Help .......Is it always like this

[wood_is_good]

This is the weekend I'm doing 4 briskets (or so I thought) for my first party. Ordered the briskets from Food Lion on Monday, called today and they said they were in. I get there and they've got corned beef briskets :shock: I was pissed so I got to talking to the manager of the meat dept (after I calmed down) and we started discussing options. I wish I could have gone online right then and there to post this, but I ended up getting 4 botom round beef roasts averaging 13 - 14 pounds for 1.99 pound. I know I got a good deal on the price now I need to figure out the best way to do this.

Do I go for the same internal temps as I would have on the briskets?
Do I wrap them as I would a brisket?
Will they hold in the cooler as briskets would?
What sort of cook times am I looking at?

I need to plan this as best I can because the party is 2 hours from my house

And this is only the tip of the iceburg for what's been going wrong all week. Murphy's law I tell ya

[droller]

Could you have gone to a different store? Don't care for bottom round.

[wood_is_good]

Could you have gone to a different store? Don't care for bottom round.


Where I live it's an hour and a half ride to any city worth a damn. The only game in town is an IGA (worse meat I ever bought) An Ingles which wouldn't order what I wanted and the Food Lion. Should I make the trip and get the briskets I had planned on ?

[Woodman]

I never did bottom round, but I'd just go get the briskets. I don't think there is enough fat in a bottom round to make good Que.

[droller]

Where I live it's an hour and a half ride to any city worth a damn. The only game in town is an IGA (worse meat I ever bought) An Ingles which wouldn't order what I wanted and the Food Lion. Should I make the trip and get the briskets I had planned on ?


No. I think you did the only thing you could do under the circumstances. I hope you let the Food Lion Store Manager (emphasis on Store Manager) know they let you down big time. Sometimes without competition people don't always treat their customers as they should.

I hope things work out for the best. If you do it with wood, it will be good.

I see you are in Georgia. What part?

[wood_is_good]

No. I think you did the only thing you could do under the circumstances. I hope you let the Food Lion Store Manager (emphasis on Store Manager) know they let you down big time. Sometimes without competition people don't always treat their customers as they should.

I hope things work out for the best. If you do it with wood, it will be good.

I see you are in Georgia. What part?


I'm in Fannin County. Look at a map where NC / Tenn / and Georgia meet, that's where I am. In a little town called Mccaysville. Population 1200 and 6 auto parts stores :shock:

[droller]

I'm in Fannin County. Look at a map where NC / Tenn / and Georgia meet, that's where I am. In a little town called Mccaysville. Population 1200 and 6 auto parts stores :shock:

I know the area. Used to go wild boar hunting east of the Tellico Plains area when I lived in Tennessee. I usually make a couple of trips a year to the John C. Campbell Folk School over in Brasstown.

Good people live in that area of the country. Good people.

Can you get sourwood honey where you live?

[sj022698]

I personally don't like doing things for a party that I'm not familar with. I'd go with your gut. If you feel comfortable do it. If you don't, throw them in the freezer and go do what you're comfortable with. That's just me though. Good luck either way. How many people?

[HFD26]

I wouldn't take a chance trying to smoke bottom round, it's best for braising, pot-roasting, and stewing. If you can't find brisket, I would suggest pulled pork.

[TexLaw]

I expect the Food Lion guy's problem was ignorance, rather than negligence. When you say brisket around many places, corned beef is what the local folks think of.

So, now, you have to make lemons from lemonade. Bottom round is pretty lean stuff. If you do cook it, you need to wrap it earlier than you would a brisket, probably add a little (and I mean a little) liquid when you wrap, and do more of a braise. You can open that foil back up near the end to get a little more smoke, if you like. However, as lean as it is, it still needs some flavor help, and it won't be like brisket. After it's done, wrap it back up, and hit the road. I'm afraid I really don't know about cooking times, though.

If there's any way you can work something out with your party and the Food Lion to cook something you know, I'd go that way.

In any case, just relax. Do what you can do, and try to do it your best. If it doesn't all go quite right, that's why God made laughter.


TL

[Hankerin Bar-B-Q]

Well WIG, if it's not too late, I think whole beef shoulder clod is the closest substitute to brisket. You can even cook them the same way as brisket. There really is no learning curve, IMO. I do suggest removing as much of the silver skin from the outer surface, that you can, just to expose more meat to the seasonings. You don't have to get obsessed with removing every inch of the silver skin, just gotta expose more meat for the seasonings to do their job. Half Fast BBQn and I cooked a 16.5 pounder and it came out great!

If your Food Lion cuts their own meat, then they should have whole shoulder clod in the back. This Clod is where all the "Chuck" pieces come from. If they don't have the whole clod, then I'd get chuck roasts.

Oh, if I remember right, it took about 13-14 hours to cook it at 225, and thats using the same technique as brisket.....wrapping at 165-170 and pulling it off at 195-200.

Sorry I couldn't help you with your bottom round roasts.


Hank

[TexLaw]

Good thinking, Hank. It's pretty sad all the rest of us didn't think of chuck or clod!


TL

[Hankerin Bar-B-Q]

It's like that old saying goes...... "Sometimes you can't see the cow, for the meat." :idea: :lol:

I wonder if Food Lion would give a refund for the bottom round???

[Hankerin Bar-B-Q]

Good luck WIG! Just remember one thing, no matter what piece of meat you end up cooking, smile and have a good time with it. It's like smiling on the phone.....it will show up on the other end, and make the recipient smile, too. :D

[redneck cooker]

Hankerin, there has been no Food Lion in this part of the state for over 15 years got closed down by the Feds for bleaching meat that was past the usage dates and re-dying to resale, I would be very careful about bying meat from them, my 2 cents

[Hankerin Bar-B-Q]

Hankerin, there has been no Food Lion in this part of the state for over 15 years got closed down by the Feds for bleaching meat that was past the usage dates and re-dying to resale, I would be very careful about bying meat from them, my 2 cents


Uhhhh..... Wood_Is_Good is the one shopping at Food Lion.....in Georgia.

Thanks for the update, though. I've been gettin my meat at HEB and Randalls.

[wood_is_good]

I appreciate all the input from everyone. They wouldn't take the meat back. I'm going to follow TexLaws advice and wrap it sooner at about 140 degrees with a small amount of liquid. I found a decent mop recipe in Smoke & Spice that I'm gonna use. I think I can still pull this off. It may not be my best effort but I wouldn't hesitate to cook this for myself. I'll certainley know better in the future.

And I'm not charging for this so they shouldn't ***** too much :)