What's for Dinner?

Boone said:
I question why one would leave the fat cap on, season and char it, then cut it off mid-cook and reseason/char again. That doesn't make much sense to me. I will follow that guidance today but it may be the last time as I can't figure out why that would make any sense?
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I don't have a clue...but I have 4 roasts so I'm going to try it😄
 
Resting…

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Skinsfan1311 said:
That's pretty much exactly how I make pit beef. The only thing I do differently is I trim the fat off the top...I may leave it next time and cut it off towards the end of the cook like he did.
It's got to be bottom round and it's easy to find smaller 3-5lb roasts around here. They recently had them on sale, and I snagged four.
A nice char and cutting thinly against the grain is crucial. I break out the slicer too...the beef has to be sliced very thins, onion s must be paper thin...
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A slicer? Now I'm jealous! Us poor folk have to use a very sharp knife. There's a technique where one angles the knife and pushes downward while slicing which creates shaved slices very nicely, but it takes time. And you have to keep the grain direction in mind.

I just searched YT for a cooked-beef manual shaving or thin slicing vid and I cannot believe one does not exist. I guess I'll have to make one. I suck at making YT vids though.

BTW, Boone, I can smell that cooked beef from here!
 
Looks good! Looks like you will taste the pit! Got plenty of pink there! The face of the slice should have a sort of cobblestone look to it - with no lines - and you got that! How was the sandwich?
 
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Mark The Homer said:
A slicer? Now I'm jealous! Us poor folk have to use a very sharp knife. There's a technique where one angles the knife and pushes downward while slicing which creates shaved slices very nicely, but it takes time. And you have to keep the grain direction in mind.

I just searched YT for a cooked-beef manual shaving or thin slicing vid and I cannot believe one does not exist. I guess I'll have to make one. I suck at making YT vids though.

BTW, Boone, I can smell that cooked beef from here!
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Fran got me a cheap one about 15-20 years ago with a small motor that eventually burnt out. I only used it for pit beef and not that often. She got me a much nicer one, that I had my eye on for over a year, after researching them for a while. It wasn't stupid expensive, ~ $350.00 I think. It's much more solid, powerful and works beautifully. It makes
thinner slices and doesn't struggle at all. Like all slicers, it's kind of a pain in the ass to clean,(all slicers are), but I'm OCD about it.
 
Small motor? Yeah. Something I learned - you can't spin pigs on a small Weber rotisserie motor. :p

A slicer has always been in the back of my mind. I even asked for one for Christmas once, didn't get it haha. But if you've been doing pit beefs for that long, you've got some serious experience. I just discovered pit beef in 2019 because there was a WP article discussing the best pit beef places. I think I'm at a disadvantage being too close to DC. You're in Ravens territory! Here's the article, I hope there's not a paywall.


It is one reporter's opinion of the top 11 pit beef places. Note that Chap's and Canopy did not make the list although they both got honorable mentions. That's a job I want - to drive around trying to find the best pit beef places. It's pretty obvious to me that Baltimore and the surrounding area has the best pit beef. IMO there should be a wiki page titled Baltimore Pit Beef. There is not, last time I looked.

Here in Montgomery County, we don't have a single pit beef place anywhere. I do have the Sunshine Burger place nearby, so that's something.

Edit: Here's what it says in the comments:

Years ago I worked with a young guy who was a Navy brat, lived all around and in Naples, Italy. Liked craft beers, Wilco...
He said his family had a thing they'd do when they drove south and went over the Mason-Dixon Line; they'd all shout "Yeeeeee-Haw!" like Dukes of Hazzard.

<end>

Sounds like he's describing you. :p
 
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Thanks for posting that article. I go right by Expressway Pit Beef all the time. Gonna stop for a sandwich next time I’m there.
 
Expressway? It's only 31 mins from me according to GPS. Straight down Rt 32! Never been there. Might have to check that out some day.

Yelp reviews are not that good, but they haven't had a 1 star review in almost two years, so it shows promise.

 
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Mark The Homer said:
Expressway? It's only 31 mins from me according to GPS. Straight down Rt 32! Never been there. Might have to check that out some day.

Yelp reviews are not that good, but they haven't had a 1 star review in almost two years, so it shows promise.

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Also a lot of the less than stellar reviews are for things not off the pit. Most of the pit beef reviews are damn good. Seems most bad reviews are the ribs and pulled chicken.
 
The key to pit beef is the slicer and the wood grill.

It's funny I don't see a lot of people grilling half chickens. We use to stop at the pits on the way down to the beach and get Kiwanis grilled chicken. It was so damn good. Nothing better than slow wood grilled birds
 
RedWolf said:
The key to pit beef is the slicer and the wood grill.

It's funny I don't see a lot of people grilling half chickens. We use to stop at the pits on the way down to the beach and get Kiwanis grilled chicken. It was so damn good. Nothing better than slow wood grilled birds
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We did too. Churches, Kiwanis clubs etc. would have big rows of half barrel grills lined up cooking half chickens.
 
Mark The Homer where are you in MoCo? I was born and raised there until my move to Miami. Im from Bethesda Rockville Gaithersburg and Boyds.

Selling my last two MoCo properties now. Also properties in NVA, WVA, and Colombia. Cashing out and planning for the DR...where I can BBQ with wood every day!!! ;)
 
RedWolf said:
Mark The Homer where are you in MoCo? I was born and raised there until my move to Miami. Im from Bethesda Rockville Gaithersburg and Boyds.

Selling my last two MoCo properties now. Also properties in NVA, WVA, and Colombia. Cashing out and planning for the DR...where I can BBQ with wood every day!!! ;)
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I'm in Brookeville near Olney. I've also lived in Bethesda and Silver Spring (twice). Where in Bethesda were you?

I'm sad owners at Marathon Deli (Greek place owned by Greeks, sold authentic gyros) in College Park retired / sold out several years ago. New owners screwed it up. Not even worth going anymore. I make them myself sometimes, they're pretty good. It used to be really hard to get all the right ingredients, but things have changed over the past ten years, and now it's pretty easy.
 
Pit beef sandwiches were off the hook. One thing about slicers - they are not expensive, you'd be surprised, and even though it is not a frequently needed kitchen appliance, it's great to have one when you do need one. I got mine at Williams-Sonoma. They told me they didn't carry slicers and I walked over and picked one up from a lower shelf, lol... I guess they aren't a hot seller. One thing about mine I wish I had known about. There is a lever in the back that controls how thin or thick you want your slices. It just moves back and forth with a little pressure. Unfortunately, when you are slicing, the pressure from keeping the meat lined up tends to widen the gap. So you start out with think slices, but as you slice they get progressively thicker. There really needs to be a way to lock down the desired width. That's a pretty big design flaw but something I would make sure a slicer has before I bought one. And yes, they are a pain in the ass to clean :)
 
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