Rusty Barton
TVWBB Pro
BBQ'ed Beef Bottom Round
I was at WalMart the other day and they had Beef bottom round roasts for $ 1.98 lb.
I bought a six pound bottom round and decided to bbq it. It was about 8 inches long, 6 inches wide and 4 inches thick. It had a 1/8 in thick fat layer on one side.
Reading threads in this website suggested that if you were reckless enough to try to bbq a bottom round in a WSM it should be bbq'ed at 250F like a brisket. From various posts, I gathered that it should be foiled at 160F internal with liquid added and removed from the WSM at 190F internal. Then rested in the foil 2 - 4 hours.
I rubbed A1 sauce all over the bottom round and coated it all over with Dr. BBQ's Big Time BBQ Rub I made from the cookbook (page 9). Placed the coated bottom round in a stainless steel mixing bowl, covered it with a lid and put it in the fridge for 24-hrs.
I started the cook at 9am. It was about 72F outside at the beginning and rose to 85F near the end of the cook, about 8 hours later. There was a slight breeze throughout the day.
I fired up the WSM with a full ring of Sam's Choice (WalMart) charcoal briquettes using the Minion method. I arranged the unlit briquettes in the WSM charcoal ring in a donut shape, leaving about a six inch empty well in the center. I filled the empty well with about 25-lit charcoal briquettes that were started in the Weber charcoal starter. I placed the lit briquettes individually using bbq tongs.
Now it was time to assemble the WSM.
I didn't use a water pan. The empty pan wasn't even in the WSM. Instead, I used a 16-inch terracotta plant saucer in its place. (Available
at WalMart for $ 8.50). I placed a shiny steel 15" pizza pan on top of the clay saucer to catch any drips and maybe deflect any radiant heat
away from the meat.
I assembled the bottom rack above the clay saucer/pizza pan (even though for this cook it would be empty).
I added the top rack and placed the bottom round roast, still cold from the fridge, in the center, fat side up.
I added about three fist sized soaked hickory chunks on top of the burning briquettes.
I used my Maverick 73, inserting the food probe deep into the center of the bottom round. I routed the food cable down and out the top left corner of the WSM side opening. Put the side door in place, with the knob at the bottom. This left enough room for the thermometer cable coming through the upper left corner of the door opening, without pinching it.
I put the top of the WSM in place and threaded the Maverick Smoker thermometer probe through a top vent hole. It was hanging about 2 or 3 inches inside the dome.
The bottom vent was open 100% throughout the cooking. I adjusted the three bottom vents each to about 33% open.
The WSM temperature rose to 255F in about 1/2 hour and stayed near there for 4 hours with no further adjustments.
When the bottom round roast internal temperature reached 160F (about five hours into the cook)
I opened the WSM lid, removed the food thermometer probe from the meat. I Wrapped two layers of foil around the meat, with the seam on top. Before sealing it I added 3/4 cup of beef broth. The foil was then folded over and sealed. I placed the foiled bottom round roast back in the center of the top rack and re-inserted the Maverick food temperature probe.
The WSM lid was replaced and the bottom vents were opened to about 50% each. The WSM temperature returned to around 250F.
The bottom round roast reached an internal temperature of 190F about 7-1/2 hours into the cook.
I removed it from the WSM and placed the foiled bottom round roast in a stainless steel mixing
bowl, added a lid and let it rest for 4-hours.
I sliced the bbq'ed bottom round roast into 1/8 in slices. The slices hold their shape and have a distinct pink smoke ring. The meat is tender (you can cut it with a fork) and can be pulled apart easily and shredded if desired. It's not as good as brisket and slightly drier, but not too dry. I would compare it to some tri-tip slices I recently had at a local bbq restaurant.
I'll be making this again.
Rusty
I was at WalMart the other day and they had Beef bottom round roasts for $ 1.98 lb.
I bought a six pound bottom round and decided to bbq it. It was about 8 inches long, 6 inches wide and 4 inches thick. It had a 1/8 in thick fat layer on one side.
Reading threads in this website suggested that if you were reckless enough to try to bbq a bottom round in a WSM it should be bbq'ed at 250F like a brisket. From various posts, I gathered that it should be foiled at 160F internal with liquid added and removed from the WSM at 190F internal. Then rested in the foil 2 - 4 hours.
I rubbed A1 sauce all over the bottom round and coated it all over with Dr. BBQ's Big Time BBQ Rub I made from the cookbook (page 9). Placed the coated bottom round in a stainless steel mixing bowl, covered it with a lid and put it in the fridge for 24-hrs.
I started the cook at 9am. It was about 72F outside at the beginning and rose to 85F near the end of the cook, about 8 hours later. There was a slight breeze throughout the day.
I fired up the WSM with a full ring of Sam's Choice (WalMart) charcoal briquettes using the Minion method. I arranged the unlit briquettes in the WSM charcoal ring in a donut shape, leaving about a six inch empty well in the center. I filled the empty well with about 25-lit charcoal briquettes that were started in the Weber charcoal starter. I placed the lit briquettes individually using bbq tongs.
Now it was time to assemble the WSM.
I didn't use a water pan. The empty pan wasn't even in the WSM. Instead, I used a 16-inch terracotta plant saucer in its place. (Available
at WalMart for $ 8.50). I placed a shiny steel 15" pizza pan on top of the clay saucer to catch any drips and maybe deflect any radiant heat
away from the meat.
I assembled the bottom rack above the clay saucer/pizza pan (even though for this cook it would be empty).
I added the top rack and placed the bottom round roast, still cold from the fridge, in the center, fat side up.
I added about three fist sized soaked hickory chunks on top of the burning briquettes.
I used my Maverick 73, inserting the food probe deep into the center of the bottom round. I routed the food cable down and out the top left corner of the WSM side opening. Put the side door in place, with the knob at the bottom. This left enough room for the thermometer cable coming through the upper left corner of the door opening, without pinching it.
I put the top of the WSM in place and threaded the Maverick Smoker thermometer probe through a top vent hole. It was hanging about 2 or 3 inches inside the dome.
The bottom vent was open 100% throughout the cooking. I adjusted the three bottom vents each to about 33% open.
The WSM temperature rose to 255F in about 1/2 hour and stayed near there for 4 hours with no further adjustments.
When the bottom round roast internal temperature reached 160F (about five hours into the cook)
I opened the WSM lid, removed the food thermometer probe from the meat. I Wrapped two layers of foil around the meat, with the seam on top. Before sealing it I added 3/4 cup of beef broth. The foil was then folded over and sealed. I placed the foiled bottom round roast back in the center of the top rack and re-inserted the Maverick food temperature probe.
The WSM lid was replaced and the bottom vents were opened to about 50% each. The WSM temperature returned to around 250F.
The bottom round roast reached an internal temperature of 190F about 7-1/2 hours into the cook.
I removed it from the WSM and placed the foiled bottom round roast in a stainless steel mixing
bowl, added a lid and let it rest for 4-hours.
I sliced the bbq'ed bottom round roast into 1/8 in slices. The slices hold their shape and have a distinct pink smoke ring. The meat is tender (you can cut it with a fork) and can be pulled apart easily and shredded if desired. It's not as good as brisket and slightly drier, but not too dry. I would compare it to some tri-tip slices I recently had at a local bbq restaurant.
I'll be making this again.
Rusty
