How to cook meat (chuck/brisket) damn near perfect every time.
Had some beginners luck on my first chuck roast. Nice and juicy w/ nice bark.
I made 2 more over the weekend and both were a little over done. Bark was a little too thick/hard to chew in places. Meat inside was a little dry.
I have a 22 inch webber kettle w/ a Slow n Sear. I use water in the pan.
I don't have a thermometer to measure meat temp and grill temp (I've been winging it all this time) but never had a problem w/ ribs I just do the bend test and that's fine.
I guess I definitely need a thermometer, one that does the meat and grill at the same time. Is it crucial to catch the meat right at the stall to foil it to bring the temp up?
I don't bother with stall numbers. I deal with aesthetics. When cooking with the SnS (or any indirect method) I watch the top. Once that barks up I flip it and let the other side bark up. Once barked up enough I wrap and take to probe tender, or whatever is required.
Thanks for the link, Jerod. I can see a couple places where I could improve, and where a couple chuckie cooks went wrong. I've wound up slicing a couple rather than pulling them, but I think I see the changes needed.
Roughly how long at that 225? Is this a 6 hour, 10 hour, 12, 16?
Grill/Smoke/Roast = SnS Grills Kettle + SnS Deluxe Insert & Drip n' Griddle
Grill/Smoke/Roast = Hasty-Bake Gourmet Dual Finish with HB rotisserie and Grill Grates
Smoke = Weber Smokey Mountain 22.5"
Pizza = Blackstone Propane Pizza Oven (Stacy's, but she let's me use it sometimes)
Indoor Cooking = LG Studio 30" gas range
Camp Cooking = Coleman 2 burner white gas stove
Thermometer = FireBoard FBX2 with 2 ambient and 6 meat probes
Thermapen Mk IV = Light blue
Thermapen Mk IV = Black
PID Controller = Fireboard Drive + Auber 20 CFM Fan (FB gen 1 fan)
PID Controller = Fireboard Drive + Fireboard 20 CFM Fan (FB gen 2 fan)
Knives
Wusthof Classic Ikon set: 9" carving knive, 2X 8" Chef's Knife, 7" Santoku and three utility knives
Kamikoto Kuro set: 7" Santoku, 6.5" Nakiri, 5" Utility
Amazing Ribs Brazilian Steak knife set
Favorite wine = whatever is currently in the wine rack
Favorite beer = Sam Adams Boston Lager or Shiner Bock
Favorite whisky = Lagavulin Distiller's Edition 16 year old single malt
Best Cookbooks - Meathead's "The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling", Chris Lilly's "Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book", Aaron Franklin's "Franklin BBQ"
Cookbooks to check out - Raichlen's "Brisket Chronicles" and anything by Adam Perry Lang.
Current fanboy cookbook - "Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant"
Get yourself a Maverick ET-732 and a good instant read probe. Preferably the Thermapen, but a Thermoworks Thermopop is good, too. Jerod Broussard hit the nail on the head for basic technique. I personally don't touch whatever I'm cooking (brisket, Chuck, pork butt) until it hits 190 on the Maverick and then I start probing for tenderness. I find that both brisket and pork butt are generally somewhere between 195 and 203. 80% of the time it's 198-200. Chuck usually needs to get a bit hotter in my experience, like 205 or so.
Thanks guys. Jerod Broussard I didn't realize the meat needs a flip...my first cook I let stay for about 6 hours as I was gone all afternoon. The temp fell a lot and there was a nice bark when I got home but the meat temp was 153. This past week, I flipped it and left the house again but vents were too open and I think it was too hot - a little too much bark that was like chewing beef jerky in spots.
Going at it again this week. Been using the recipe off the ABC/SNS site.
ecowper Will likely grab a dot, looks like a great all round tool.
It is not a cook killer to not flip. But for all around bark and to prevent one side from getting too jerkified if cooking past the stall uncovered, it helps give a more uniform product.
Cookers:
Weber Kettle (used/fair condition; a gift).
Grilla OG.
Pit Boss 3-Burner Ultimate Lift-Off Griddle.
SnS Kettle.
Everything Else:
Sous Vide equipment.
Instant read and leave-in thermometers.
Grill Grates.
Kingsford Blue Bag, Royal Oak Lump Charcoal, Weber lighter cubes, Weber charcoal chimneys.
BBQr's Delight Hickory & Apple flavor pellets, propane torch, 6" smoke tube.
Grilla apple & hickory pellets, Royal Oak charcoal pellets.
Rubs with salt: Meat Church, Meathead.
Rubs without salt: SnS Grills Rocky's Rub and Not Just for Beef.
Rubs home-mixed: None at this time.
Spices: Lots of 'em.
On my Kettle + SnS, for pork butts I typically add more Kingsford briquets close to 7 hours in and flip my butts then as they have good top bark. Doing both at the same time has worked great for me. YMMV with chuckies and brisket. Here's my last butt when I was heading for the faux cambro.
Equipment
Weber Genesis Gas
Weber 22" Kettle (black)
Smokenator
Slow N Sear
Thermometers
Maverick 732 Redi-Chek
Thermopop
Fuel
Kingsford Blue Bag
Kingsford Professional
Wood
Apple (chunks)
Mesquite (chunks)
Hickory (chunks)
Oak (chunks)
Beverages
Beer: Sun King Sunlight Cream Ale; Goose Island 312; Goose Island Green Line; Revolution Anti-Hero IPA; Lagunitas IPA
Bourbon: Basil Hayden
Rye: George Dickel
Cocktail: Manhattan
Personal
Married, one child (son)
Originally from Indianapolis, IN. Currently live in Chicago's Western Suburbs (near Meathead!)
Associate Dean at Chicago area university
The single most important thing I learned on AR was to use a thermometer and cook to temp/tenderness, not time. The Maverick is great and the Thermopop works well.
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