Well some chuck roasts were BOGO so I decided to give them a shot on the smoker after looking up the recipes here. Somehow that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind till now. Guess I should copy this on the recipe page. Prelude:
So I learned the art of smoking on my WSM 22†but these were done on my newly acquired (tomorrow morning when I pay for it) less than 1 year old GMG DC from my co-worker for $100. I absolutely love charcoal but what can I say, the deal is too good to pass up. Either way this isn’t meant to be a critique, just my learning experience. I should have taken some "right out of the package" pics of the meat but know that I dug through three separate piles to find 2 that had the best marbling.
Method:
I gave the smoker a good cleaning as I don’t think that had ever been done. The drip pan was awful so I soaked it for an hour, scraped it with the same blade I use to clean my glass top stove, and then wrapped it with foil. I wrapped it as tight as I could and made sure it followed the contour of the side and bottom edges as close as possible for airflow. For the meat I salted them both yesterday around 2pm and dry brined till noon today. For seasoning the one on the left just got peppered, the one on the right got the big bad beef rub. For reference they were put into the smoker in the same orientation with the one on the left getting the temp probe, consequently closest to the pellet box, and the diffuser was pushed all the way to the right per some recommendations on here. Before, after and during pics all reflect this orientation. Ran it in my garage out of the wind with the other garage door open for ventilation as the avg temp here in WI was between 35 and 40 and there was no snow in my garage’s forecast. Roasts were both put on the relatively small cooking surface but there was more than an inch between them so I wasn’t worried about overcrowding. Both were on by 12:30 at 225 and I went back to work so they were left unattended. No water pan, no spritzing, just over a completely electro-mechanically automated temperature regulated fire fueled by compressed wood pellets... the way nature intended. I used Lumberjack competition blend pellets btw, presumably also harvested by cheap labor directly from the forest. 5:15 the one one the left read 156 and with kids to feed I knew I needed to speed things up in order to even hit 180 per the recipe. I made some beef broth, pulled the roasts, wrapped in foil with 1/4 cup broth each and crutched for 30 mins, bumping the temp up to 235. I did not re-insert the temp probe but given the time constraint I knew I was only had time to crutch for 30 mins. Once that was done I unwrapped and put them back on for another 30 mins to get the bark back. I did notice that when putting them back on the one on the left felt rigid while the right felt more tender... more bend to it. Once they were taken off they sat on a platter under foil for about 5 mins, maybe longer, then sliced.
Results:
Both smelled fantastic and had great flavor but they lacked moisture overall. The left one was dry all around and needed bbq sauce to make it edible. I could tell the moment the knife hit it that it was dry. The one on the right was dry around the edges, maybe 1†all around, but after that it was very tender and juicy. Unfortunately I didn’t realize this until we were done eating because my original intent was to cut the leftovers up and freeze them or make chili or tacos or something. After dinner I sliced up the rest and threw it in the cast iron skillet with the remaining 1/2 cup of beef broth to simmer while covered. It is now 5 hrs later and it’s all as tender as I hoped it would be at dinner.
Post mortem and lessons learned:
1: I should really dry run this smoker atv225 and do the bread test on it to identify the hot spots. Funny because I look at pic 2 below and you’d think the right roast was dryer based on color but it was just opposite. Bark didn’t mean anything in terms of being dry.
2: I’ll make sure I spritz next time which means it’s not really set it and forget it unless I can sneak a small water pan in there on the left side. Shouldn’t be too hard. Again I learned on WSM 22 and always fill my water pan to the top. Extends the cook time but I’ve NEVER had anything even remotely dry. Consequently I’ve read a lot on here, from weekend warriors to champions, that they don’t use water pans and it always turns out perfectly moist. Not saying anyone is wrong but that hasn’t been my experience thus far.
3: Both seasoning methods were great. Maybe this is more of a reminder than a lesson but I feel like sometimes I get caught in the trap of trying to perfect some amazing rub but damnit if the simplicity of good old salt and pepper doesn’t do the trick. Really lets the meat and smoke shine.
4: I’ve crutched pork, ribs specifically via the 3-2-1 method at 225, and they’ve always turned out a little too gummy for my taste. If anything it’s 3-1-1 for me and maybe less than 1 depending on how thick they are. Literally a different animal but I think that got me a little gun shy on the chuck roasts. Next time I think I would wrap these for at least 2 hrs or more AND probe them during the wrap. Timing had a lot to do with my decisions today but really when is that ever not a factor.
