Smaller beef cuts in WSM?


 
M

Mary M

TVWBB Fan
You know how sometimes you want a brisket but you can't justify it without a big party? Yeah, me too. When you don't have a gaggle of people to feed, but you want beef, what beef cuts do you put on the WSM (other than meatloaf)?

My supermarket has had little weenie flat-only briskets lately (I guess for people to make corned beef? IHNC). I did one for a Super Bowl party and it came out much better than expected. Still, I don't see those too often. Anyone got other cuts that work for you?
 
I've done a small brisket before on my smoker and ended up having to pressure cook it to tenderness and it wasn't very good. That said, it was one of my first attempts so I may be able to pull off something edible now.

I would think that most other small beef cuts beside brisket would probably be better suited for hot and fast on a grill or something like that. I may be forgetting some cut though that I haven't thought of. I know I have seen pretty small beef tongues for sale at Walmart cryovac'ed, but most people probably wouldn't be down for eating that even though it has an amazing flavor and requires long slow cooking to be tender. Super fatty cut too, juicy isn't the word for it. Beef heart is another off cut that can be pretty small too. When trimmed they are usually around a pound. Would work well probably rolled up around a filling since it's usually splayed open from USDA inspecting. It takes either hot and fast or low and slow to be tender, so I bet a WSM would treat it right.

Then again, two cuts that most people probably wouldn't think of as economical, smaller cuts of meat.
 
I just did the recipe for Pepper Stout Beef, which the recipe calls for a 4.0lb chuck roast. I only had a 2.2 lb on hand in the freezer and it still worked well. I would think the initial smoking and then braising for this cut could be a blank slate for many recipes. In the end, the chuck is shredded and combined with veggies, juices, sauce, etc. so you could do almost anything. It tastes better next day (Just verified that today :0), and apparently freezes really well.
 
RC, I think you have a great idea with the beef tongue and heart! I like them both but haven't tried them on a WSM, but now that you've given me the idea I'm going to try them the first time I get a chance, and the beauty of it all is there is easily room for both at the same time! Another idea is to do a beef clod, the whole clod is a rather large piece of meat but you could easily cut it down to whatever size you want, and it doesn't have to have the temp brought up to as high of a finish temp as the brisket, but turns out great going low and slow.
 
Id go with the chuck roast using the pepper stout beef method. I find just foiling it for two hours then slicing it into chunks of beef instead of shredding it is the best.
 
Tri-tip does work great! Just make sure you pull it at around 130 -135 and let it rest for 15 minutes or so. Great flavor and it
takes smoke well. I have done several of them on my WSM and on my Performer. Either will work. Also agree that chuck
roast and beef short ribs are great too! You can't beat the pepper stout beef for pulled beef sammies.
 
Thanks Steve! Both of those cuts are economical no doubt, I think I got my last beef heart for $1.19 a pound, so the whole butterflied heart was like $1.50 and was enough to make three big sandwiches after trimming.

And your inspiring me further to put me a tongue on the smoker too man! I think a good long marinate then a good long smoke till it became tender, then peel the thing and slice and grill it to get some char! Not sure how the marinade would affect it since the outer membrane is pretty tough stuff, but can't hurt! I guess you could skin it before smoking it but I'm afraid it might dry out. That stuff is almost like butcher paper wrapped around it keeping steam in after it's done so it may work just like that in the smoker. Experiments experiments! Maybe Mary can get some ideas here.
 
A few others I buy when on sale.. Strip Loin, divide in half and use one for steaks and the other for the WSM, Sirloin roasts from the top or bottom, Beef round, top and bottom round, rump and my fave Beef Tenderloin:wsm:

Tim
 
What great ideas! I went to my butcher yesterday and said, "So, watcha got?" Answer: spoon roast! (huh?) Yes, spoon roast, apparently a cut often used for deli roast beef. Serious Eats raves about this slow cooked in the oven; I slow-cooked it in the WSM over applewood with my standard beef rub, which has cracked black pepper, kosher salt, maple sugar and granulated garlic. It is currently foiled and relaxing in a cooler in front of the woodstove. I'm off to the drinker to have a few cold ones and tell some sea stories and let the beef reach its pinnacle of smoky beefy goodness. Yet to be determined if this cut will want to be sliced or pulled, but whatever, it'll be tasty!
 
I regularly smoke roast smaller cuts of beef. My favorite of all is sort of a 'spoon roast' if you can call it that. Up here in New England, we get a cut out of the top butt primal called NY sirloin. My dad was a meat cutter back in his much younger days and it was and is still a great value. Nice and lean for the most part with a nice fat cap for that good beef flavor. Normally they cut these into 1 inch thick steaks for retail. Screw that. I usually ask them to cut out a hunk that is 3-4 inches thick minimum. Lemme get you some pics for example. This one was 5, but I cut off the naked strip along the top.
IMG_3338SMENH.jpg


All rubbed and ready for the WSM:
IMG_3346SMENH.jpg


first kiss of heat:
IMG_3353SMENH.jpg


Off the fire and resting in the pyrex:
IMG_3357SMENH2.jpg


After this, I didn't take pics. Damn shame because it cooked up medium rare. I got 2 big smoked steak sandwiches, plus the Mrs. got 2 hot lunches out of the leftovers form dinner. We also got a couple envious looks from our co workers.
 
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