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Hey, WessB - About your pitbeef...

highpress
highpress Posts: 694
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I'm going to try your pit beef that's on your website. I've got a top round roast about 4.5 lbs i think. I'm going to follow your setup and temps. Looks like you went direct normal grid? Is this the way your normally do it or have you made any changes? Do you make any kind of Au jus sauce or do you think there will be sauce once rested and sliced? thank you!

Comments

  • hey jimmy,

    i don't know if wess is around or not, but i've done a lot of pit beef as well and can probably answer the questions for you . . .

    yes, wess did his direct on normal grid, so like he says, you have to keep turning the beef often .. .you want it charred, but not burnt . . .it's a pretty quick cook ...and while that cut of meat would normally be pretty tough, you "fool" it into being tender by really thin slicing it ...you really want to 'shave' it with an electric slicer if you have one .. .if not, you need a really sharp knife so that you can slice it paper thin for a nice tender bite. .

    you don't make an au jus for pit beef .. .to the extent that you get any juice from the meat when its sliced you can certainly pour it over the sliced beef to add a little moistness, but the traditional way to serve it is with either horse radish sauce (horse radish mixed with mayo) ..or bbq sauce ...and raw onions . ...that is traditional maryland pit beef ...

    hope that helps .. .
  • Chubby
    Chubby Posts: 2,955
    To add one small thing to Max's answer...

    make sure you slice..(however you do it)...

    ACROSS the grain of the roast!

    Evans
    I spent most of my money on good bourbon, and bad women...the rest, I just wasted!!
  • good point chubster ...i kinda figured that was a given ...but an important point none the less ....again, you want to fool that tough hunk o cow into being as tender as possible ...

    thanks pal for the pick up :laugh:
  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
    Max gave you pretty much exactly what I would have said, I put bbq sauce on mine, Sally does the tradtional horseradish and onion...you're in for a treat cause pit beef is some really good eats...and as Max said, the thinner the slice the better, and we usually fight over all the charred bits of crust that end up on the slicer.....makin my stomach growl just talkin about it...Enjoy, and post a follow up afterwards...
  • ha, you guys are like us ...i like bbq sauce too, and my wife loads up on the horse radish .. .

    no fighting over the charred bits at our house cause my has no clue there are any there. ...heeeee
  • Chubby
    Chubby Posts: 2,955
    Let's just say I aim my posts to those who have IQ's closer to my own!!

    ;)

    Someone's gott'a feed'em!!

    Evans
    I spent most of my money on good bourbon, and bad women...the rest, I just wasted!!
  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
    Ok, thats all I can take, I'm going to the store for some beef and horseradish.
  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
    I prefer top round....not critical tho...
  • highpress
    highpress Posts: 694
    Thanks, yeah that is definately good info. I don't have an electric slicer, BUT, i did by a 12" Victorinox slicing knife from amazon that got rave reviews and i'm dieing to try. Hopefully that will do the trick. Thanks for the info again!
  • highpress
    highpress Posts: 694
    Chubby, is this easy to figure out AFTER it's cooked? I'm assuming once you cut into it it's pretty easy to see how the muscle fibers are running?
  • highpress
    highpress Posts: 694
    Thanks, i decided to bring my SBGE to the office maybe this friday for some pit beef. Hoping it'll be pretty good. Even though i'm close to baltimore, i don't think i've ever had a pit beef sandwich before. Least none that i can remember any time lately. I figure for such a quick cook this might be a nice little treat for our little office...
  • highpress
    highpress Posts: 694
    Then i feel lucky because Harris Teeter has Buy one get one free on Top Round Roasts. That sealed the deal on pit beef at the office...can't wait, you guys are getting me stoked!!
  • ViennaJack
    ViennaJack Posts: 357
    While not a component of traditional Maryland style pit beef you can get a VERY good Au Jus gravy by putting your roast in a large Ziplock bag (or just a covered bowl) after it's finished cooking, then chilling it in the fridge before slicing. A few hours later there will be a good amount of Au Jus in the bag/bowl, and chilling the roast will make it easier to get thin slices. The gravy needs nothing extra - it takes on the flavor of the smoke, meat and whatever rub was used quite well.

    I slice mine paper thin on an electric slicer then toss the slices with the Au Jus in a bowl or Ziplock before serving. Most of the time I either use a horseradish sauce or a simple meat sauce I make up from ketchup, mustard, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and spices.

    I lived in Essex MD during the 80s and drove a bucket truck all over eastern Baltimore County from Dundalk to US1 every day. Pit beef was what was for lunch, and the pit beef centers of the universe for me back then were little roadside shacks on Pulaski Highway (US40) and Eastern Avenue (MD 150). Just about every day I'd have an enormous pit beef sandwich served on a giant Kaiser roll for lunch, or a sandwich with pit beef and grilled Italian sausage served together. The pitmaster would slice (not very thinly) the meat right off the roast while it was sitting on the grill and just pile it high and bloody on the bread. I remember those stands like it was yesterday!

    Today you can still get pit beef on Pulaski Highway and Eastern Ave but the stands are a little bit more modern and some have converted to gas grills.

    Jack