Well I’ll that was long winded but maybe someone out there has some tips or other lessons learned that make my next attempt better, or visa versa. Thanks in advance.
So I learned the art of smoking on my WSM 22†but these were done on my newly acquired (tomorrow morning when I pay for it) less than 1 year old GMG DC from my co-worker for $100. I absolutely love charcoal but what can I say, the deal is too good to pass up. Either way this isn’t meant to be a critique, just my learning experience. I should have taken some "right out of the package" pics of the meat but know that I dug through three separate piles to find 2 that had the best marbling.
Method:
I gave the smoker a good cleaning as I don’t think that had ever been done. The drip pan was awful so I soaked it for an hour, scraped it with the same blade I use to clean my glass top stove, and then wrapped it with foil. I wrapped it as tight as I could and made sure it followed the contour of the side and bottom edges as close as possible for airflow. For the meat I salted them both yesterday around 2pm and dry brined till noon today. For seasoning the one on the left just got peppered, the one on the right got the big bad beef rub. For reference they were put into the smoker in the same orientation with the one on the left getting the temp probe, consequently closest to the pellet box, and the diffuser was pushed all the way to the right per some recommendations on here. Before, after and during pics all reflect this orientation. Ran it in my garage out of the wind with the other garage door open for ventilation as the avg temp here in WI was between 35 and 40 and there was no snow in my garage’s forecast. Roasts were both put on the relatively small cooking surface but there was more than an inch between them so I wasn’t worried about overcrowding. Both were on by 12:30 at 225 and I went back to work so they were left unattended. No water pan, no spritzing, just over a completely electro-mechanically automated temperature regulated fire fueled by compressed wood pellets... the way nature intended. I used Lumberjack competition blend pellets btw, presumably also harvested by cheap labor directly from the forest. 5:15 the one one the left read 156 and with kids to feed I knew I needed to speed things up in order to even hit 180 per the recipe. I made some beef broth, pulled the roasts, wrapped in foil with 1/4 cup broth each and crutched for 30 mins, bumping the temp up to 235. I did not re-insert the temp probe but given the time constraint I knew I was only had time to crutch for 30 mins. Once that was done I unwrapped and put them back on for another 30 mins to get the bark back. I did notice that when putting them back on the one on the left felt rigid while the right felt more tender... more bend to it. Once they were taken off they sat on a platter under foil for about 5 mins, maybe longer, then sliced.
Results:
Both smelled fantastic and had great flavor but they lacked moisture overall. The left one was dry all around and needed bbq sauce to make it edible. I could tell the moment the knife hit it that it was dry. The one on the right was dry around the edges, maybe 1†all around, but after that it was very tender and juicy. Unfortunately I didn’t realize this until we were done eating because my original intent was to cut the leftovers up and freeze them or make chili or tacos or something. After dinner I sliced up the rest and threw it in the cast iron skillet with the remaining 1/2 cup of beef broth to simmer while covered. It is now 5 hrs later and it’s all as tender as I hoped it would be at dinner.
Post mortem and lessons learned:
1: I should really dry run this smoker atv225 and do the bread test on it to identify the hot spots. Funny because I look at pic 2 below and you’d think the right roast was dryer based on color but it was just opposite. Bark didn’t mean anything in terms of being dry.
2: I’ll make sure I spritz next time which means it’s not really set it and forget it unless I can sneak a small water pan in there on the left side. Shouldn’t be too hard. Again I learned on WSM 22 and always fill my water pan to the top. Extends the cook time but I’ve NEVER had anything even remotely dry. Consequently I’ve read a lot on here, from weekend warriors to champions, that they don’t use water pans and it always turns out perfectly moist. Not saying anyone is wrong but that hasn’t been my experience thus far.
3: Both seasoning methods were great. Maybe this is more of a reminder than a lesson but I feel like sometimes I get caught in the trap of trying to perfect some amazing rub but damnit if the simplicity of good old salt and pepper doesn’t do the trick. Really lets the meat and smoke shine.
4: I’ve crutched pork, ribs specifically via the 3-2-1 method at 225, and they’ve always turned out a little too gummy for my taste. If anything it’s 3-1-1 for me and maybe less than 1 depending on how thick they are. Literally a different animal but I think that got me a little gun shy on the chuck roasts. Next time I think I would wrap these for at least 2 hrs or more AND probe them during the wrap. Timing had a lot to do with my decisions today but really when is that ever not a factor.
Well I’ll that was long winded but maybe someone out there has some tips or other lessons learned that make my next attempt better, or visa versa. Thanks in advance.
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