Observations on Beef Shoulder

[big_weight]

Googled beef clod, as I had seen it on one of the competition shows, but had no idea what it was. That led me to a positive article by Steve Raichlen. (Google "raichlen clod" to see article).

So, two weeks ago, I decided to smoke one on the kamado. One reason for shoulder was to try to get more edible meat for the smoke effort, versus brisket. I seasoned with kosher salt, medium ground pepper, and just a little cayenne.

Observation 1 - can be hard to find. Three local butcher shops didn't have beef shoulder, and couldn't (or wouldn't) get one. Local Whole Foods carries them in stock, and had them on sale for $4.99/lb, so I bought a 16 pounder.

I followed Raichlen's recipe and cooked at 225, working toward his recommended 175 IT wrap temp, heading to a 200 IT final temp. After 17 hours, IT was only 170.

Observation 2 - Probed tender at 170, so I pulled it, wrapped it, and put it in cooler for 3 hours.

Let it stand to 150 IT, then cut some. It was tender, and taste was wonderful. I started slicing and eating and slicing and eating, and forgot to take pix. It was really good. Put about half of it in Seal-a-meal and froze it, as wife and I could eat only so much.

This week, pulled it out of freezer, thawed out and reheated.

Observation 3 - Reheated shoulder did not taste nearly as good as reheated brisket does. Admittedly, my sample size is a whopping -1-.

Observation 4 - Will definitely do another shoulder, but not before I do another brisket.

Don't see much beef shoulder coverage here, so interested in hearing any others' experience.

 

[BillN]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[sleebus.jones]

I use beef shoulder when making sausage. The hard fat on it works nicely, even though most beef fat has a reputation of not being that good in sausage.

 

[big_weight]

One other observation - For next one, gonna find Pitmaster T's and other's guidance for hotter and faster cook temp, and pulling it at lower IT, like 130 or so.

Thanks for comments.

 

[EdF]

Should be interesting. Keep us posted!

 

[sleebus.jones]

With the amount of fat and connective tissue beef should has, I think 130 will leave you with a tough end product.

 

[HunkyDory]

One other observation - For next one, gonna find Pitmaster T's and other's guidance for hotter and faster cook temp, and pulling it at lower IT, like 130 or so.

Thanks for comments.

Very interesting cook. Agree with the hotter and faster next time but would go to around 195+ IT and probe tender.

 

[Royalslover]

interesting. What kind of texture did it have? was it closer to point or flat?

 

[Jason TQ]

The few times I've done clod the pieces were large similar to yours, but I cut them in half to make pieces more in the size of butts (though full briskets are that size) to help speed up cooking and get more bark. If you have the time and enjoy lower temps by all means cook there, but going hotter around 275-300 it would be done in half the time if you were interested in speeding it up. They make really great pulled beef sandwiches :-D

 

[m-fine]

$4.99 a LB is highway robbery for what is basically the cheapest piece of the cow.

 

[Norm]

I get them at Sam's Club for a pretty good price. I cut them in half and cook a 300-325 until about 190° or so. I do not like them for pulled beef as well as a chuck roast. Mine I put on the big slicer and make Italian beef with it. The extras I freeze with some juices from the cook or if not enough use beef stock.

 

[jasonjax]

I think this is the cut that Pitmaster T has cooked hot and fast to an IT around 130 for sliced "roasted beef" with success. I still need to try that.

Did a quick search, and going WAY back here is a related thread I started.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146014

 

[big_weight]

I worried about connective tissue, but both "ends" of whatever I cooked were tender, not tough at all. I gave a bunch off one end to my neighbor, and kept the rest for myself.

I wonder if Whole Foods sold me a trimmed shoulder ROAST and not a shoulder.

Also, it was a real hit at a birthday party that my daughter-in-law requested 8 racks of ribs. I had this shoulder(?) in case we ran out of ribs, and people could not get enough.

I just did another search and came up with this thread
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=202697

In that thread, gtr wrote:

"I didn't get a finished shot of the Spanish Castle Magic, but that stuff was amazing. PitmasterT has a video of it and you should check it out for a great little somethin' somethin' to drizzle on beef. We had a bunch of other food - spares, greens, tons of other sides (including marbuzo's pickles - wow!) and desserts as well. Great food, great friends, great times - what more do ya need?

Big thanks to PitmasterT for the clod cooking tips - I saw a lot of info that suggested taking this cut to higher brisket/chuckie type temps, and that may be fine - I don't know - but now I do know for a fact that taking it to roast temps is a damn good thing to do. The advice about hitting the outside of it hard with bold flavors was a good steer as well.

Clod seems like a great cut for feeding a sizeable amount of people relatively inexpensively and quickly - this cook took around 6 hours I think. Plenty tender, plenty juicy, and definitely a crowd pleaser.

Roast beast sammiches today! "​

Perhaps someone has a connection to Pitmaster T so that he will weigh in.

Whatever it was, I am definitely buying another one, even at $4.99.

 

[big_weight]

Whole Foods has big shoulder roasts, not clods.

What I bought and cooked was definitely not a clod, as it looked nothing like a 24# clod I saw at Restaurant Depot.

Last sandwich from the cook planned for tonight.