Experiment: Round Sirloin Tip, Gourmet Charcoal, RBP Rub...hoping for Pulled Beef- Q-view

[forluvofsmoke]

I had this notion about...OK, craving for some pulled beef yesterday. I was tossing the idea of parting-out and trimming this bad boy to cure/smoke/dry into jerky, but then, I have 2 Bottom Rounds weighing in @ 10lbs which I figured would fit the bill for that project.

Anyway, I was looking over this cut, and not having had the opportunity to smoke 'em but once or twice, and being it has some serious connective tissues (being the tip), and some inter-muscular fat, marbling and a bit of a fat cap, I thought I'd give pulling a try this time.

I've been thawing this critter for several days, and had to toss it into a cold water bath after I got home from work at about 11:00 pm last-night to get it up to temp a bit more.

It's definitely not the prettiest cut of beef I've ever smoked, but I intend to make all the nasties disappear before this is over:

No-salt Red Bell Pepper Rub:

Into the Gourmet wit Kingsford Blue, hickory, wet pan and a wet drip pan...I want to get all the goodness from this baby that I can get:

I've been having to babysit the fire with this smoke just as most of them, but when I fired up the coals a couple hours after midnight, the ambient temps were dipping into the lower 40's, winds are variable at about 15 MPH, but my shelter is stopping most of it, and the humidity is near 100% with forecast for fog in the morning...I can already smell it in the air.

Anyway, mid-smoke, I decided another down and dirty mod was in order so I could more easily monitor grate temps...I now can stab a long stem fryer therm or my digi-probe under the top grate to get a decent reading of the true chamber temps. It seems I've had a few smokes take much longer than they should have, and now I know why...I was running about 30* cooler than my probe readings directly on the grate towards the outer 2-3" than I was directly under the meat.

Well, back to the fire and smoke....only been in for a few hours, so the finish will be in about 14 more hours I'm guessing...that is, if I can keep temps up.

Catch ya on the rebound!

Thanks!

Eric

 

[watlow]

Looks great from here looking, forward to the rebound. LOL

 

[Bearcarver]

Boy am I glad I got here in time for a front row, center seat for this one!!!

Looks like Eric moved to about the 20 yd line, and called his first time out!

Bear

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Looks great from here looking, forward to the rebound. LOL

Thanks, I got my fire lined out...I have a hole cut all the way through the ash pan above the stock intake hole, and I forgot I put a plug into it when I was doing some prep and testing just before the smoke 

. Temps were running anywhere from 190-210* for 3 or 4 hours, and after I removed the drum from the fire pan and dug through an inch and a half of ashes (yeah, from a couple hours with Kingsford 

) and removed the plug, I was able to hit 270* under the grate and dial the intake control mod back half-way to run ~240*. She'll cook right along with the best of 'em now and even handle a 300* yard-bird smoke

 

Boy am I glad I got here in time for a front row, center seat for this one!!!

Looks like Eric moved to about the 20 yd line, and called his first time out!

Bear

LOL!!!! Thanks Bear, I'm already heading into cruise-mode with this smoke...now that I figured out why my temps weren't up to par.

I stabbed an analog thermometer into the beast through my top vent mod at 4.75 hours in and hit 125*...it's not 100% accurate, as it was calibrated to 204* (water boil temp @ my elevation of 4,900 ft), but it'll give me a good baseline until later when I pull some old foil off my probe cable...it's wrapped so thick that it plugs off half of my exhaust vent right now. I need to drill another hole just below the grate which is larger enough to fit a foiled probe cable and then I'll be in better shape for awile ('til I find something else I want to make better).
 

I must have wanted a good challenge anyway, being I fired up the Brinky instead of going the easy route with a gasser...the Smoke Vault is almost too easy since I did a couple simple mods to it within a week or so after it's maiden voyage.

Anyway, here's @ 125* I/T, after I defogged my camera lens a couple times (the coal bed is so close to the water pan with my cast iron grate mod that I get tons of steam...goes through about 1/2 gallon of water/hour @ ~200*):

I got a quick shot of 2 sides once I got the digi-cam lens cleared up:

Steam is just rolling off the meat once the cover is off long enough for the upper chamber heat to dissipate a bit:

I have to keep my camera battery indoors, or put in my front pants pocket so it stays warm enough to operate, or else I get a low battery indication...didn't think it was that cold out, but.......

Back later!

Thaks all!

Eric

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Another stall from hell.........LOL!!!!!!!

12.5 hours into the smoke, and it's @ 158*.

Apparently, I had a couple temp spikes which really darkened the crust...even the remains of the rub on the grate from shrinkage is pretty much blackened:

Tic-toc, tic-toc....

