Pulled Beef with Grilled Corn
This traditional pulled beef is best cooked in a smoker or a charcoal grill with hickory or mesquite wood chips. A gas grill works too, and even an indoor oven will give you nice results, just without the smokey flavor. Remember to use a digital thermometer to test for doneness since the exact cooking time can be unpredictable.
Ingredients
Makes 6 servings
- 3kg beef chuck (knuckle or round is also acceptable)
- 100g Dirty Dog BBQ Beef Rub
- 100g yellow mustard mixed with 100ml apple cider vinegar
- 6 ears fresh corn, shucked, blanched in salted water
- 100g butter, softened
- 25g Dirty Dog Cajun Spice Mix
- Dirty Dog Bacon Thunder sauce
- 1 head garlic
- Salt/Pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Dirty Dog Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce
Equipment:
- Wood chips (only if cooking on an outdoor grill)
- Digital meat thermometer, ideally one with probes that go inside the grill and a display that stays outside
- Butcher’s paper or heavy duty aluminum foil
Method
- Prepare your grill for indirect cooking at about 110-130° C.
- Apply the mustard/vinegar mix to the outside of the beef chuck. Generously sprinkle the rub on the beef. It already contains the correct amount of salt so it’s ready to use straight out of the bag.
- Cut the stem end off the garlic so that all the cloves are visible. Give it a little salt, pepper, and oil and wrap it in aluminum foil.
- Add your wood chips on top of the heating element of your grill, place the beef and garlic away from the heat source. Insert the temperature probe (if using a remote thermometer) into the thickest part of the beef, close the lid, and stabilize the grill temperature. Alternatively, place the beef and garlic in the middle rack of your oven.
- Crack open a beer and crank up some tunes; you’re gonna be here for a while.
- The goal is to develop a dark, crispy exterior (called the bark) on the meat and to pump it full of smoke flavor. This only happens while the internal temperature of the meat is below about 70°C. You’ll probably see billowing white clouds of smoke followed by thin blue wisps. That’s the money smoke. Eventually the smoke will disappear, but the gasses inside are still doing their thing so avoid the temptation to open the lid. If you’re looking, you’re not cooking!
- Remove the garlic after an hour, or when the cloves are soft and golden brown. Squeeze the cloves out of the peels, crush them into a paste, and mix it with the soft butter and Cajun spice mix. Set aside for later.
- When the beef hits an internal temperature of around 55-65°C it will experience the dreaded stall, where the internal temperature stubbornly refuses to rise for as much as 4 or 5 hours. Ain’t nobody got time for that. That’s OK, because by this point you should have a gorgeous, crispy bark and the meat will have already absorbed all the smoke it can hold.
- Remove the beef from the grill and wrap it in a single layer of butcher’s paper or heavy duty aluminum foil. This will prevent evaporative cooling (the meat equivalent of humans cooling themselves down by sweating), which is what caused the stall.
- Return the wrapped beef to the grill (or bring it inside and use the oven; there’s no more smoking, so it doesn’t really matter). Continue cooking low & slow until the internal temperature hits about 93°C. The goal is to let the collagen break down into gelatin, which is what gives BBQ meat that silky, sensual mouthfeel. This process only happens above about 70°C and it happens slowly so don’t rush this step.
- Remove the beef and let it rest in a pan to catch the juices, still wrapped, for at least 30 minutes. Longer is better. Carryover cooking should take the internal temp to 95°C which is the target for most BBQ meats.
- In the meantime, crank the grill up to very high, direct heat.
- Cut each ear of corn in half and brush it with a little vegetable oil. Grill the corn on an uncovered grill until it’s hot all the way through and has sexy grill marks. Brush it generously with garlic butter and return it to the grill for just a minute.
- Unwrap the beef in the same pan with the juices. It should fall apart with just some gentle squeezes, but feel free to use forks or tongs to protect your precious little hands. Add enough of our Carolina Gold BBQ sauce to create another layer of flavor but not so much that it overpowers the beefy flavor.
- Top the corn with our Bacon Thunder sauce and serve with the beef, pickles, bread, and more beer.