Meat for BBQ beef sandwiches

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fly fisher dave

Newbie
Original poster
Nov 16, 2011
4
10
Wichita
I'm new here and new at smoking. I have had a Traeger for several years but wouldn't really call that smoking, more like flippin a switch. I need advice on what type of a beef product to put in the smoker and to be able to shred and make BBQ sandwiches out of. I'm in charge of the meat for the end of season football party for our high school. We have a nice smoker to use (I think its a Lang or something similar) and have several dads helping. We figured we need about 175lbs of meat to feed the boys and families. We are not using pork for various reasons but want beef but not brisket because of the expense. Any suggestions would help greatly. We are looking at a beef flat or eye roast. Both of these look to be 40-60 lbs each at the warehouse where we are getting our product. What a way to start with real smoker, couldnt start with a small pork butt!
 
I am not sure what a "beef flat" you might be describing could be unless it is a brisket flat?

For pulling beef, I would recommend a chuck or brisket.

For sliced sandwich meat I would think about a sirloin tip cooked to lower temps and sliced thin.

Good luck and good smoking.
 
I'm not sure what beef cut you will find for less than $2ish/lb -- which is about what brisket would cost.  Hamburger isn't even that cheap.  You might find some London Broils on sale for a bit less, but they won't be nearly as good as brisket, IMHO.  Brisket fits the bill like nothing else for your situation.  Just remember -- if you're going to pull/shred any meat, it's going to be  a long cook (9-14 hours).
 
All of the above!

           
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Thanks guys for the info. Brisket that I have looked at is 4-5 dollars a lb. After talking to several butchers today I have narrowed it down to a Whole chuck or a shoulder clod. Big cuts because of the number of people we are serving. I have been to 4 different places and have had 3 different answers. The flat I was talking about is off the rump area I think but it is not a brisket. It looks like we will go with the whole chuck unless someone has another thought. The 2 butchers that advised me on this gave the reason of more fat throughout the product so it would pull apart better. At one place I talked to 4 different butchers before I had a good answer and he seemed to know what he was talking about. Same thing at 2 different places that do nothing but specialize in meat (unsure answers). How is this possible when that is all you do all day is handle meat? maybe I'm to critical and should be an educated consumer here but my 16 yr old daughter said that most of the butchers didn't seem to know much. Any thoughts out there on this? Is there too many different cuts called different names and too many opinions?

Thanks again for every ones help and sorry to sound so ignorant here, Dave
 
Dave,

My family loves brisket, but chuck is normally a better fit, and they still love the results.

There are several butchers at SMF, so they can chime in about their  level of knowledge and the best cut.

GOOD LUCK!
 
Dave,however you go,get set for a long smoke for pulled Beef. I personally like the Brisket as it seems to be the best bang for my buck,but that's here in Ohio.
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They are the right size (without cutting) to cook through without making charcoal of the outside or taking forever to get done enough to pull.Bought by the case,you may be able to get a cut on the price if they are Cryo-wrapped. Wally World has them at decent prices and are good Briskets.

Make sure you have the refreshments ready for a long Smoke
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, and keep the temp. close to 225*f, don't wrap in foil , you get better Bark without the foil and if you temps. are somewhat steady.

Try to get them to let you pick the Case,look for evenly sized cuts, you can take them all up to temp. at once.

I love to do a Smoker full of meat:

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Seems to help keep the temp. steady.

Have fun and...
 
Thanks guys for the info. Brisket that I have looked at is 4-5 dollars a lb. Holy Crap!!!!
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  I have never paid more than $2.29/ lb -- and about choked on that!  I buy the whole packer (point + flat) at those prices.  After talking to several butchers today I have narrowed it down to a Whole chuck or a shoulder clod. Big cuts because of the number of people we are serving. I have been to 4 different places and have had 3 different answers. The flat I was talking about is off the rump area I think but it is not a brisket. (Definitely not.... brisket is off the chest.)   It looks like we will go with the whole chuck unless someone has another thought. The 2 butchers that advised me on this gave the reason of more fat throughout the product so it would pull apart better (absolutely correct). At one place I talked to 4 different butchers before I had a good answer and he seemed to know what he was talking about. Same thing at 2 different places that do nothing but specialize in meat (unsure answers). How is this possible when that is all you do all day is handle meat? maybe I'm to critical and should be an educated consumer here but my 16 yr old daughter said that most of the butchers didn't seem to know much. Any thoughts out there on this? Is there too many different cuts called different names and too many opinions? YEP!!!!  

Thanks again for every ones help and sorry to sound so ignorant here, Dave
 
adiochiro3, thanks for the reply. You would think with Excel's (cargil meets) main office and research facility here that beef prices would be cheaper! The cheapest brisket I found was at Sams for $3.99 lb. The whole chucks are $2.86 lb. The chucks are about 20lbs each. I plan on cutting those in half. Will be doing about 17 of them. Planing on 16 hrs plus and 2 hrs wrapped and rested in the cooler. Is this enough time? or will it be much longer? Thanks everyone for helping with all the questions.

Dave
 
Chuck would do the trick but you have to make sure you specify the boneless BLADE chuck.  Are you buying these by the case?  If so, what is the case description?  Exactly?  Because that determines what is inside.  If it is boneless blade chuck, that is the blade chuck section only and that is what you want.  Howvever, there are 2-piece chuck and 3-piece chuck "box beef" also, which are the boneless blade chuck with the arm shoulder boneless (2-piece),  or the same plus shank (3-piece).  The arm shoulder won't pull as well as the boneless blade and will need some prepping, and the shank wouldn't pull well at all.  Best thing to do is get several pictures from several sides of the piece in cryovac that you are considering purchasing and post it here so we can make sure it is what you want to use.

Correct me SOB if they have changed the case pack or entities inside the box beef for fore primals, it's been a while since I handled them.
 
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