Chuckie tips


 
My local kroger has a bogo deal for chuck roast. My wife will use one for stew and myself the other for pulled beef. I havent done a chuck roast yet. My questions.....
Cooking temp?
What temp to pull it off?
Are these long cooks like pork butt?
I plan on using the snake method on the copper kettle. I havent decided yet which rub i'll use. I'll be smoking it next weekend. The name on the label is beef chuck under blade pot roast boneless. Thanks in advance
 
My favorite method for Chuckies is Pepper Stout Beef. There are dozens of ways that you can modify this recipe to fit you and your family's personal taste.

It is a great jumping off point.





BD
 
I use the same technique for shredded chuck roast as I do for pulled pork. Cook it at 250ish, take it off the grate around 205, foil and rest. It's been my experience that beef fat and connective tissue seem to take longer to break down so I figure 2 hours cook time per pound; if it gets done earlier than expected it just rests longer.
 
Those are good questions, B Bronnert. I bought a couple of those myself last week during their sale. I do pork shoulders often but had never done a chuck roast. Initially, I planned to smoke it very similar to how I do shoulders (as Brad mentioned) although I read an article elsewhere suggesting that this cut of beef might need to climb to approx 210* before being ready to pull. Anyway, other tasks prevented me from being able to throw it in the WSM this past weekend, so I cheated and used the Instant Pot. We made French dip sandwiches from it and they made an excellent dinner. So much so that I am eager to try it again by smoking the next one.
 
I like a braising approach, even on the grill.

I have done this with an hour's low and slow with lots of smoke. Then it goes into a cast iron dutch oven/camp oven along with onions and a liquid of your choosing, and and/or vegetables of your choosing. These vegetables are in there for flavoring the meat, not for eating directly. They will be flavorless mush by the time the meat is done. I tend to use mirapoix: onions, carrots, celery, and my liquid of choice is a can of Campbell's beef consumme. The lidded cast iron stays on the grill for a few hours until the meat it fall apart tender, which will vary based on size of the cut of meat and grill temp. I aim at 275* on the grill, indirect. I use a "ring of fire" approach for the 2nd phase. Lit charcoals on top of unlit all around the outside rim of the charcoal grate.

Of course, you save the liquid. Use a fat separator to got out the juice to make a sauce. Use the fat to fry up some potatoes.
 
"...a fat separator to got out the juice to make a sauce."

I've used my fat separator a number of times, but still prefer to pour the juices in a pot and set it in the freezer for 1/2 hour to solidify. Then I heat the juices up and pour it through a nylon net to get the other "stuff" out.

The nylon netting I use are paint strainers from the DIY stores. Fairly cheap. I've been I using the same initial package (of 3) for years when I home brew. I just dedicated one for fats only.
 
Thanks for all the input. I'll try the pepper stout beef route. And i'll try my hand at the almost no kneed bread rising as we speak.
 

 

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