Smokey Pulled Beef

https://twitter.com/sm0kin_ash

www.monolith-kamado-grill.co.uk

So you’ve probably heard of pulled pork, but have you heard of, or tried pulled beef?

This has the same exquisite juicy fall apart texture, but has the real meaty beefy

flavours that you only get from smoking beef. Unlike Texas style brisket we take the

internal temperature higher to 205f get that pulled consistency instead of slices at

around 195f for brisket. For a simple, easy, and low maintenance dish that will wow

give this a go, it will take all day though on a smoker, or put on overnight.

Chuck is great for pulled beef, and any decent butcher will have it, they usually dice it

as stewing beef in the UK. If you’re struggling brisket will work too. You want a

single piece with good marbling through it, and a small amount of a fat cap on one

side. I’m going to use a dry rub, but marinades and wet rubs will also work well and

provide a slightly less crispy ‘bark’ on the exterior when done. Adding maple syrup

and a little Worcestershire sauce to the dry rub recipe below adds a bit of a glaze on

the exterior.

So you’ll need:

 Beef chuck, the piece I’ve used is just over a kilo that should feed 2-4

depending on your eat portion size preference! For more people get a bigger

piece.

 For the rub:

o Salt

o Pepper (black only or black and white is good)

o Garlic (2 cloves or to your preference)

o Oregano

o Parsley

o Thyme

o Cumin

o Brown sugar (whatever your preference)

o Smoked/Sweet Paprika (regular paprika is ok too)

o Cayenne chilli powder (to your preference or not a massive issue if you

leave out)

o Onion salt/powder (optional)

You will want about a tablespoon of each, and a little more paprika. Mix together in a

bowl or if you have one a rub shaker. Allow the beef to come up to room temperature.

Get your smoker ready and at a temperature between 225-250f. Shake/put the rub

onto the beef and rub into the exterior. I like to use a mix of mesquite and cherry

wood on beef. I find mesquite adds a great smoky flavour, so I like to use chips

straight on, a good handful to add some real intense flavour, and then have a couple of

cherry chunks on too to give a bit of a longer, but less intense hit of smoke throughout

the day.

Put your beef on the smoker at this point, fat cap side up, the mesquite chips should

smoke for around half an hour quite intensely and then die down allowing the cherry

to take over.

About 4-5 hours in you will want to wrap the beef in foil, at this point it will be as

smoky as it will really get and by wrapping you will avoid having to wait out ‘the

stall’ and you will be adding moisture back into the meat. If you want to add a small

of moisture into the bottom of the foil feel free, Dr Pepper or orange juice work well,

but equally a little water will work well, or just leave as it is, with enough marbling

and fat cap it will be great either way.

This will then take between another 4-6 hours, but the temperature is much more

important for this, so use a thermometer to ensure the internal temperature hits 205f.

You then need to keep it wrapped and leave to rest for at least 3an hour. If you’re

ready early wrap in another layer of foil or in a towel and put the meat into a cool box

or your (turned off) oven and it can rest for much longer if you need.

Once rested, unwrap (careful will be hot) and pull apart using two forks or if you have

them bear paws or insulated food gloves, add to your preferred sides/accompaniments

and sauce and enjoy!