in butcher paper and into the cooler it goes for 1.5 hours. Definitely got some bark on this son of a gun.
When I pulled it almost all of it was like butter. One small part was tender but not butta, I figured the carryover would do the work, it probed 198* anyways. I didn't want to risk drying the the rest of it out, it was a really lean cut.
This thing looks like charcoal lol

 

[tallbm]

Just finished at 4pm. It was a long one 19.25 hours. Pulled it from the smoker, wrapped it in butcher paper and into the cooler it goes for 1.5 hours. Definitely got some bark on this son of a gun.
When I pulled it almost all of it was like butter. One small part was tender but not butta, I figured the carryover would do the work, it probed 198* anyways. I didn't want to risk drying the the rest of it out, it was a really lean cut.
This thing looks like charcoal lol
View attachment 482725

It looks good from here!

This is a good smoke to do especially before tackling a whole packer brisket.

The way you described this particular cut you had was more like a brisket flat or a chuck roast.
I too run an electric (MES40) and they keep moisture in nicely so no need for a water pan and such. However when it comes to a chuck roast I wrap in foil around 180-190F with about 2oz of water/liquid splashed in and I let it go to shredding temp of like 205-208F internal temp (IT).

I've never done a brisket flat but I would do it the same way.
I bring all this up because it may be helpful info for your tweaks should there need to be any.
I'm a huge fan of running unwrapped the whole time or as long as the meat will allow me to without drying out. It seems like you and I are in the same boat.

Let us know how it turns out! :)

 

[Ackmack78]

So the meat turned out good, the parts that were good we're really good. If the whole thing had turned out like that I would have been very happy.
There was no slicing. It all ended up pulled, it was just coming apart trying to slice.
Thee center was very moist with a strong beef flavor. That part was a big hit and delicious.
The outer areas ended up dry, I don't think the carryover in the cooler helped either, I know some of the outer edges probed 210* when I pulled it out of the smoker. If I had a do over, I think I would have pulled it out sooner probably when the center was 195*.

I picked up two of these so I will be doing it again. Next time I'm going to try it like a wrapped brisket and wrap at ~160* with a little liquid.
This center was great, moist and pulled like butter

And the not so good, you can see where it's dry around the edges,. They sacrificed so the middle could live lol

 

[tallbm]

Great description and pics.
What you describe is what happens to big cuts of beef that are lean like a chuck roast or a brisket flat (not whole packer).
So I think wrapping is going to be a mandatory for you with this cut being so lean.

Feel free to try 160F for wrap but I would also encourage you to evaluate and see what it looks like and what the bark looks like at that point. If you needs to go longer then feel free to let it go longer and wrap later.
This would get you the best of all worlds :)