Perplexed by Tough Chuck Roast

[RAmorris]

I live in Central Florida and its been raining almost every day for a month. So I haven't been able to use my smoker very much. Today I bought a 2.8 pound choice chuck roast from our Publix supermarket. It was pretty well marbled for choice grade and chuck roast. I put Oakridge BBQ Black Ops brisket rub on it and let it sit in a covered refrigerated foil pan for 3 hours. Then put it, still covered in the pan, in the oven at 250 degrees. After 3 hours and at an internal temperature of 191, I reduced the temperature to 225. I took it up an hour later at an internal temperature of 197. The pan had a good bit of juice in it. I let it rest in the covered foil pan for an hour.

It was almost too tough to cut. It WAS too tough to eat. I chewed until my jaw muscles began to hurt. Finally I gave up and had a ham sandwich. My wife doesn't eat red meat, and had a comical look on her face as she ate her tender, juicy, roasted chicken leg and thigh. I plan to put the remainder of the roast in its juices (about a cup left), add a cup of beef broth, and put it in a pressure cooker on the high setting for 45 minutes.

Why was this roast so tough?

[Jerod Broussard]

Chuck needs to go over 200 for some time.

I've pulled one to try, but I prefer to brown mine real quick, put it in a covered pan in the oven with a little water, set oven for 200-225, then let it go overnight aka 10-12 hours.

[David Parrish]

Two things come to mind. 1) It wasn't actually a chuck roast (labeled wrong). 2) You just didn't cook it long enough. Take it past 200F next time and don't stop cooking it until it's probe tender.

I'm actually leaning towards #1 because every chuck roast I've cooked has been pretty tender after it got above 190F. They weren't ready to pull off the grill until over 200F, but they were pretty tender.

Time for a do over!

[Stevehtn]

Either could explain it. Pot roast does best well above 200. It'll pull apart. That said, over 190 shoulda still been tender once sliced, so it very well coulda been something besides a chuck roast. Sounds to me like it coulda possibly been a sirloin

[smarkley]

I am starting to think the same thing Steve

[Stevehtn]

I hope the pressure cooker did the trick for you. I've never had that happen before, but I'm thinking if it ever did, I'd cube it, give it a coarse chop in the food processor, and "come to papa" delicious Texas chili......

[RAmorris]

I put the tough chuck roast along with its juices in a covered foil pan and in the refrigerator. The next night (last night), I put a cup of beef broth into a pressure cooker and salted the broth to taste. Then I put the chuck roast, its juices and congealed fat into the pressure pot. I then cooked it at the high pressure setting for 45 minutes. It was incredibly good! It just melted in my mouth. Much better than if I had just cooked the chuck roast in the pressure pot without cooking it in the oven first, and much better than tender roasts I have had cooked only in the oven. It was as good as some of the best brisket flat that I have ever had.

[Stevehtn]

Glad it turned out good for you.

[JeffJ]

Duration of cook jumps to mind for me.

When I've done chucker they take as long as brisket or pork butt.