Eirc

 

[forluvofsmoke]

I decided to pan it up @ 160* I/T...this thing was taking forever and a day to hit finish temps.

I did learn one valuable lesson with the Gourmet today regarding square or rectangular steam/drip pans: for some reason, the temps didn't seem to want to get up where I needed, and once I moved the pan from over the water pan to the top grate with the meat inside, temps went nutz. I had to close off my side intake completely and close my bottom center intake to about 25% to get it below 290*. Some wild thermodynamics going on there, or possibly just a baffling effect from the steam pan, slowing everything down to the point where the fire just couldn't breath. I just wish I'd known this before I started this long smoke, as I would have left out the drip pan during the smoke.

Drippings, without the flash:

And, with the flash:

Into the foiled pan for a soak to bring it up to finish...I'd like to see this come out @ 195* or better, and time is running short. I told thewife dinner should be ready by 7:00, and it's4:30 now...I may need 4-5 hours before it gets a rest so I can pull it. We'll see how that shakes out shortly.

Back with the pull soon, I hope.

Eric

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Well, I have satisfied my curiosity, and all our bellies. There wasn't much connective tissues left to worry about when I pulled it, as most of it was gelatinized. Oh, the no-salt RBP Rub was a nice match with the sharpness of the hickory smoke.

OK, this is just about right on time for an hour resting...it worked out nicely for dinner (that's 16:08 on the timer):

I collected and degreased the drippings, which yeilded about 2.5 cups, and tossed it in for the finish...and that's a rap, folks:

There ya go! It can be done...so go getcha some beef! LOL!!!!!!

I'm thinking about doing eyelid inspections shortly, as I've sitting with the Gourmet pretty much the whole smoke after getting home pretty late last-night...hmm, started prep @ about 1:00 am and sat down to eat it @ 7:45 pm...yep, I need sleep.

Nite all, and have yourselves a beautiful weekend of smoking!

Eric

 

[watlow]

I was worried about havent heard from you in a while but its all clear now and it sure looks great. Nice job!! it was worth the wait and boy am I hungry now

 

[Bearcarver]

Awesome as usual Eric ! 

Thanks,

Bear

 

[mballi3011]

Now I have a few questions there Eric. When you wake maybe you can answer them for me. Didn't the meat dry out??? I have done many sirloin tips but I take them to only 135° and then it comes out nice a rare for sandiwiches. Now that is a pretty solid hunk of meat with hardly any fat to them so I personally think that it would turn into jerky when you get it to maybe 195-200 or so. Now your pics do look pretty darn good and I have never done a tip that high thats why I'm asking theses questions. 

 

[forluvofsmoke]

I was worried about havent heard from you in a while but its all clear now and it sure looks great. Nice job!! it was worth the wait and boy am I hungry now

Thanks, yeah it was a longer smoke than it should have been...lesson learned for me on the Gourmet: don't use drip pans, just the stock water pan.


 

Awesome as usual Eric ! 

Thanks,

Bear

Thanks Bear, I wasn't sure how well this was going to come together 'til the end, but it went pretty well. When it was hanging for several hours into 150* range, I was literally pacing the deck starting to second guess my decision to go for the pulled beef, hoping the steam pan would do the trick to keep it moist. I had about 5 hours to change my mind, but I stuck with the plan and we're eating pulled beef...times like this make me glad that I can be so persistant.


 

Now I have a few questions there Eric. When you wake maybe you can answer them for me. Didn't the meat dry out??? I have done many sirloin tips but I take them to only 135° and then it comes out nice a rare for sandiwiches. Now that is a pretty solid hunk of meat with hardly any fat to them so I personally think that it would turn into jerky when you get it to maybe 195-200 or so. Now your pics do look pretty darn good and I have never done a tip that high thats why I'm asking theses questions. 

Hi Mark, there was a smaller muscle in the roast that did seem a bit dryer than the rest, and a bit harder to pull apart. There was a bit of marbling in this roast, so that helped. I'm sure that panning and tenting @ 160* was the key to keeping those valuable juices with the meat.

Your mention of not smoking a tip that high is spoken with wisdom. Typically, I wouldn't go over 140* (after having just one lean roast go dry), but I just had to see if there was anything to back up my theory about the foiling to steam and finish. Well, curiosity more than anything was the main reason, and pulled beef is a big hit around here. It does seem that for most any cut of meat that I smoke and then steam, it will get to a pullable (if not fall apart) texture with enough time at low enough temps in the cooker.
 

I did notice that the natural remaining moisture in the meat was slightly less than I would get with pork shoulders, though with the tossed in juices it was a close comparison. If I had been able to rest this large cut for several hours after reaching finish temps, I'm sure the results would have been even better.

Thanks all!

Eric