Leaner cuts of meat


 
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Willy T.

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What's the best way to keep your leaner cuts of meat from drying out during smoking?Like your beef roast and even venison that doesn't have that much marbling or fat.I know on your porklions you pull at a lower temp.Seems like when you pull beef at lower temp. there're a little on the tough side.
Just Curious,
Willy T.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Willy T.:
[qb]What's the best way to keep your leaner cuts of meat from drying out during smoking?Like your beef roast and even venison that doesn't have that much marbling or fat.I know on your porklions you pull at a lower temp.Seems like when you pull beef at lower temp. there're a little on the tough side.
[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't know about venison. But, in general, lean cuts of beef (standing rib roast) and pork (center cut loin roast, etc.) are usually roasted faster at higher temperatures like 325 degrees. It's the tough cuts that benefit from low and slow cooking.

I don't think you'll ever get a lean roast beef or pork roast to "pull". It's just not the texture of those cuts of meat because they aren't from areas of the beast that have large, developed muscles. If you over cook them, they just get tough.
 
Yes, low and slow doesn't really work very well for lean cuts. You can cover the roast with strips of bacon to help keep it from drying out. Some marinades help with this too. Or even rub down the meat with lard or olive oil. The bacon works better though because it is kind of "time released". The fat gradually melts away.
 
lean cuts need to be pulled at lower temps,
IE: top sirloin roast can be cooked a 250?
but you need to pull at 125 to 140? internal.
IE: mopping is a good technique to moisture levels where they need to be.
Jim
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jim Minion:
[qb]lean cuts need to be pulled at lower temps,
IE: top sirloin roast can be cooked a 250?
but you need to pull at 125 to 140? internal.
[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Same deal with a pork loin roast. They are terrific pulled off the grill at 155 degrees and served at 160 to 165 degrees. Let 'em go up to 180 and they turn into dry shoe leather.

Then, there are the weird cuts like a flank steak. You either have to cook these fast, hot, and rare or cook them slow, low and moist until they fall apart. Anything, in between is terrible.
 
By going up on the heat how much smoke penetration will the meat take?Some folks in my family have to have there meat on the 160 deg.plus side.I guess you could pull it off the smoker and finish it off in a oven like grandma used to do.Wonder if injecting would help?
Thanks for the help,
Willy T.
 
160? will be tough. Smoke penetration is not what happens, smokering is closer to ham in
flavor than smoke. You can continue to add smoke flavor to outside of the meat but it does not penetrate much.
If your cooking a large lean roast start at a higher temp and cut it down to 250?, this will give you well slices on the outside of the roast with degree of rare to med throughout the rest of the roast, and not dry out as bad.
Jim
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Willy T.:
[qb]Some folks in my family have to have there meat on the 160 deg.plus side.
[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Just serve 'em the end pieces. Or cook the beef roast to a temp of about 130 degrees in the middle for the rare - medium rare eaters. Anybody who wants their slice a little more done, just throw it on direct heat coals and finish it off by grilling it for a minute or two more.

It's a heck of a lot easier to take something from rare to well done than vice versa!

When I cook a pork loin roast, I intentionally leave the center portion just a smidgeon shy of being fully cooked to perfection. We eat off both ends the first night. Then, for a quick leftover meal, I slice up the middle portion into half or three-quarter inch slices and sear them over a very hot cast iron grill on the stove for a minute or two. The slices get heated up and fully cooked, they get pretty "grill marks", and they have all the smoke flavor and outside crust from being cooked over charcoal in the first place.

You can buy whole center cut pork loin roasts on sale for $1.99 pound. I get the butcher to carve up each 10 pounder into three hunks. Each hunk serves three of us twice.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Willy T.:
[qb]By going up on the heat how much smoke penetration will the meat take?[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This may be sacriligeous or whatever, but, in my opinion, the goal of bbq'ing is NOT to see how much smoke you can blast the meat with. In fact, less is more when it comes to smoke...a little goes a long way.

A lot of old-timers tell you that you should NEVER use raw wood to produce smoke except maybe for something like a pork chop that is only going to cook for a short period of time. Anything that is going to cook for an hour or more is going to get plenty of bbq flavor from the coals themselves, with little or no need to intentionally produce extra smoke by burning raw wood.

I have found, over many years, that pouring on the smoke just produces a heavy, bitter tasting piece of meat. I use a little wood when I put the meat on to cook, but not much and I don't generally replenish it.

I think that too much wood smoke is a far, far more common error than not enough.
 
Thanks for the helpful tips.I will have to try these tips out the next time I do a leaner cut of meat.
Willy T.
 
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