What's for Dinner?

[Darrell Green Fan]

Believe it or not there is a hispanic grocery store in my small town. I gotta get me some cumin seeds. They used to sell a pre-marinaded fajita beef, it was pretty good for a quick easy meal.

 

[HOF44]

Home by myself tonight. Gonna try this steak out. I ordered 2 whole picanha from The Meatery but they only sent one. They apologized for this and sent me the other one and threw in this steak for their mistake. Great customer service

 

[Boone]

I’ll bet that’s gonna be amazing

 

[HOF44]

It was out of this world!!

 

[Skinsfan1311]

Had to look that up. I'm a Canopy guy myself. Man that looks good, I may have to take a ride to Ellicott City today.

Dag!
The Canopy in Glen Burnie closed years ago, much to our disappointment, and I didn't know that there was another location.
That's definitely worth a field trip..

 

[Mark The Homer]

If you're looking for a pit beef sandwich, Pioneer is only a few blocks from Canopy and Pioneer is significantly better. Pioneer is the best pit beef sandwich in the mid-Atlantic.

The Canopy - Ellicott City, MD

Specialties: The Canopy has been serving up delicious, fresh barbecue to Howard County since 1985. Here's all the mouthwatering goodness of real western barbecue right in your own backyard -- and with savings you can really sink your teeth into. We have the finest cuts of beef, ribs, chicken...

www.yelp.com

https://www.yelp.com/biz/pioneer-pit-beef-windsor-mill

Another really good one is Jakes Grill, but that's up in Cockeysville.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/jakes-grill-cockeysville

 

[Skinsfan1311]

If you're looking for a pit beef sandwich, Pioneer is only a few blocks from Canopy and Pioneer is significantly better. Pioneer is the best pit beef sandwich in the mid-Atlantic.

The Canopy - Ellicott City, MD

Specialties: The Canopy has been serving up delicious, fresh barbecue to Howard County since 1985. Here's all the mouthwatering goodness of real western barbecue right in your own backyard -- and with savings you can really sink your teeth into. We have the finest cuts of beef, ribs, chicken...

www.yelp.com

https://www.yelp.com/biz/pioneer-pit-beef-windsor-mill

Another really good one is Jakes Grill, but that's up in Cockeysville.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/jakes-grill-cockeysville

Thanks!

Pit Beef is stupid easy to make at home...

 

[Mark The Homer]

I make it at home too. I've done it for years. I used to use London Broil, but it wasn't quite right. I wanted mine to be as good as Pioneer. I've tried many methods, but it wouldn't turn out as nice as Pioneer. I even tried Meathead's method over at Amazing ribs (low and slow) which makes perfect sense, but still it wasn't as good, and I couldn't figure out why. UNTIL I tried this guy's method. His method contradicts what most people think would be correct. I've found this to be my favorite method and I think my pit beef is now as good as Pioneer. I do a dry brine beforehand. Bottom round makes a difference. Slicing correctly is important. I think most people, even accomplished cooks, don't quite understand how to slice correctly even if they think they do. For the sandwich, I like lightly toasted Amoroso club rolls with this. I like sliced onions and plenty of prepared horseradish with a little bit of mayo mixed in. This makes the sandwich extra drippy. I like drippy. Pioneer pit beefs are drippy.

 

[Boone]

When you say 'prepared horseradish' do you mean raw horseradish in a jar, or 'horseradish sauce' (I love the raw ground stuff, not the sauce version)

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

Dag!
The Canopy in Glen Burnie closed years ago, much to our disappointment, and I didn't know that there was another location.
That's definitely worth a field trip..

Yeah I think they moved slightly up the road years ago. They just opened a sitting area next door. That sandwich above looks fantastic, I'm off to Canopy in a few.

 

[Mark The Homer]

When you say 'prepared horseradish' do you mean raw horseradish in a jar, or 'horseradish sauce' (I love the raw ground stuff, not the sauce version)

It's in a jar. It says "prepared horseradish" on the jar. It's not raw and it's not a sauce. The advantage is you can make the end result exactly as strong as you want by adding a small amount of mayo yourself. You can make it from scratch too if you want, which I do sometimes for Christmas dinner.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I'm making pork roast tonight. One of my favorite meals and one of the few that's pretty good leftover the next night. After that I make a sandwich and then I'm done with the pork roast and the dog has a great few meals.

 

[Mark The Homer]

A Cuban sandwich (a Cubano) is a great way to use up left over (shredded) pork roast or pulled pork. Really delicious. I can't find Cuban bread here though, so I use ciabatta from Panera which is somewhat close.

 

[Boone]

I may do some pit beef using Mark's video. I've made it before with a slightly different approach. Probably won't be able to find a 12 lb bottom round though, will have to see what is available.

 

[Mark The Homer]

I don't think you need a 12 lb one, I think last time I used something like a 5 lb one. I swear I just saw one at the Giant this morning which was like 3lbs. If you have to buy a big one, you can cut in half and freeze the odd half. Slice super thin and against the grain. That's key. Take your time. Shave it if you can. Pretty slices are not important. Your teeth should sink into the sandwich effortlessly with juice dribbling down your chin. Don't forget to have fun

 

[Boone]

I found a couple 3 lb bottom chunks

 

[Skinsfan1311]

I make it at home too. I've done it for years. I used to use London Broil, but it wasn't quite right. I wanted mine to be as good as Pioneer. I've tried many methods, but it wouldn't turn out as nice as Pioneer. I even tried Meathead's method over at Amazing ribs (low and slow) which makes perfect sense, but still it wasn't as good, and I couldn't figure out why. UNTIL I tried this guy's method. His method contradicts what most people think would be correct. I've found this to be my favorite method and I think my pit beef is now as good as Pioneer. I do a dry brine beforehand. Bottom round makes a difference. Slicing correctly is important. I think most people, even accomplished cooks, don't quite understand how to slice correctly even if they think they do. For the sandwich, I like lightly toasted Amoroso club rolls with this. I like sliced onions and plenty of prepared horseradish with a little bit of mayo mixed in. This makes the sandwich extra drippy. I like drippy. Pioneer pit beefs are drippy.

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...

 

[Boone]

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?

 

[Mark The Homer]

I'm not sure why one would season the fat cap if one is going to cut it off and throw it into the fire. But I believe he leaves the fat cap on during the initial sear to help make the fire angry as the fat heats and drips into the fire, then later when the coals are trying to die out, he uses the warm removed fat to make the coals angry again while searing the newly exposed side. There's also something called "fat smoke" but I don't know if it applies here. And I know you're thinking "Yeah, but...." but I dunno, it worked very well for me.

Amoroso rolls - from Philly - I think they are the cheesesteak roll up there. They're really good. I get them now at Aldi. I don't know if they're down in NC yet, probably not. Before that I used to get them at Shop Rite in Glen Burnie, but Shop Rite left town.

 

[Boone]

At least that’s a rationale I can understand