Rump Roast - Cook to medium rare like roast beef? Or pulled beef like a chuck roast?

Foghorn

I went freezer diving and found about a small (3 pounds or so) rump roast - so I pulled it out of the freezer to defrost.  I was hoping for to cook it like a chuck roast or do a pepper stout beef kind of cook.  Would that give a good result if I braise it in enough liquid?  Or should I just go to medium rare and accept that it's a fairly lean cut that should be cooked more like a round steak?

SciAggie

I think either way could work. If you cook to medium rare consider this:
Brown the outside in a skillet. Then roast in a low oven (225) until the internal temp is about 120 degrees. Then turn the oven off - and let the meat continue to cook in the even lower oven until the internal temp is up to 130-135. 

The idea is to keep the temps low enough to retain moisture. The cook May take 1 1/2 - 2 hours.  This is an idea I got from America’s Test Kitchen. Full disclosure - I just learned about it and haven’t tried it myself. The concept seems sound however. 

GATraveller

I'd stick with mid-rare sliced. I wasn't happy with the last rump I braised. I didn't think it would ever pull and when it finally did there was still a lot of chew.

Good luck with it either way. 

Foghorn

Thanks @SciAggie and @GATraveller.

With that said, I’m probably going to try the pepper stout version. Upon defrosting and looking more closely at the cut it has a fair amount of fat and a chunk of bone in it.  It's hard for me to know exactly what cut it is as it is from a private rancher that gave me some meat from his herd that is genetically 1/2 choice angus and 1/2 wagyu.  

We'll see how it turns out.

GATraveller

I love pepper stout beef.  Let us know how it turns out. 

Foghorn

SciAggie

Seeing the meat I think you are making the best choice. I was envisioning more of an eye of round shape when I made the cooking recommendation. 

Foghorn

Foghorn

Understood @SciAggie. I figured I had misled you. 

Thanks for the vote of confidence. 

It’s a very tough cut so far. It probes like shoe leather. We took the “committee” approach combined with the “What is in the refrigerator that we need to use up?” method to decide what to put in the pan with the Guinness Extra Stout - so we have deviated from the pepper stout beef recipe on several levels. 

I’m keeping my expectations low. 

Foghorn

buzd504

Looks great.  How was it?

Foghorn

@buzd504, thanks for asking.

It was very good with two opportunities for improvement.

It was a tough cut and when I pulled it off the bone it was tough and dry so I may not have cooked it optimally - or it may have just not had enough fat.  But when I mixed it in the beer/pepper mixture in small chunks it soaked up the liquid and was quite good - which I suppose is the point.  It's probably better with a chuck roast - and when it's cooked best.

I also think that we could/should have used more peppers - but I got overruled by the rest of the committee.  That won't happen again.

caliking

You should have let your kids cook it...

Having made that snarky remark, I will say that it looks mighty fine. And very sammich worthy. I'd be all over it. 

Foghorn

@caliking, when I mentioned that we didn’t use enough (or enough variety) of peppers, it was my son who kept that from happening.  

When SWMBO made suggestions for deviations from the baseline recipe, he suggested we stick to the recipe - except for his changes - which were “improvements”.  

But usually you’re right. I’ll give you that. 

blind99

looks mighty delicious from here, beautiful hunk of beef.... in my mind i'll put some on a kaiser roll and melt some cheese on it for a very fine sammy

the_crease

Outstanding result from an uncertain start!  

Foghorn

Thanks @blind99 and @the_crease.

We did indeed use some cheese - Gruyere - copying @JRWhitee's recent post - which was a great move.  We went with hamburger buns instead of hoagie rolls - because that's what we had on hand.  I didn't get pics because they got eaten so quickly.  

Foghorn

Leftover pepper stout rump roast nachos. 

I’m thinking that next time I’ll stick closer to the original recipe. Use chuck roast and not rump. More peppers. More variety of pepper colors and flavors. And maybe one tweak. I might replace some of the beer with chimichurri. Just a thought. 

Jcl5150

Foghorn said:

@buzd504, thanks for asking.

It was very good with two opportunities for improvement.

It was a tough cut and when I pulled it off the bone it was tough and dry so I may not have cooked it optimally - or it may have just not had enough fat.  But when I mixed it in the beer/pepper mixture in small chunks it soaked up the liquid and was quite good - which I suppose is the point.  It's probably better with a chuck roast - and when it's cooked best.

I also think that we could/should have used more peppers - but I got overruled by the rest of the committee.  That won't happen again.

Could you please tell me what temp you cooked at and for how long?  I’m going to try one of these tomorrow.  Thanks!

Jcl5150

Also, what kind of liquid did you use in the pan?

Foghorn

@Jcl5150, I cooked it at about 275 for about 3 hours until it reaches 165 - then put it in the foil.  On my subsequent time cooking it, I subbed in 4 oz of chimichurri and 4 oz BBQ sauce for 8 oz of the beer.  12 oz of total liquid seems like the right amount.  But subbing out some of the beer for something with more flavor seemed like a step up.  

Jcl5150

Foghorn said:

@Jcl5150, I cooked it at about 275 for about 3 hours until it reaches 165 - then put it in the foil.  On my subsequent time cooking it, I subbed in 4 oz of chimichurri and 4 oz BBQ sauce for 8 oz of the beer.  12 oz of total liquid seems like the right amount.  But subbing out some of the beer for something with more flavor seemed like a step up.  

Thanks so much!