Chuck roll questions

[Matt A 3]

Since I got my WSM almost a year ago I have only used it to make ribs, pork butt and brisket.

I'd like to make a chuck roll since anything desribed as "the pulled pork of beef" has got to be good.

Two questions for the experts out there:

(1) I went to buy a chuck roll at a local meat wholesaler yesterday. The smallest one he had was USDA Choice in cryovac, 28lbs. Huge! Most of the posts about chuck rolls suggest they are supposed to be about 20lbs or less. Is 28lbs normal? If you get one that big, can you just cut it in half? The price was 2.09/lb, does that seem reasonable?

(2) It seems many (most?) people foil the chuck roll at ~160 until it is done at 190-200. You can do this with pork butt but it seems less common and mostly just to speed up the process as opposed to for flavor/moisture/texture/etc. Is foiling a chuck roll really critical to the cooking process? What does it add?

Thanks for the input. I was going to do the smoke this weekend but when I saw the 28lb roll I realized I needed to plan a little better for this.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Dave/G]

Originally posted by Matt A 3:
Is 28lbs normal? If you get one that big, can you just cut it in half? The price was 2.09/lb, does that seem reasonable?

Yes, they can get into the 30's. Yes, cut it to the size you want. I usually do 7-8 lb pieces, however they do shrink a lot. Yes, very reasonable compared to here.

Is foiling a chuck roll really critical to the cooking process? What does it add?

It shortens the cook time considerably and helps melting the fat. Chuck is loaded with fat. Some add flavorings to the foil. Check out Chris's chuck roll cook in the cooking section. Much great info. chuck roll

 

[Tony C.]

i have only done one and it was around 18 pounds. i cut it and half and didn't foil during the cook, but i did foil after they were done and put in a cooler for 5 hours. if i hadn't rested so long i think the bark would have been too hard to chew. i'm doing one one night this week(17.29 pounds) and will probably leave this one whole and see what it's looking like the next morning to see if i want to foil. time won't be an issue because i'm off all week and not really doing the chuck roll as a dinner(unless it's ready for dinner). i'm just doing it to do it and to food save a few bags for chili, quesadillas and stuff.

 

[Dave/G]

And then there are people like Tony C who don't foil, but turn out great Q

 

[Tony C.]

Originally posted by Dave/G:
And then there are people like Tony C who don't foil, but turn out great Q

i'll probably foil the one i'm doing this week.the only reason i didn't foil the two halves last time was because they were getting done way earlier than planned and one half was for dinner at my dad's house. i didn't want to have to hold one for 6-8 hours. in hind sight, i could have foiled the half i planned on keeping for myself and see which way i liked better.

 

[john enea]

i did a 23 pounder a month ago and did not foil. I cut it in half to ease cooking, but to also let me get more surface area to allow for more bark. at about 9 hours i put a probe in the meat to monitor temp and pulled it when i though it was done. like Tony, i did not foil until after taking it off the WSM, and let it sit for about 3 hours before pulling. one thing, if you under cook it it will not pull at all, so error on the side of cooking a little longer. Chris says,
chris' chuck roll
pull at 190-195, so I pulled at 195. came out great.

oh yeh, get ready for lots of leftovers!

 

[Brandon A]

John what did you think about the chuck roll without the foil. Was your bark overly chewy?

I'm trying to get an definate understanding of what the foil is expected to do here. The two I've done I've foiled, and I didnt notice a drastic increase of temperature vs. time like you would a smaller, thinner cut like brisket. It may speed things up a bit but not by much IME.

So I'm wondering if the foil is mostly to keep the bark from getting very hard, if so couldent a mop of some kind be used to keep the bark soft? I dont know which would be a bigger PITA, opening the lid to mop repetedly or wrapping in foil.

 

[Tim C]

the only one i've tried i cooked whole and foiled at 160.it was a 23 lb also. it had good bark and turned out great. we chopped some up for tacos and enchiladas just the other night.

roll

 

[john enea]

Originally posted by Brandon A:
John what did you think about the chuck roll without the foil. Was your bark overly chewy?

I'm trying to get an definate understanding of what the foil is expected to do here. The two I've done I've foiled, and I didnt notice a drastic increase of temperature vs. time like you would a smaller, thinner cut like brisket. It may speed things up a bit but not by much IME.

So I'm wondering if the foil is mostly to keep the bark from getting very hard, if so couldent a mop of some kind be used to keep the bark soft? I dont know which would be a bigger PITA, opening the lid to mop repetedly or wrapping in foil.

the bark was pretty crunchy. I did foil it for 2 hours when i took it off and that helped soften it to a point that was not to hard, not to soft, just right. Try it one way and then learn from that.