Because of of recent posts, the title of this old post caught my eye. 
Plant based chucky?? 
Plant based chucky??
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Looks great. The recipe is clear, thanks!
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I've got this exact cook in my sights for the coming week, hopefully. I'm eager to give it a try. I even have the 8 quart square Camp Chef CI DO to do it in. Reports to come...
KathrynLast edited by fzxdoc; July 30, 2021, 07:26 AM.Comment
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You know, I gotta second the nomination for sticky status. This is some amazing stuff that everyone needs to see upfront.Comment
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I did this cook yesterday. I have never crutched any meat in a container. I've always wrapped tightly in foil with no extra liquid added. But I determined to follow the recipe to the letter, even using the exact same DO that Polarbear777 used.
The cook was picture perfect. I had two chuck roasts, equaling 5 lbs trimmed, just as the recipe was scaled down for. They were from Sam's Club, beautifully marbled.
I used the WSCCG with the SnS, both of which are admirably designed for a great smoking experience.
After the chucks reached 170 and had great bark, I put them in the square Camp Chef DO with tallow rendered from the fat that I had trimmed before the dry brine step. Another admirable design--there is a little opening where the lid meets the pot that allows for 2 probe cables to feed through without crimping. Gosh I love that DO!
I was nervous that the DO was much larger than the meat inside--the meat filled about 50% of the pan. Remember I'm used to a tight wrap. But I continued on.
Within 1.5 hours the meat had exceeded 200°. I let them coast at 205° and 211° respectively for 2.5 hours. Then I pulled them. That pulled beef was thing of beauty, perhaps the best I've ever made. No need to cambro (!) Lots of moisture, nearly all the fat rendered (I had done a pretty vigorous trim) tasting great. I almost hated to proceed on to the next step. But I continued on.
The next step has you placing the pulled beef back into the DO in all the liquids and smoking for 1.5 hours more at 250ish.
I figured the purpose of this step was to sort of confit the meat while the ends sticking out of the liquid get kissed by the smoke from the one more chunk of wood added to the SnS at this point.
But what that last step did at my hands was to dry it out. My mistake? I used too large a pot. I should have crammed it into a smaller CI skillet, with the liquid covering more of the meat, and it probably would have turned out like everyone else's here who has tried this recipe. I noticed, too late, that Polarbear had smoked maybe 12-13 lbs of chuck for that size DO, not the 5 lbs that I used.
Much of the meat was good, but some was dry. No worries, it will go into chili tonight and be delicious, I'm sure. That's the nice thing about smoked chuck--it's pretty forgiving, as long as it's made with well-marbled meat.
My take home insight: Use that DO again for crutching. Gosh, it worked beautifully. Make this recipe again, which is identical to my TNT Chuckie recipe except for that last step and the crutching method, but be mindful of the last step. I'll possibly eliminate it altogether. But maybe not.
KathrynLast edited by fzxdoc; August 30, 2021, 08:54 AM.Comment
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It was the addition of the 1/4 cup of tallow that I used per the recipe that made me wonder if the last step was sort of a confit-type of cooking since there's already a good amount of fat from the beef itself. I'm still wondering what that last step brings to the party. Why not just serve the beef right after it is pulled? Polarbear777
KathrynLast edited by fzxdoc; August 30, 2021, 09:55 PM. -
The last step allows the tips to get some extra smoke and bark and gets the liquids mixed in well with the pulled strands, but could be skipped I’m sure. Either way it’s easy to keep warm in the DO.
That last step was one I got from EdF. -
Oh, I see. Thanks, Polarbear777 .
I sure do miss EdF . Another great cook and all-round good person.
Kathryn
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Also I do like the notch in that camp chef Dutch oven for the thermo probe. An angle grinder will make a notch like it just fine in any other (non vintage please) DO.Comment
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That looks really good. Nice job my friend!Comment
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Back at this again. Two 5# chucks on my BGE this morning at 8:30. Dinner planned at 6:00 pm. Pictures and notes to follow. They’re in the stall right now and headed to the DO in an hour.Comment
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Cook completed pretty-much on-time. I think the meat could've used a bit longer for the second smoke after shredding but it was tasty. This makes really good carnitas.
Here's a link to to cook for those interested.
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