Had some family over this weekend and decided to try out the smoker for the first time really. I'd seasoned it and done a quick pork roast a couple months ago but I'm not really counting that.
Just immediate family and somewhat short notice, went to the local butcher the morning of and just grabbed the only thing they had that wasn't a steak... a boneless rump roast, about 3.5lb. No time for elaborate marinades etc.
Mostly used charcoal for heat, but I did have a bag of mesquite chips on hand, so we got a little wood in there. Need to find big bags of chunks for the future, but sometimes you work with whatcha got.
Kept heat as indicated by lid-gauge at 200-250, and about 3 hours total to bring it to 150 internal. I did not sear the roast before smoking, I did "crosshatch" the fat and had fat side up. Wrapped in foil and put in a cooler, while cooking some burgers & hotdogs for the kids; maybe 30 min total.
The Good:
It looked and smelled absolutely spectacular. Outstanding smoke ring, caramelized outside, great crispy "bark". The actual flavor was quite good too. All said and done we had 3 small slices leftover, so the size was pretty much perfect.
The Bad:
We usually go for medium-rare/medium cooked beef in my family. Somehow I had in my mind that medium rare beef was 145, so I cooked to 150, then did a quick sear on the gas side of my combo.. Well apparently 150 is actually well done, so it was more cooked than I would have liked, and was just a little tough and dry. I also have a feeling a rump roast isn't the best choice for this.
So the final verdict was everyone enjoyed it, and overall I think it was an acceptable first effort but with lots of room for improvement. I'm going to try to source a better hunk of meat next time (really like tri-tip).
What obvious things did I screw up based on above observations?
Just immediate family and somewhat short notice, went to the local butcher the morning of and just grabbed the only thing they had that wasn't a steak... a boneless rump roast, about 3.5lb. No time for elaborate marinades etc.
Mostly used charcoal for heat, but I did have a bag of mesquite chips on hand, so we got a little wood in there. Need to find big bags of chunks for the future, but sometimes you work with whatcha got.
Kept heat as indicated by lid-gauge at 200-250, and about 3 hours total to bring it to 150 internal. I did not sear the roast before smoking, I did "crosshatch" the fat and had fat side up. Wrapped in foil and put in a cooler, while cooking some burgers & hotdogs for the kids; maybe 30 min total.
The Good:
It looked and smelled absolutely spectacular. Outstanding smoke ring, caramelized outside, great crispy "bark". The actual flavor was quite good too. All said and done we had 3 small slices leftover, so the size was pretty much perfect.
The Bad:
We usually go for medium-rare/medium cooked beef in my family. Somehow I had in my mind that medium rare beef was 145, so I cooked to 150, then did a quick sear on the gas side of my combo.. Well apparently 150 is actually well done, so it was more cooked than I would have liked, and was just a little tough and dry. I also have a feeling a rump roast isn't the best choice for this.
So the final verdict was everyone enjoyed it, and overall I think it was an acceptable first effort but with lots of room for improvement. I'm going to try to source a better hunk of meat next time (really like tri-tip).
What obvious things did I screw up based on above observations?
