Smoke'n Sear Roastbeef


 
Jonas-Switzerland

Jonas-Switzerland

TVWBB Super Fan
A while ago I smoked a lean cut of beef. I did not have my WSM yet, so I smoked on the cheap chinese smoker and gave it a final sear on the gasser.

I wanted to smoke at 225F, bit it decided to do 300F. Oh well. When it reached my favorite core temp, the surface had developed a 'mini-bark'. It was very dry. I could not get a good sear going. I just burned the rub.

The smoked beef was so good despite the bad sear that I bought my WSM soon after. This weekend I wanna do a similar cook, and I am thinking about how I could get a good sear.

I don’t have time to try a sear over charcoal. I'm gonna use the gasser again. Do ai need to oil up the meat after smoke but before the sear?
 
Jonas-Switzerland said:
A while ago I smoked a lean cut of beef. I did not have my WSM yet, so I smoked on the cheap chinese smoker and gave it a final sear on the gasser.

I wanted to smoke at 225F, bit it decided to do 300F. Oh well. When it reached my favorite core temp, the surface had developed a 'mini-bark'. It was very dry. I could not get a good sear going. I just burned the rub.

The smoked beef was so good despite the bad sear that I bought my WSM soon after. This weekend I wanna do a similar cook, and I am thinking about how I could get a good sear.

I don’t have time to try a sear over charcoal. I'm gonna use the gasser again. Do ai need to oil up the meat after smoke but before the sear?
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I agree with Darryl. If you really wanted the sear you could remove the barrel of the wsm, lay the grates across the top of the ring, and sear fast. Depends how many coals you still have.
 
Tony Coloma said:
August first is approaching. Any plans? Brisket? Rosti?
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Not gonna be home. I stay in a hotel in the mountains though. Maybe we do a Raclette. Its more of a winter thing but we had a bad summer so far.

That's why I wanna do a roastbeef. We smoke it, cut it up, and enjoy our sandwiches the next day.

timothy said:
You could bard it or wrap with bacon.
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:LOL: Bacon is always an answer. To what question? Doesn't matter...

Tim Campbell said:
I agree with Darryl. If you really wanted the sear you could remove the barrel of the wsm, lay the grates across the top of the ring, and sear fast. Depends how many coals you still have.
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I fear this would be the best course of action. Like I said, I probably won't have the time though. The sear on the gasser was inconsequential I may as well just skip it.

I found a recipe which sears the beef in a pan afterwards. Also possible, but I probably would not use butter. https://girlcarnivore.com/ultimate-smoked-roast-beef/
 
I'd say skip the sear --- just smoke it in the WSM with water @225 and let the bark form.
I'm assuming you will be taking to ~140 or so internal? If you think it needs a sear at that point - pull it a bit before that temp --- let it rest to drop the IT 20 or more degrees and then give it a good hot sear on a gasser or oven or pan. Would also help if you brushed it with tallow or butter before hand (for the sear).
 
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Butter contains milk solids that will blacken and char.
It is also a better choice fat.
I would use butter........I would sear it in the pan with the fan running and a window open.
 
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Cook is done. Some stuff turned out good, some stuff did not. I write down my lessons learned for future roastbeef seekers.

To the original question: No need to sear, just do a good 48h dry brine.

What I wanted to achieve was some nice slices of roastbeef for Sandwiches. My old butcher did a fine roastbeef with some caked up marinade. It was wonderful.

So I did a dry brine, followed by an overnight marinade based on mustard.

IMG_20240727_144935.jpg

Uncovered in the fridhe, the marinade nicely caked up on the meat.

IMG_20240727_155242.jpg
About halfway there

IMG-20240727-WA0003.jpg

And the Final result. No sear necessary.

But not everything was great. I smoked with Pecan, which did not mesh well taste wise. Let's see how it tastes cold, but IMOit was too strong of a flavour that fought the mustard/garlic/pepper combo for dominance.
 
Yeah, I am one of those people who feel all a good piece of meat needs is salt, pepper, heat and smoke. Not into this dry brining and "corning" and other things. Hope for the best on this for you
 
LMichaels said:
Yeah, I am one of those people who feel all a good piece of meat needs is salt, pepper, heat and smoke. Not into this dry brining and "corning" and other things. Hope for the best on this for you
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Yeah, my thought is maybe Salt'n Pepper is all that you truly need with Pecan. And maybe a bit of sweetness? I maybe combine it with maple?

Anyways, brining was absolutely the right choice for sandwiches. Bread neutralizes a lot of tastes. The brine helped with having enough salt in every bite, and the pecan smoke vs Mustard/Pepper/Garlic fight died down when cold.

Just next time, I am going to cool the whole piece down with water before I cut it. Some pieces cooked slightly brown from the residual heat. Not by much. Not even by 1mm. Just enough to look brown on the outside.
 
I just really dislike beef that is brined. But hey it's why there is chocolate and vanilla. But I find it changes the texture of the meat into something I find very unpleasant. I don't mind it on poultry but on beef pork or lamb nope. Not my slice of meat. I'd rather just sprinkle a little salt on a roast beef sammich. And have the more pleasant texture.
 
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