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Move over brisket! This smoked top blade roast may be your new barbecue go-to! The bold beefy-flavored roast gets trimmed up, seasoned with a simple Texas-style rub, and smoked on the pellet grill or smoker for fantastic smoked beef that will rival your favorite brisket!
Smoking Top Blade Like a Brisket
If smoked brisket is the crown jewel of Texas-style barbecue, then smoked top blade has got to be a close second. Less expensive than a whole packer brisket, and smaller in size so that it cooks more quickly, the top blade roast is every bit as delicious as a traditional smoked brisket. Especially when you season and smoke it the same way.
I first learned of this trendy BBQ technique while talking to Jeremy from Mad Scientist BBQ during Memphis in May. Yes, I had tried smoking both tri-tip and chuck roast like a brisket, but the thought to smoke a whole flat iron steak the same way had never crossed my mind – until Jeremy gave me a slice to try.
And then I knew that I had to try it on my pellet grill! The beef is tender and flavorful just like a brisket, but the marbling is more evenly distributed in my opinion. In fact, my first thought after trying this new cut was that it reminded me of the brisket flat, if the flat had more fat marbling running through it.
This smoked top blade is truly fantastic and worth a try, especially if you love smoked brisket!
What is the top blade roast?
The top blade roast is cut from the shoulder clod, a larger cut from the Chuck primal in the shoulder region of the cow.
The top blade contains a large vein of connective tissue that runs right down the middle of it lengthwise. You can cut the top blade roast in half to remove that connective tissue, and then remove the fat cap and silver skin from the top and bottom side of the roast to separate it into two flat iron steaks as you would find in the grocery store.
Top Blade Roast vs. Flat Iron Steak
Most barbecue enthusiasts call the top blade roast “smoked whole flat iron steak” when they refer to smoking this cut of beef, but in fact, they’re smoking a top blade if their cut includes the large connective tissue vein in the middle.
The easiest way to tell the two cuts apart is by the thickness. Regular flat iron steak that you find in the grocery store will be thinner, about 3/4″ to 1″, and typically doesn’t include a fat cap. The top blade roast is two flat iron steaks stacked on top of each other and separated by the line of gelatinous connective tissue, making it about 3-4″ in height.
Where can I buy top blade roast?
The whole top blade roast can be difficult to find at most grocery stores, because it is typically butchered down into flat iron steaks for mass appeal. So you’ll have to consult your local specialty butcher shop for this cut, unless you’ve made friends with a meat manager at your local supermarket.
Our top blade roast came from Simpson’s Meats, a family-farmer owned butcher shop that’s right down the street from us in East Tennessee – but good news, they ship nationwide. We’ve been very impressed with all of the meat that we’ve gotten from them, including a fantastic outside skirt steak that was legitimately one of the best tasting cuts of beef that we’ve ever tried.
I’ve also seen this cut labeled as “Top Blade Flat Iron” at Costco.
Trimming the Top Blade Roast
A top blade roast will have a thicker fat cap on top (one end actually reminded me of the brisket mohawk) as well as inedible silver skin along the bottom side. So much like a brisket, you’ll definitely need to do some trimming before firing up your smoker.
When I started out trimming my top blade, I intended to leave about 1/4″ of the fat cap on the top just like I would when trimming a brisket. However, I quickly discovered that under the fat cap was a layer of silver skin, so I decided to trim the entire roast.
When trimming the silver skin, it’s best to work in about 1-2″ sections, and slide your knife under one end of the tough white “skin”. Then angle your knife blade at a slight upward angle and cut away from your body. Angling the knife up helps you to not dig into the meat.
You should also remove any odd-shaped, uneven, or sticking-up pieces for even cooking and to make your roast more aerodynamic for the smoker – just like you would for a brisket.
*Pitmaster’s Tip –
Save the fat pieces and add them to a small aluminum foil pan to smoke on the grill alongside the top blade. The fat will render creating smoked beef tallow, and you can pour that liquid gold on your roast before wrapping.
How to Smoke Top Blade Roast Like a Brisket
Step 1: Add a binder to the trimmed top blade roast. After trimming, rub on a binder of your choice to help the seasoning stick. We used a very thin layer of Worcestershire rubbed over the entire roast. You could also use yellow mustard or cooking oil.
Step 2: Season the top blade. Since we smoked our roast similar to a brisket, we kept the seasonings the same as well. First, season evenly with a Texas-style rub – our recipe contains coarse black pepper, Diamond Crystal kosher salt, seasoned salt, and garlic powder. We also added a thin layer of extra black pepper for more of a Texas-style smoked roast.
Step 3: Smoke the top blade roast. Place your seasoned flat iron directly on the grill grates with the thicker end facing towards the fire pot or heat source. Smoke at about 225-250°F until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. I chose a temp right in the middle at 235°F, and it took about 4 1/2 hours to reach 165°F, but your cooking times will vary.
Step 4: Wrap the roast with beef tallow and continue to cook. Once the beef reaches 165°F internal, remove it from the grill and transfer to a large sheet of butcher paper. Pour some of the rendered beef fat from the foil pan on top. Then wrap it up in the paper, just like you would do for a brisket.
