Oh, yeah I do wrap. The first time I simply forgot and wrapped too late in the process.One last thing I forgot to say, if you're going to take them to 200, I would wrap them in foil around 165 or so with some beef broth and anything else you might like infused into the meat. I know, I know, it sounds like it should be against the law to wrap when cooking on a pellet grill, but I have to confess, it's the best way to go (imho)
A couple things I do differently, not saying it's right or wrong, your mileage may vary. I cook my chucks at 250 from start to finish. I spritzer them every 45 minutes, and wrap them around 165/170 in foil with good amount of beef broth and Montreal Steak Seasoning. Basically the chuck is now braising. I've had good success doing so. I think that the parchment paper worked against you, I know your reasoning, and can only suggest finding a foil that you're OK with direct contact to the meat. One of my favorite things to smoke L&S is just the brisket point. You probably can't get the point by it's self at Costco, but I'm sure you can find it in the store. The point alone is generally cheaper per pound than a chuck, at least here on the left coastI really want to nail it for brisket style cooking. Even though I can buy a whole prime brisket for really cheap at Costco, I can't figure out what to do with all that meat. Chucks are perfect from size standpoint. Unless someone has a suggestion for another cut I can do a L&S on like a brisket, gives me that same eating quality, but I don't have to cook half a steer worth of food
Thing that is weird is it turned into a brick. IDK why parchment would work against it. I did pour in a braising liquid. I noticed after that the chcuks from Costco are "blade tenderized". I wonder if that somehow wrecks the meat for L&S/end braise? This was only my second attempt and both were with Costco chucks. Maybe I should try one from elsewhere that's not "tenderized". I really wish they would not do that to their meats. One more reason I try to only buy primals there. If I want a "cut" I will go to Sam's. They don't alter their meat. Also I have never temp'd a chuck I have done in the dutch oven. Maybe I should. Then I would possibly know the temp they get tender at. Never had a bad chuck out of my dutch oven or my pressure cookerA couple things I do differently, not saying it's right or wrong, your mileage may vary. I cook my chucks at 250 from start to finish. I spritzer them every 45 minutes, and wrap them around 165/170 in foil with good amount of beef broth and Montreal Steak Seasoning. Basically the chuck is now braising. I've had good success doing so. I think that the parchment paper worked against you, I know your reasoning, and can only suggest finding a foil that you're OK with direct contact to the meat. One of my favorite things to smoke L&S is just the brisket point. You probably can't get the point by it's self at Costco, but I'm sure you can find it in the store. The point alone is generally cheaper per pound than a chuck, at least here on the left coast
Lastly, you might have been able to pull yours sooner, however shredding takes place best at 200 or better and I really think the secret is to wrap it in foil and with a generous amount of beef broth. The red wine might have contributed to some of the dryness, that's a WAG on my part. That's a cool smoker