Chuck Roast question

[LegoMySearwood]

My wife wanted chuck roast on Sunday. I decided to attempt to hang the roast on the WSM just for kicks, no water pan. I used Meat Church's Holy Cow rub.


I placed it on at about 10:30 at around 250 degrees and I got to about 145 degrees at around 1:26 pm. Then it stalled and cooled off and never was able to push through the stall. Family was getting hungry so...


I finally took off the lid, took a picture, removed the meat to inside, and then removed the hanging system from the WSM (It's the PitBarrelCooker hanging system for the 18" WSM - which is a PITA to remove - alas, buyer's remorse). I wrapped the roast in double foil with a little beef broth, and placed in back on the WSM on the top rack, and raised the temperature to 275 degrees (The ThermoWorks RFX and Billows work so great on the WSM).
I let it raise in temperature to about 203 degrees at around 4:45 pm. I then placed it in a faux cambra until the Hasselback potatoes I made in the oven were ready at about 6:30pm.

First off, it tasted great and I thought it was juicy enough. However, it was REALLY hard to shred. The fat did not render so well. It took my wife around 20 minutes to shred it like she likes it. I was kinda embarrassed.

Question: Was it hard to shred because I didn't leave it on long enough or should I have let it raise higher in temperature? Was it hanging it? Was it not using a water pan? I'm sorta scratching my head on this one. The other roasts I have done on my Searwood were way easier to shred, but didn't taste as good.

[LA Pork Butt]

My guess would be cooking with direct heat and no water pan dried out the surface of the meat. Was there a difference in how the internal part of the roast shredded compared with outer half inch or so? Could it be that direct heat sealed the outer surface of the roast and hindered the typical rendering of the meat? It looks like the entire cook was less than six hours which seems a little short for a piece of meat that appears to be at least three inches thick. Remember thickness of meat determines cooking time.

[LegoMySearwood]

No difference in the inner or outer. It was a 4 lb. roast. Probably how thick it was.

[Ace]

All cuts of meat can, and sometimes do act differently to "tender done by probe test." For me, 203* is a little low for a chuck roast. I normally cook Pork Ribs to that temp. Chuck roast (for me) aren't tender to shred until 207* +/-.
Also since there are different muscles within that piece of meat, not all parts will be equally tender at the same time. I would probe in several spots to get a feel of doneness. Also, you can sink a serving fork in the roast and give it a twist. If the fork tries to unwind, then it's not ready. If the fork twists easily (like twisting spaghetti) then it's tender. My .02

[LegoMySearwood]

So maybe just pulled too early. Is the rest important as well?

[Ace]

I try to always use a water pan and wrap before the stall. However...
Your post stated "it tasted great and I thought it was juicy enough" so I think that the internal temp was lower than was needed to render the fat and reach that tender stage that you were looking for. You were pretty close and still had a good meal out of the cook. I would take that as a win... :-)

[LegoMySearwood]

Agreed

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I personally like to get the chuckie to 208 to 210.

[LegoMySearwood]

Do you feel resting is important?

[LA Pork Butt]

LegoMySearwood I am always disappointed with the results of a Boston Butt or Brisket if I don’t wrap and hold for a minimum of one hour. I prefer two hours. Unless I am pressed from time I don’t wrap during the stall. I ideally take Boston Butts to 200 and wrap and hold in an ice chest for two hours

[Duanessmokedmeats]

LegoMySearwood Yes I always rest for at least an hour.

[glitchy]

I take 205-207, then turn the pit down to 180-200 or take inside to a keep warm over for another hour. Mine are always wrapped at 160-170 in butcher paper for traditional bbq, foil if I’m doing a mexican rub for tacos.

[WI Bubba]

I'm pretty sure it just didn't get hot enough, long enough to render the fat which made it feel dry, and the connective tissue didn't have time to gel, so it was tough to shred.

Both of those things are really helped during the resting stage. The resting stage allows the muscle fibers to relax because you are no longer adding heat, but the internal temp is still high enough to continue to render fat and gel the connective tissues. At least that's my basic understanding of why the resting stage matters, and what's going on during the rest.

Is resting absolutely required? No. Will you get a better end result if you do let it rest? Yes. If you can cook it all the way to probe tender, then the rest only improves what is already a well cooked piece of meat. But you have to start with a piece of meat that is already at 95% of it's potential for a standard one to two hour rest to be really helpful. If you can rest it longer, then the tenderness only improves.

This is the same principle that sous vide cooking relies on. Time plus temp equals tenderness. When resting meat you are using the same principle. You are adding time to the cooking process, without introducing additional heat that will drive out more water.

That's my thoughts but I'm not exactly a food scientist, so take it with a big pinch of Kosher salt, or half as much by volume if you are using table salt.

[SheilaAnn]

“ That's my thoughts but I'm not exactly a food scientist, so take it with a big pinch of Kosher salt, or half as much by volume if you are using table salt.”

Hee-hee!! 🙃

[Oak Smoke]

It took me a while to learn that chuck roasts don’t act like brisket. Huskee finally taught me to take them to near 210 F and keep them there a while, then wrap and rest. It made a huge difference. I was taking them to 203 and they would probe tender but 2 hours later, after they rested, they would be tough. They would have been hard to shred. We were slicing them like brisket. Even the very well marbled ones have needed the higher final temp for longer.

[cruiseplanner1]

Reading some of these comments on taking them to 210 for a while will help me. I was only doing 203-205 and then resting and not long enough probably from what I read. This will be put to use this summer. I smoke a lot of them now.

[LegoMySearwood]

Oak Smoke after cooking at 210 for another hour, do you allow it to cool to a lower temperature before resting or just keep it wrapped and rest for two hours?

[Oak Smoke]

LegoMySearwood I wrap in foil and rest either in a cooler or in our oven with no heat applied. In the cooler with towels around it cools very little. In the oven I get more cooling. I believe if I try to pull or slice with the meat too hot it dries too quickly. We go to so much trouble to retain moisture then lose it by slicing too soon. I use the oven more and more to get the meat down to a temp that doesn’t cause rapid moisture loss.

[Lynn Dollar]

Sunday, I took a chuck to 212 to get it probe tender.

[Lynn Dollar]

I see you're using the Thermoworks app. How do you end your " session " ?

Before they updated the app, there was a button ... " end and archive session " . Now that's not there. What I see is " rename " or " save and start new " .

I wish they'd left it alone. I had it figured out. This new improved version is not improved.

[LegoMySearwood]

No, I name it so I know what I was cooking and can look back and/or take notes.

[LegoMySearwood]

Re-reading this I just realized that it asks you now to name the session where you aren’t cooking anything. I just ignore it. When I’m beginning a new session and I’m actually cooking something, I then hit save and start new, name it whatever I’m cooking, and then have everything ready to measure the cook.

[Lynn Dollar]

LegoMySearwood ............ yes, that's what I was referring to. It makes no sense. The old " end and archive this session " was much better. I asked TW in an email and got gobbledygook answer, as to why they changed it.

What I do is at end of cook, I save and start new, and then come up with some easy name, like Xyz . Then at the start of the next cook, I do the same.