- Aug 27, 2008
- 5,170
- 409
Hey All! I finally got a chance to do another smoke for Sunday dinner. My oldest daughter is home for the weekend from college and my oldest son and wife will be joining us as well, so I'll get to spread my smoke around a bit today. I had a top round thawing for several days in my Q-Fridge...it had quite a bit of purge from the thaw, for some strange reason. I decided last night to do the dry rub and leave it in a covered dish overnight. It didn't purge any more liquids overnight, other than what the salt from the dry rub had drawn out, so it was probably a good thing to dry rub before the smoke or I may not have gotten very good adhering without a wet aid, which I don't generally use.
I winged it again on dry rub, just for giggles, but the ingredients are probably very similar to a few I've used in the past, with variations in quantities being the biggest change. I wanted something familiar, but with a coarser grind and ingredients which will push bark development a bit more than usual without added fats. With the leaner cut of beef round, my brisket rubs which seem to pull everything together with with more fat and callogen may not accomplish what I'm after today. Also, the round will cook for much less time with the lower finished temps, so I want the bark to develop quite a bit more quickly. The dry smoke chamber will also aid in forming the bark more quickly, and as a result, will retain more natural moisture in the meat. Here's what I came up with:
3 Tbsp tart cherries, dried, med/fine ground
3 Tbsp red bell pepper, diced and dried, very coarse to medium/coarse ground
3 Tbsp Onion, dried, chopped, very coarse to med/fine ground (widely varying particle sizes)
2 Tbsp garlic, dried, minced
2 Tbsp black peppercorn, med/fine ground
2 Tbsp Rosemary leaves, med/fine ground
1 Tbsp Thyme, med/fine ground
1 Tbsp Paprika, Spanish
1/2 Tbsp Chili powder
1/2 tsp Cumin, ground
2 Tbsp kosher salt
Just out of the fridge and ready for some cherry and pecan smoke in the Smoke Vault 24, with pea gravel in the water pan and a foil liner on top of the gravel to catch drippings:
Just in @ 240*, 42* ambient and 72% humidity with 30% chance of rain...looks puny now that's in the Vault, but the large grate size and cabinet space can add quite a bit of deception:
The plans is to probe after 2-3 hours and take to 145-150* I/T (we don't like rare, or 140* would do) and rest for 30 minutes or so, just until I/T starts dropping off about 5-7* while elevated on a grate and covered with a towel to preserve the bark, then slice cross-grain as thin as the bark will allow...a serrated knife will most likely be in order for this one. If the bark is really heavy and hard, I may be forced into slicing this into thin wedges instead of a relatively uniform thickness...we'll see how it works out like come slicing time.
Just getting this up and started so those interested in more details on the dry smoke chamber method can catch this round before it's finished and buried in the archives...these forums are wickedly fast-paced nowadays...more to follow as it develops.
Eric
I winged it again on dry rub, just for giggles, but the ingredients are probably very similar to a few I've used in the past, with variations in quantities being the biggest change. I wanted something familiar, but with a coarser grind and ingredients which will push bark development a bit more than usual without added fats. With the leaner cut of beef round, my brisket rubs which seem to pull everything together with with more fat and callogen may not accomplish what I'm after today. Also, the round will cook for much less time with the lower finished temps, so I want the bark to develop quite a bit more quickly. The dry smoke chamber will also aid in forming the bark more quickly, and as a result, will retain more natural moisture in the meat. Here's what I came up with:
3 Tbsp tart cherries, dried, med/fine ground
3 Tbsp red bell pepper, diced and dried, very coarse to medium/coarse ground
3 Tbsp Onion, dried, chopped, very coarse to med/fine ground (widely varying particle sizes)
2 Tbsp garlic, dried, minced
2 Tbsp black peppercorn, med/fine ground
2 Tbsp Rosemary leaves, med/fine ground
1 Tbsp Thyme, med/fine ground
1 Tbsp Paprika, Spanish
1/2 Tbsp Chili powder
1/2 tsp Cumin, ground
2 Tbsp kosher salt
Just out of the fridge and ready for some cherry and pecan smoke in the Smoke Vault 24, with pea gravel in the water pan and a foil liner on top of the gravel to catch drippings:
Just in @ 240*, 42* ambient and 72% humidity with 30% chance of rain...looks puny now that's in the Vault, but the large grate size and cabinet space can add quite a bit of deception:
The plans is to probe after 2-3 hours and take to 145-150* I/T (we don't like rare, or 140* would do) and rest for 30 minutes or so, just until I/T starts dropping off about 5-7* while elevated on a grate and covered with a towel to preserve the bark, then slice cross-grain as thin as the bark will allow...a serrated knife will most likely be in order for this one. If the bark is really heavy and hard, I may be forced into slicing this into thin wedges instead of a relatively uniform thickness...we'll see how it works out like come slicing time.
Just getting this up and started so those interested in more details on the dry smoke chamber method can catch this round before it's finished and buried in the archives...these forums are wickedly fast-paced nowadays...more to follow as it develops.
Eric
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