Bump your grill temperature up to 250°F. Return the roast to the grill, and continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches about 194-195°F. You should have a bit of carryover cooking as the meat rests.
Step 5: Rest and slice the smoked top blade. Resting the meat is non-negotiable. I like to place the wrapped roast on a wire cooling rack on top of the counter, so that airflow can completely surround the meat. Keep the wireless probe thermometer in the meat, and let it rest, still wrapped, until the temperature comes down to about 155-160°F.
Then slice against the grain into strips, similar to how you would serve a brisket.
The whole flat iron has a large band of connective tissue running through the center of it. You can see it in the photo below. We found this to be quite gelatinous and unpleasant, even after smoking the beef low and slow.
So we recommend cutting the whole top blade roast in half lengthwise to remove that part, essentially separating the beef into two large pieces of flat iron. Then, cut against the grain into slices that are about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick, and serve just as you would sliced brisket.
Absolutely! But we prefer the whole flat iron (top blade roast) because the larger piece of meat can stay on the smoker for longer, taking on more flavor and giving you a juicier result. If you only have a halved steak, reduce cooking time as it will finish faster.
We recommend cooking the roast to an internal temperature of about 193–196°F, and then resting the meat, still wrapped, until the temp drops down to about 155°F before slicing. If your cut is smaller, start checking a few degrees earlier to avoid overcooking. You may also have a few degrees of carryover cooking after you take the beef off the smoker.
The cooking times will vary based on the size of your roast, the heating capabilities of your smoker, etc. For reference, our top blade took about 4.5 hours to reach between 160-165°F, at which point we wrapped it in butcher paper. And then it took another 2 hours to get to about 195°F. So plan for about 6.5 to 7 hours of smoking time in total.
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- Smoke the beef fat trimmings while the roast cooks – Add the trimmings to a foil pan to render while the top blade smokes. You’ll get fantastic smoked tallow to pour over the beef before wrapping. I do the same thing with smoked whole brisket.
- Slice against the grain – After the top blade rests, slice against the grain for the most tender beef slices.
- Catch the au jus – Wrapping the top blade in butcher paper with extra tallow gives you some delicious drippings. Be careful unwrapping the beef when it’s done, and pour the leftover tallow and seasoned drippings into a bowl to save for dipping, similar to a French dip au jus.
- Remove the inner band of connective tissue before serving – The top blade roast has a long strip of connective tissue that runs between the two sides of flat iron. It doesn’t break down well during the smoking process, so we prefer to remove it before serving.
Smoked Top Blade Roast (Whole Flat Iron)
Ingredients
- 4½ – 5 lb top blade roast, aka whole flat iron
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup Texas-style rub
- 2 tablespoons coarse black pepper
Instructions
- Trim the fat from the beef, removing any silver skin as needed. Cut the trimmed fat pieces into chunks and add to an aluminum foil pan.
- After trimming, rub about 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce over the entire roast as a binder. Then season with Texas-style rub or your favorite BBQ rub. If using our Texas rub recipe, then season the roast with a bit of extra coarse black pepper. Then insert a wireless thermometer into the thickest part of the meat to monitor the temperatures while it cooks.
- Preheat the pellet grill or smoker to 225-250°F with your choice of wood or pellets.
- Place your seasoned flat iron directly on the grill grates with the thicker end facing towards the fire pot or heat source. Place the foil pan of fat trimmings on the grill near the beef. Smoke at about 225-250°F until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. *I chose a temp right in the middle at 235°F, and it took about 4 1/2 hours to reach 165°F, but your cooking times will vary.
- Once the beef reaches 165°F internal, remove it from the grill and transfer to a large sheet of butcher paper. Pour some of the rendered beef fat from the foil pan on top of the beef. Wrap the beef tightly with the butcher paper.
- Increase the grill temperature to 250℉ (if it was lower than that previously). Return the wrapped roast to the grill, and continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches about 194-195°F.
- Transfer the beef to a cutting board. Keep the beef wrapped and the wireless thermometer in the meat. Rest the roast, still wrapped, until the temperature comes down to about 155-160°F.
- After resting, slice against the grain into strips about ¼" to ½" thick and serve. *You can also cut the roast in half lengthwise to remove the gelatinous connective tissue before slicing into strips.
Notes
- Catch the au jus – Wrapping the top blade in foil with extra tallow gives you some delicious drippings. Be careful unwrapping the beef when it’s done, and pour the leftover tallow and seasoned drippings into a bowl to save for dipping, similar to a French dip au jus.
- Remove the inner band of connective tissue before serving – The top blade roast has a long strip of connective tissue that runs between the two sides of flat iron. It doesn’t break down well during the smoking process, so we prefer to remove it before serving.
- Cooking times will vary – Different grills maintain heat differently, and the grill temperature can vary drastically (by 50 degrees or more) from where your grill’s thermometer is versus where you place the roast on the grill grates – top or bottom grate, middle or end of the grill, etc. The times in the recipe are a guide only. You should always cook your meats to the proper internal temperature, not to a specific time.
