Meat Recommendations

Depending on what can be purchased at the best price,you could consider bottom round,cooked to about 135º,thinly sliced.

Folks out in the beef belt, if doing sliced for serving lines,and many of the Fl chains do this, as their beef offering.

Top round ,if the price was right.

The yield is better than many other products, and the cooking time is less.

They tend to cook on propane,as well.

Chopped/pulled ,folks might use shoulder rolls,or clods.

Thanks for the advice Tom.

I don't think price will be an issue, just looking for a recommendation for a flavorful cut that doesn't dry out too much, even if cooked low & slow.

Thanks again!

MAC

If slicing,you'll probably need to think about holding it in weak,low salt beef broth,or au jus.

The chuck has more internal moisture,and might hold better.

Cooks better low and slow.

More of it lends itself to chopping/pulling,though.

I did a wedding this past weekend for 160 people. 45 lbs of pulled/chopped beef eye round and 30 lbs of smoked chicken breasts. Loss on beef was under 15%. Saw some blue hairs come back 3 times for their samich. All prepared on an 050, and then warmed up on site in the 050.

Bob

Well the big weekend is here. I have 7 choice top rounds ranging from 20 - 28 lbs. I was planning on smoking at around 225 & taking them up to around 135 F. Anybody have a rough estimate on how long it will take.

You don't say anything about what smoker you have or what temp you intend to cook at...

Assuming 225, I would:

1) Allow for 3 to 5 hours. 3 would probably do it.

2) If you want 135 as the doneness point, then take them out at around 125 because they will increase in temp after you take them out.

3) Wrap and foil in juice and do the cooler thing if the timing is early.

quote:

Originally posted by Qnorth:
You don't say anything about what smoker you have or what temp you intend to cook at...

Assuming 225, I would:

1) Allow for 3 to 5 hours. 3 would probably do it.

2) If you want 135 as the doneness point, then take them out at around 125 because they will increase in temp after you take them out.

3) Wrap and foil in juice and do the cooler thing if the timing is early.

In my original post I mention it's a propane smoker (Big Tank style) & in the post just before yours, I mention I was shooting for 225.

3 - 5 hours at 225 for a 20 lb roast? Sure seems fast to me in comparison to smoking a butt roast. Am I off base here? I was thinking 10 - 15 hours minimum.

Ohhhh.... you said 7 top rounds at 28 lbs and I assumed you were talking total weight. === about 4 lbs each.

Never seen a chunk of round that big.

I'm thinking cut them in half,or possibly thirds.

Net ,or tie them.

This is an old post from way back that folks had success with.

Posted March 08, 2004 06:54 AM Hide Post
Well,its not really my recipe for top round .

I think I borrowed it from Jim Minion and a couple of others.

Around 8-10 lbs is what we like.

We cook at around 235� to an internal of 130�+/-.

I rub with worchestershire sauce and sprinkle with a Montreal Steak type rub.

About every hour I mop with one of the thinner,less sugared,whiskey flavored sauces.

Seems like it takes around 15-20 mins/lb to hit 130�.

Slice thin across the grain.

Hope this helps a little.

Didn't see Tom's post until after the church feed so here's what I did.

Used a dry rub on roasts, left them whole, placed in smoker with the fat side up. Started them at 7 PM. Smoked at around 200 degrees until they reached around 100 degrees internal then lowered temp to 140 degrees. This was about 12:30 AM. At 7 AM roast were 136 degrees internal temp. Left in smoker until 10 am & then bumped temp up to around 200 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Meat was excellent! Probably would have cooked quicker had I used Toms advice & probably would have been easier to cut.

Thanks for everybodys help!

Thanks for posting the results.

Now folks have another reference to search for.