With the ever-growing popularity of easy to use pellet smokers, there has never been a better time to introduce your family and friends to picanha (pronounced pecan-ya). If you don’t have a wood pellet smoker, with the holidays approaching, now is a great time to start dropping hints. You can grill a picanha on a gas grill, but it just doesn’t come out the same as when you use real wood as fuel.

If you’ve ever traveled to Brazil or eaten at a Brazilian steakhouse, you’ve likely enjoyed this savory beef cut grilled on a skewer over charcoal.

Known also as a top sirloin cap or the French word culotte, this small roast packs incredible savory taste and eating quality second to none on the beef carcass, in my opinion. You can find this item in the NAMP Meat Buyers Guide as 184E.

I like to use Wagyu, CAB, high choice or prime culottes. I simply put a dry rub of course ground pepper, kosher salt (or other course ground salt) and my favorite dry rubs that I use for briskets, but just salt and pepper will do. I wet age them for 21 to 40 days in my cooler in the vacuum bag.

Picanhas are small in size, just 2 to 3 pounds each, so I batch cook at least four of them at a time. After applying the dry rub, I put the culottes on smoke only setting for an hour, then turn the heat up to 325 degrees F. I leave them on the smoker until the centers reach 155 degrees. Then I simply turn off the smoker and let them sit for 20-30 minutes before serving them.

Carving up the picanha at the dinner table just before you eat it is the way to go. The small roast will retain the heat and juice best this way. I cut mine into thin slices about ¼” thick and serve them with the fat cap on, which is normally about ¼" to ½” thick.

Buying sirloin caps is not as easy as cooking them. It can be difficult to find these gems and you may have to buy them online or find a local meat shop that’s well connected into the beef industry that can find them for you.

Have you ever seen sirloin caps for sale in your local grocery store?

Picanhas are a great beef cut to batch cook and have around all week for re-heating and re-purposing into other meals. I use them for making chili, serving cold on salads or my favorite way is to cut the slices thin from a cold roast and sauté them in butter.

This holiday season, do yourself a favor and get some picanha for smoking and serving to your family and friends.

The beef industry is always looking for ways to improve the value of the cut-out. One way is to always separate the sirloin caps from the centers on the top butts and merchandise them separately.

What’s been your experience cooking and eating picanhas/culottes?

Pick up some picanha!

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