Chuckie Advice

[Huskee]

My local grocery store does the same thing, it's irritating to me. I just stack two - one on top of the other, untied cuz gravity and all - and it makes a more cubical roast. The good news is doing that you can salt the "inside", the 2 layers that meet.

[Troutman]

Numerous options here. I'm a big fan of SVQ and QVQ for chuck roast, I hardly ever cook it any other way. Here's an example of one, I cook mine medium rare like roast beef. You can also take the option of cooking it in the bath at 160* for a more conventional finish. Either way it comes out super tender and beefy, one of my favorite cuts and a great bargain to boot.

QVQ Rare Chuck Roast

[Murdy]

You could also cube it for stew or use some of it up in chili if you run out of other things to do with it.

[Joey877]

I knew you guys wouldn't disappoint. Those rolled tacos I think just took first place, but I have enough roasts that I will try some of everything. Thank you all - hope I don't forget pictures again!

[Steve B]

I've actually tied 2 together, one on top of the other, to make it 4" thick. It turned out really good.

[Bob's BBQ]

I would also recommend wrapping with some braising liquid to finish. Done some thin ones this way and they came out good.

[Rod]

Definitely Sam's rolled tacos. We've done this a couple of times. They are incredible!

[glitchy]

As forgiving as chuck is, my first inclination would be you could probably still just smoke it like normal as long as you go by temp instead of time. I just smoked one yesterday that was probably only barely thicker than 2”. If shredded beef is normally what you do with chuck, I’d at least try it with one. You could always grind it too for great burgers, but you probably have a bunch of ground already with a half.

EDIT: Maybe wrap in foil after 2-4 hours. I do Mexican shredded that way. Sam The Cooking Guy also has a InstaPot Mexican Beef recipe that’s really good. I think it was ‘Rolled Beef Tacos’.

EDIT 2: Found STCG video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QerxkwRlqhQ

[DavidNorcross]

I think the poor man burnt ends is a great idea.

[Jfrosty27]

I would either roll and SVQ, or cube and do poor mans burnt ends. Yum.

[Joey877]

So long story...after moving back to Ohio from Iowa I had to find a new beef supplier. Timing couldn't have been worse as everyone I could find was backed up for months (thanks again, COVID). Found out through casual conversation with a father from another kid on my son's soccer team that his brother owns a processing center in West VA. He offered to get me what I need, so now I am feeling somewhat back to normal with a half beef in my freezer. Problem is, as was I was unfamiliar with the butcher/processor I ended up with some very different cuts (not unusual at all when moving to a new guy/gal).

All that to say, I have about a half dozen chuck roasts, 3-5 pounds each, that are cut like giant steaks. A touch less than 2 inches thick, 5-7 inches wide, and 8-10 inches long. So now I'm puzzled...do I roll them? While not thick when compared to a typical roast, the thickness would make trying to roll them difficult. I'm thinking sous-vide-que is the best way to go, but if so do I leave them as is? I should be able to vacuum seal them (one may be too big for my vacuum sealer), but do I try to roll them first? Or cut them smaller? I was hoping to do one sliced (with the chimichurri recipe posted by HouseHomey in the thread recently revived) and another pulled, because yum, but I'm thinking I will need to sous-vide them first. They just seem way to thin to be able to stay on the smoker long enough for the magic to happen. Could be these are cut how everyone expects and I just had them different in Iowa, but I am used to 3-4 inches thick, 3-4 inches wide, and around 6 inches long. I wanted to check with all you experts to give myself the best shot at not ruining these as they are new to me.

Appreciate all the help I can get!