Hot Beefs are a staple of the Midwest, and I thought I’d try my hand at making one on the smoker. Any recipe for the smoker is a labor of love. Is it easier to throw the meat in a croc pot and leave it? Yes. Will you smell as good and will it taste as good? No.
This recipe is pretty simple. I started with a nice chuck roast. (Kinda looks like the state of Wisconsin, right?)
Add your favorite rub. This time I used Holy Cow by Meat Church, but any good beef rub will work. Or beef is delicious with a simple SPG mix (Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder). I put a good layer of the rub on and went out to get the smoker started and up to temp.
You can leave the roast out while starting up the smoker, giving it a chance to warm up a little closer to room temp. I was using a drum smoker for this recipe and it usually sits around 300°, give or take, so that’s where I cooked it. It took about three hours to get up to 165°.
This was my first time trying Hot Beefs, but the process I use when making Italian Beef or Birria tacos is to smoke the meat until it gets to 165°, and then braise it in a Dutch oven. I figured that would work well here, and it did. 5 cups of beef stock, and one envelope of Lipton Beefy Onion soup mix were my braising liquid.
I know a lot of people will use their Dutch oven in the smoker. Personally, I think it’s a waste of fuel. If you aren’t adding flavor, just use your oven. Into the oven at 350°. Flip it over every 30 minutes until it falls apart like this…
This took about 4 hours. And it was delicious! We ate it as is on toasted hamburger buns. You may need to adjust the final taste with a little salt or pepper, depending on the rub you used.
Here was my timeline for your reference:
- 7:30am – Add rub, get smoker up to temp
- 8:30am – Smoker set at 300°, meat on.
- 11:45am – Meat is up to 165°. Transfer to Dutch oven, put in oven at 350°
- 3:30pm – Meat is fall-apart tender. Remove from oven and let sit covered
- 4:00pm – Ready to eat.
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