Did a hunk of beef for some visiting relatives and it came out awesome. Here's the plan....

Went to a meat market (Boston Beef, Norwood, MA) and got a 3" thick 3lb. hunk of rump. The guy sells it as London Broil but it's different. What virtually all stores sell as London broil is chuck (shoulder). What he sells really it is rump steak/roast cut to London broil thickness. It was $8.99/lb which sounds very dear for London broil until you remember it's not cheapo chuck.

I left it on the counter for 1/2 hour to warm. Then I put some of Butt Rub (a netizen on the ski forum sent it to me) on it. Not a ton, just slightly more than I would salt and pepper. The rub is salt, pepper, onion, garlic, chipotle powder, paprika. Thr rub isn't over powering so it really brings out the flavor of the meat without hiding it. It's kinda like flavorful spiced up salt / pepper combo. I'd use something a lot more potent if I was doing ribs or pork butts for pulled pork.

Now the cooking, I built a very hot fire with lump charcoal in the the bottom of the WSM. Right before I put the meat on, I dumped some mesquite chips on the fire; again, not a ton, maybe 6-8 pieces the size of a matchbook. I put a grate in the middle position. I put the meat on the grate and I did it uncovered for about six minutes on each side. Then I pulled it and put the water pan, filled with sand and covered in foil, on top of the grate in the middle position. I then put a grate in the top position. I put the meat back on the top grate and put the thermo in the meat. Threw another two or three mesquite chips on the fire. Then roasted at about 325F until the meat read 128F. Then, pulled the meat, put it on the cutting board, tented it with foil, and let it rest for 15 minutes (do NOT ever skip this step when roasting good meat).

The stuff sliced up to a perfect rare but not gooey consistencies. It was very tender, very juicy, hugely flavorful with the right balance of meat, smoke, and spice.

I highly recommend ya'll try this hybrid technique where you grill to get a sear and then roast. Just find some thicker cut. Get the meat counter to cut you a 2.5" thick steak. Full pieces of try-tip work well. Avoid tougher cuts like chuck (go low-and-slow BBQ with those). Use just enough smoke and spice to compliment the flavor of the meat without hiding it.  

--Last edited by kvk on 2007-06-12 13:43:54 --