Let me start by apologizing to all the wonderful Southerner board members out there. But see, I’m a blue-blooded Yankee woman through and through, and we do things different up here in the cold and frozen North (here in Maine). First of all, we don’t much go in for “pulled meat,” whatever that is. Guess our hands are too cold.
(OK, I think I’ve had it once, but it was highly overrated. Sorry. I suppose I didn’t have the “good” stuff.) Second, I don’t much subscribe to all the “recommendations” (fear tactics and lies) of the Medical Mafia (aka the AMA). I’m more in line with the Sally Fallon and Uffe Ravnskov crowd, and I’m not scared of meat and especially not scared of fat--I eat as much of it as I can (‘cause I know what’s hardening up the arteries is nonsaturated “vegetable oil” crap anyways and not the good old animal fat).
So I wanted to make a chuck roast on the WSM, and I asked for advice here on how to do so. And many thanks to DennisM, Larry Wolfe, and Dave/G for their help, by the way. But even with the good advice, it was hard. See, I don’t want to “pull” my meat--I want to eat with knife and fork. And I don’t want to bother with “foiling” it. And I sure as heck don’t want to render all the fat out! I WANT the fat! So....what to do....
I started by marinating my 3-lb chuck roast for 24 hours with this (I ran it all through the blender):
5 cloves of garlic
3 oz. of sherry
2 oz. of red wine vinegar
2 oz. olive oil
2 tbs. soy sauce
2 tbs. tomato puree
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
I wish I could claim credit for this marinade, but I got it from this guy here:
good bbq ideas
So I fired up my WSM today, and it’s still new (only the second time I've used it) and burns a little hot, but that’s OK. I placed that fat old chuck roast on the lower rack at 12:30 this afternoon. It ran hot (265-270 or so for a couple of hours measured at the lid) until it settled into a nice 250 or so measured at the lid. One hour into it I added some sweet potatoes drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. I also put on some brussels sprouts soaked with melted butter, maple syrup, and lime juice. Yeah, I used to HATE brussels sprouts too....until I had ‘em ‘cued.
Four hours into it the meat was at 161 degrees - like “medium” or so, but I like it cooked more (even though my husband likes his meat still mooing, but I win ‘cause I’m the chef, right?). In another hour or so the temperature in the WSM spiked to about 275, must have had some wood (used oak) combust. No harm done, though. By 5:30 -- five hours into the cook -- the meat temperature was at 171 degrees and the veggies were PERFECT. I took everything off.
WOW!! The meat sliced up PERFECTLY! It was still right full of fat -- just the way we like it! -- but it was tender and smoky and delicious! The veggies were GREAT! Everything was delicious! But now I am so full I could BURST!
So....to any of you who want to try a nice -- and may I add CHEAP? -- chuck roast in your WSM, and you want to slice it and not pull it, and you want veggies, and you want it all to be delicious....well, do what I did! The pictures are proof.
So I wanted to make a chuck roast on the WSM, and I asked for advice here on how to do so. And many thanks to DennisM, Larry Wolfe, and Dave/G for their help, by the way. But even with the good advice, it was hard. See, I don’t want to “pull” my meat--I want to eat with knife and fork. And I don’t want to bother with “foiling” it. And I sure as heck don’t want to render all the fat out! I WANT the fat! So....what to do....
I started by marinating my 3-lb chuck roast for 24 hours with this (I ran it all through the blender):
5 cloves of garlic
3 oz. of sherry
2 oz. of red wine vinegar
2 oz. olive oil
2 tbs. soy sauce
2 tbs. tomato puree
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
I wish I could claim credit for this marinade, but I got it from this guy here:
good bbq ideas
So I fired up my WSM today, and it’s still new (only the second time I've used it) and burns a little hot, but that’s OK. I placed that fat old chuck roast on the lower rack at 12:30 this afternoon. It ran hot (265-270 or so for a couple of hours measured at the lid) until it settled into a nice 250 or so measured at the lid. One hour into it I added some sweet potatoes drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. I also put on some brussels sprouts soaked with melted butter, maple syrup, and lime juice. Yeah, I used to HATE brussels sprouts too....until I had ‘em ‘cued.
Four hours into it the meat was at 161 degrees - like “medium” or so, but I like it cooked more (even though my husband likes his meat still mooing, but I win ‘cause I’m the chef, right?). In another hour or so the temperature in the WSM spiked to about 275, must have had some wood (used oak) combust. No harm done, though. By 5:30 -- five hours into the cook -- the meat temperature was at 171 degrees and the veggies were PERFECT. I took everything off.
WOW!! The meat sliced up PERFECTLY! It was still right full of fat -- just the way we like it! -- but it was tender and smoky and delicious! The veggies were GREAT! Everything was delicious! But now I am so full I could BURST!
So....to any of you who want to try a nice -- and may I add CHEAP? -- chuck roast in your WSM, and you want to slice it and not pull it, and you want veggies, and you want it all to be delicious....well, do what I did! The pictures are proof.
