I know when people think of barbecue they think of Boston butt, pork ribs, smoked turkey breast, and, of course, brisket. In the past year I’ve grown to love smoked brisket, but it is so dog gone expensive. What is a meat eater supposed to do when he has a smoked brisket Jones but is light on cash? That’s the question I had to answer the other day when I was bargain shopping in the red meat section. What I found was a nicely marbled beef roast.

I grew up on Sunday pot roast. My mom would slow cook it in the oven or crockpot with carrots and potatoes, and if we were lucky, cream of mushroom soup. The soupy portion and the vegetables (yes, I’m calling potatoes a vegetable) were always delicious, but the quality of the meat was inconsistent. Many times it ended up being bland and chewy. I remember sitting there, being the silent smart mouth I was at the time, thinking, great, mom found some meat flavored gum at the store. Maybe we won’t get cavities with this. I remember her saying, “Hurry up and swallow that. You’re going to finish it, and we don’t have all day for you to sit at the table.” I remember saying, “Momma, I can’t chew it up.” And she would reply,”Yes you can. Quit playing.” Some how or another I never was able to see how almost choking on chewy roast was playing, but I digress.

This is Barbecue Talk and not therapy, so I’ll get on with that roast I picked up for smoking.

First off, placed my wife’s secret rub (salt, black pepper, and brown sugar… still don’t know the ratio) on the roast and placed it in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day I placed it on my Akorn and slow cooked it over Pecan wood until it was 195 degrees Fahrenheit (about four hours). My temp ran a little high at 300 degrees Fahrenheit that day.

Here’s how it looked.

It was not as tender as the past couple of briskets I’ve smoked, but I think that was because that temp ran high. I will say those burnt ends were awesome. The core meat was tasty, but didn’t have the same amount of oily moisture a brisket has. The marbling didn’t provide that grease those thick fat layers do on a brisket.

But I realized something. I kept comparing it to brisket, which it’s not. This is beef roast, and it has its own flavor. Once I came to grips with that I recognized it was good meat in its own way, and sorry Momma, it was much better than that roast cooked in a oven or crockpot.

I plan to try some different things with roast going forward. If you have any suggestions I’d be glad to hear them.

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