Weekend Success!

[ggnutsc]

This weekend marked the first time I tried any beef in the smoker since over a year ago when I had some less than desirable results. Needless to say I have asked some questions of some friends and read some advice on the forum here and decided to get r done. It's a pity I can't remember what kind of roast I used.... It was on sale, and I'd recognize it if I were in the store but the name escapes me

Here's what I did..... Any feedback and ideas are appreciated. If I can improve something I want to here about it....

Vaccuum marinated in balsamic vinigarette dressing overnite.

Placed in LP smoker using Hickory, apple, pear, and some mesquite smoked at 220 to 250 for about 3 hours.

Removed from smoker and double wrapped in HD foil placed in oven at 225 for 6 hours while trimming horses hooves and drinking a few cold ones.

Opened foil and found in great shape, pulled apart with a fork using almost no effort at all,

Fought off oldest son so there would be some meat left.

Placed in slow cooker and fridged it until following day, so we could have sandwiches for lunch during trail ride. (It was 58 deg here on Sat)

Everything turned out great... the weather, the food, the ride with the family.

Has anyone else used this kind of marinade and or are there any alternatives that I might want to consider trying next time?

 

[Dutch]

Greg, When I smoke beef roasts for sandwiches, I like to use a rub on mine. I use a pork rub recipe that I follow and for use on beef I omit the cumin. Slather the roast with yellow mustard and sprinkle liberally with the rub. The I pretty much let it smoke in a 230-250 deg. smoker for 3-4 hours and then wrap in HD aluminum foil and add about 1/2 cup of low sodium beef stock before closing the foil. Back into the smoker kicked up to 250 and let it go for another couple of hours or until the internal temp reaches 190 deg. Just before the roast is ready to come out of the smoker I like to thin slice a couple of onions and some bell peppers and saute them in a fry pan and then make up some homemade sweet and sour sauce. When the roast is shredded, the sauteed onions and bell peppers are added and served on a Kaiser roll. Folks add their own sweet and sour sauce as some likes a lot and some hardly add a squirt.

The Bride has all my cookbooks and recipes packed away for the big move so when things have settled and been unpacked, I post my sweet and sour sauce for you.

 

[ggnutsc]

Dutch,
That does sound good! I'm a sucker for onions and bell peppers, sauteed like a fajita!! I don't think I was prepared for what I got or I might have tried to add some stuff to it. As it was I was real happy with the flavor I got with the dressing. My oldest son refused any offer of sauce to use on his sandwiches..... But your idea would have topped them off in fine fashion.

I didn't mention it in my first post but I also cooked a small portion of beef ribs at the same time this roast was in the smoker... I used mustard (for the first time) on them covered by my own rib rub. I can see the value in using the mustard.... but I vac packed the ribs the nite before too so I'm not sure that it was necessary to use the mustard in a case like that since there was no real need to hold the rub in place.... What's your thoughts on this?

 

[Dutch]

Using mustard and rub over night on ribs is a personal thing. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't. I find that when I do the over night thing the meat is a bit more flavorful. Also I sprinkle more rub on the meat before it goes into the smoker. The mustard allows the rub to adhere to the meat and in the cooking phase, the mustard taste neutralizes and you don't taste it in the final produce.

As far as vac sealing, I would just sprinkle the rub on the meat then vac seal and the next day remove the meat from the plastic, slather with yellow mustard and sprinkle with the rub while you're waiting for the smoker temps to equallize.