Pulled Beef Blade Roast, pics

[Shawn W]

I did an overnighter with some bone-in beef blade roasts, an 8lb and a 6.5lb, with clay saucer, foil balls and foiled pan. 3 bottom vents open 100%, 1 top vent open 100%, one open 50% hit a dome temp of 293ºF within an hour (used about 30 lit to start with, Royal Oak Plus briqs). Left one top open 100%, 3 bottom vents open 50%, went to bed. 6 hours later I had a dome temp of 270ºF. 4 hours after that the charcoal was pretty much spent so, double foiled the beef and in the oven. After 4 hours in the oven the meat was willing to pull. Rested for 2 hours then pulled it.

It was hands down my best pulled beef yet, so moist and tender, it pulled as nice as any pork I've done too.

The meat was bone in blade roast, there were two types to choose from: bone in the middle and 'bone on the edge'. I chose two 'bone on the edge' roasts. If we could identify this cut more specificaly than blade roast that would be great becuase I highly recommend it for pulled beef. I included a picture of the bones that came out below.

Number one biggest difference this cook: I checked for tender after it had been in the oven 1 hour. It was not pulling, I got a temp reading of 205º, but I didn't care. It needed a lot more time. Dropped temp to 225ºF came back and checked it in 3 hours and it felt great. Didn't take a final temp (almost wish I had now). It pulled like a dream after a 2 hour rest.

Rubbed with my ancho rub (mix of fresh ground chiles this time):

For Bryan

:

Falling apart as I try to take it out of the foil:

Pulled, soup bones and scrap, reserved foil liquid:

Recognize these?:

 

[Shawn W]

It was hands down my best pulled beef yet, so moist and tender, it pulled as nice as any pork I've done too.

I think it's a good bet the higher temp contributed a lot to this cook. Previously, I'd buy 20 - 25 lb whole boneless blade, and try to keep the heat up all cook but run my usual 215ºF for large portions (225ºF being acceptible, +/- 10º).

This time no water instead of a full Brinkmann pan. Ambient temp was between 30ºF and 40ºF overnight and I managed a dome temp of at least 270º for a good 9 hours.

At the lower temp I would go 18+ hours, by comparison I'm certain the meat was drying out before it got tender. Lastly, I was so focused on temps if it didn't dry out it may not have had enough time to get tender. I remember the first couple beef being very difficult to pull, it took hours.

Anyway, higher heat and ignoring meat temps made this an awesome cook. If you've been discouraged with your pulled beef results give it a try like this.

 

[Bryan S]

Thanks for the money shot pic Bud, that looks awsome. Nothing like good BBQ Beef to excite the taste buds. Job well done there Shawn.

 

[Toby Keil]

Yum...yumm...yummmm.yummmmm!

 

[r benash]

That looks really tasty Shawn. Haven't tried pulled beef yet on the WSM - your pics give me new incentive!

 

[Shawn W]

Thanks Ray. Pulled pork - pulled beef reminds me a lot of white wine - red wine. A lot of people start out drinking white wine, but shift to red wine for the more complex, satisfying flavors.

 

[Shawn W]

The wine analogy may or may not work for ya, but I can say pulled beef took a little getting used to. I complained at first about how 'greasy', fatty the pulled beef was (to the point where I'd steam it to reheat and drive off some fat), but after a few trys my wife and I both preferred pulled beef to pulled pork. Not to say we don't enjoy pulled pork and pulled pork is often half the price for me when I get picnics for $0.99/lb.

 

[K Kruger]

If we could identify this cut more specificaly than blade roast that would be great becuase I highly recommend it for pulled beef.

Maybe not in Canada, not sure, but in the U.S. a blade roast is a blade roast, i.e., it is a standard cut.

The finish looks great.

 

[Bryan S]

Originally posted by K Kruger:
but in the U.S. a blade roast is a blade roast, i.e., it is a standard cut.

Kevin, I've never seen this cut here in PA. It's a cut off the shoulder/chuck?, but never seen a "Blade Roast" in beef, pork yes.

 

[LarryR]

This cut is on sale here this week for $1.69 a lb. I'm doing two butts tomorrow night, think I'll pick one up and throw it on too. Looks fantastic.

 

[Shawn W]

Originally posted by Bryan S:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
but in the U.S. a blade roast is a blade roast, i.e., it is a standard cut.

Kevin, I've never seen this cut here in PA. It's a cut off the shoulder/chuck?, but never seen a "Blade Roast" in beef, pork yes. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Hey Bryan, in looking at two of Chris's meat charts I'd say they are 7-bone pot roasts. They really look like that. I got a couple more and have some pics, but I don't have time to post them tonight.

 

[K Kruger]

Bryan-- They are standard cuts--but that does not mean you will see them around. (I do, Larry obviously does, but it can be a crap shoot.) Here's why:

Chuck primal is a PITA for many 'butchers' to cut--so they don't. They order cases of cuts they want--or that the packer offers. (All packers offer blade roasts but that doesn't mean the buyer orders them or has access.) It is far easier to simply cross-cut a chuck (which is why 7-bone roasts are ubiquitous, inferior as they may be) than to actually do the work of separating the muscles. With rounds (another large primal) it is practically a no-brainer. The top separates easily from the bottom; the knuckle separates easily from those and from the eye. Not so with the chuck which has more muscles, more fat seams, more need for time-consuming (and/or intellgent) butchering.

Blade roasts come from above or below the shoulder blade. The largest (the underblades) are the top part of a chuck roll.

 

[Bryan S]

Thanks K, I've seen the vertabre bones in my chuch rolls. Guess it's the top cut off the roll. Easier and cheaper for me to get a whole roll for $1.99 lb. at BJ's. Thanks for the info.