Quality meats make quality BBQ. When it comes to barbecue, what’s the best beef to smoke with? Using the right cuts of beef makes a big difference. So how do you tell the difference?
In this post, we are specifically focusing on the type of beef that is ideal for smoking and what is not.
Before we get into talking about some of the best beef we like to smoke, let’s get a basic understanding of major differences between different cuts and qualities of beef.
HOW IS BEEF QUALITY DEFINED?
The quality grade of beef is determined by 2 main criteria: the degree of marbling in the beef, and the estimated age of the animal at slaughter. There are basically 3 quality grades, Prime, Choice, and Select that most of us care about. Top quality beef has proper marbling that creates a juicy, tender, and tasty beef.
Prime. Prime beef is the top graded beef. The defining characteristic of prime beef is that it has abundant marbling. Typically, it comes from young, well-fed beef cattle.
Choice. Choice beef is high quality, but it has less marbling than Prime. However, within the restaurant industry, it’s a well-known secret that Choice+ grade of beef gets darn close, if not the same as beef that classified as Prime.
Select. Select beef is usually leaner than higher grades beef. It can be tender, but because it has less marbling, it may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of the higher grades.
So, what did we use in Alice’s Smokehouse? We use exclusively Certified Angus Choice+ or Premium briskets. We found there is a significant difference between whether it is angus beef or not. We love this beef because of its marbling and flavor. It was simply delicious!
Also, one thing worth noting, while we don’t see a huge difference between Choice+ or Premium, we do see a significant quality differences between Choice and Select. So, if possible, we highly recommend you stick with Choice or above.
BRISKET, PRIME-ROAST, SHORTRIBS BUT NOT SIRLOIN STEAKS
While sirloin steak is great for grilling, if you are talking about smoking meat, they are not ideal. This is for the obvious reason that smoking meat requires a lot longer smoking time and in a much lower temperature to get proper smoke flavors infused into the meat. That is why, when it comes to smoking beef, we usually talk about smoking a whole brisket or a whole roast.
For our store, our signature beef was smoking whole briskets. Brisket is very different from tri-tip roast or prime-roast. It requires at least 12-14 hours of cooking time in the smoker to get to the perfect eating texture and flavor. Occasionally, I get a customer not familiar with what brisket is. They would ask me to give them medium or medium-rare (pink inside). I often chuckled. I had to tell them “I’m sorry! I wish I could, but there will be no pink after cooking it for 12-14 hours”. One thing I need to point out too: brisket starts out tough. You would not want to eat a medium brisket anyway because it would be like eating shoe leather.
Below is a good guideline of how to use different cuts of meat. If you want a truly divine beef eating experience, cooking each cut of beef in its preferred method is a must. Bon Appetit!
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