Thanks for the support folks. I've done a chuck four times before, and they have all been fabulous. This is the first time I've done the FC rest though, as I review my notes from the previous cooks. For those, it just sat on the counter for 10-15 minutes before serving. Next time I'll be more intentional about timing things - e.g. have the sides be things that can "hold" and bust them out when the meat is ready, instead of the other way around like I did this time.
And yep, the remains will go into some kind of pot of something... chili, or enchi filling, or beans, or soup... but I was kinda gutted by this outcome. From that very first cut into it, I knew something was wrong...
Ive def had that happen with chuckies before and i think almost every time it had an extended rest now that i think about it. No idea if thats a thing. But yeah, i feel your pain.
Don’t fret about it too much. Stuff happens. We are all learning. As far as the cambro, resting period, I think it’s essential. 2hrs at the least. I will go 3-4hrs if I have the time. But again I never slice. I always pull them.
I have had them come out dry also so I do at least two things
1. I wrap just after the stall (I still want the bark)
2 when I pull them apart, every last drop of juice in the drip pan that was below them gets mixed in.
I'm in the camp of wrapping or putting them in a disposable pan and tightly covering with foil at about 160 internal. Maybe add some beef tallow in the wrap.
Definitely don't get too bummed. We've all had our misses no matter how much previous success we've had. There's been several times I've been humbled, but The Pit is a constant reminder of why we're here.
Welcome to the club. We’ve all had meat that was too dry and too tough (if anyone here hasn’t, I want some of your magic beans). Like the saying goes, fecal matter occurs. Thank you for sharing this cook with us. Your pictures and descriptions were delightful.
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It's always a bummer to find the cook goes south in the 4th quarter of the game. I've cambroed chuckies for an hour or more with no ill effects. It just depends on the piece of meat. Getting chucks with more marbling and wrapping at about 170° are two changes that you might want to think about. Somehow I can't see how the faux cambro step was the culprit, but there's certainly the possibility.
Grass fed beef is not as fatty, in my experience, so when I have cooked them in the past, I've gone the SVQ route to keep them moist and tender. I SVQ'd a grass-fed brisket once that turned out fantastic. I'm not a fan of grass-fed beef, though. Sometimes it has an off-putting flavor and I hate to take the chance.
Awesome experiment. Thanks for sharing DaveD. Curious to know, did the chucks go right into the FC, or were they allowed to cool off some? Also was there a flavor difference?
Great write up. I too was very curious about this because I just did a smoked chuck roast on Monday. It was terrible. I pretty much did a similar approach as you did, and it was just bad and dry. Most of it ended up being thrown out because it was in my mind inedible and my family didn’t really like it either. Mine was a choice cut and there was hardly any marbling. I I have done for chuck roast and I currently am at two out of four coming out good. The two that came out good we’re both purchased at Costco and the other two were both purchased at the same grocery store. However I didn’t cook them the same way as the ones as I did the Costco ones. I’m pretty sure I wrapped them in tinfoil and added beef broth to that and the other two I didn’t add in liquid and wrapped in butcher paper. And both of those two found them selves in the garbage.
Last edited by radiodome21; May 21, 2022, 09:54 AM.
Mine was a choice cut and there was hardly any marbling.
Low and slow does not work for lean meat; the grading is irrelevant. So, it's imperative to examine the intramuscular marbling on chuck since some can be lean, with just large veins running through, and other will have marbling throughout the muscle. You want the latter for smoking a chuckie.
I had a choice NY steak last night that easily had the intramuscular marbling of a prime cut. Ignore grading, look at marbling.
Last edited by rickgregory; May 21, 2022, 10:26 AM.
Great story, sorry I did not turn out. Tomorrow I will be smoking my first Chuck roast. Going to follow what you did. Figure I will put on smoker at 8am to be done by 5. It is a 3lb chuck roast
Low and slow does not work for lean meat; the grading is irrelevant. So, it's imperative to examine the intramuscular marbling on chuck since some can be lean, with just large veins running through, and other will have marbling throughout the muscle. You want the latter for smoking a chuckie.
The first few chuck roasts I did were selects and they also turned out incredibly dry, even in the moist environment of the PBC. When I started paying attention to marbling, my results got much better!
Totally get that it's the marbling that makes the piece for chuckies - the OP photos show that they were both pretty decently marbled I reckon.
One thing I'll definitely try next time is to capture the drippings instead of just letting them fall into the water pan as usual. Then if there's enough, I could add that when wrapping in foil. Worth a try.
The one chuck I have left in the chestie at the moment is from Click Akaushi, so it's wagyu and also a bigger piece than these, at 4.4lb/2kg. Needless to say I will be vewwwy, vewwwwy careful with that one!
As my first baby-step on the road back to respectability, I aimed low with these Hebrew National beef dogs smothered in home-roasted Hatch green chile and some shredded cheese. Gotta start somewhere...
Bummer.
Maybe some advice for the next cook.
I always wrap my chuckies in foil at the beginning of the stall. 150-170* Or there abouts. You might not get as much bark. But wrapping them at that point will keep the moisture in.
Yes. Some will say it’s like braising them. But it works for me.
On the other hand. I’ve never sliced a chuck roast. Always pull them.
Hopefully this helps a little. 👍
I wrap as soon as the bark is set and passes the scratch test.
For sliced, he recommends cooking to 180°. For pulled, he recommends 205°.
"To mimic cooking brisket the traditional way, I rubbed the chuck roast with a simple combination of salt and pepper then cooked it on a smoker it to an internal temp of 180°F (82.2°C), which takes about six hours. That internal temp makes the chuck tender yet sliceable like smoked brisket. Once cooked, it is great on it’s own or my favorite way, as a sandwich on a crunchy roll or garlic bread!
If you prefer to pull the meat, cook it to an internal temp of 205°F (96.1°C), as in our recipe for Smoked and Pulled Chuck Roast."
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