Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
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.
GilaMonster as DWCowles said, it needs a high temp. Here's an abcbarbecue.com article on pulled beef from chuck roast. If it's thicker than your past chucks it will take longer, plus additional time to get to the higher temps.
It will take longer at a given temp, but if you are worried, you can raise the temp. Smoking at 225* is common, but you can go up to at least 275* with no problems, and significantly reduce the time. When I cook a pot roast inside, it's at 325*, but it's covered and in liquid. The last one I smoked was at 275* instead of 225* and was done in about 5 hours. It was much smaller than yours though.
Start early and use a faux cambro or your oven set as low as it will go to hold it until you are ready to serve. That will make it even more tender and allow you to eat when you want to eat.
Start early. That hunk of meat is gonna take all day. I'd suggest cooking at 225 F until you hit the stall, then let temp creep up to 250 F to 275 F depending on how much time you have left. Once you have the bark you want wrap in foil and let temps drop back down to 225 F or even a little lower. You want to get the meat up to 200 F+ and stay there for a long time. So what I'm saying is the final result you're looking for is dependent not just on the final meat temp, but the amount of time the meat spends above 200 F. Eventually all the connective tissues will render and it'll be awesome!
You can chop it sooner than you can pull it, and it tastes great either way.
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions! Too late of a start today, so it's staying in the fridge til tomorrow a.m. early, and leaving plenty of time. I was originally thinking sliced, like a faux-brisket, but I've pulled a couple of those off the grill at 165-170°, and they weren't as tender as I thought they should be.
Chopped may be a good alternative for this one... in the meantime, I have a spatchcocked chicken ready to go on the grill this afternoon!
And, the Chuck is to be a good test for the PartyQ... for a long-cook-unattended-PartyQ-session. My first use of the controller went very well, but was a shorter cook, so this ought to give me a good test.
Oh, yeah, the other question for tomorrow: Crutch or no crutch? I'm thinking if I chop it or pull it, the extra moistness of the wrap might be a good idea?
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
Well, I can now report that the chuck turned itself into some deliciously moist, flavorful and tender pulled beef!
After about 5 hrs at 225°, it was stuck at 169° internal temp, so I double wrapped it foil, restoked the coals in the SnS, and let it cook for another 5 hrs. While the PartyQ kept the grill temps very steady at +/- 225°, even at 10 hours, the IT never got past 199°.
So I took it off the grill, attempted to slice it, but it just fell apart.
If I'd wanted to slice it, like brisket, at what temperature should I have pulled it?
The last chuck I did was apparently a 'steak', not a 'roast'. I don't have the notes of that cook here right now, so I can't tell at what temp I pulled it... but it sliced nicely, and was tender and moist without wrapping.
Well, guess I'll just have to keep practicing! Critiques, suggestions, observations welcome!!
the pulled chuck last night was very good; we ate a third of it. And, I have leftovers for burritos or chili...
Dang I was able to resist your cooks pictures and charms until you mentioned Burritos with the left overs!!! Dang it now I gotta try one!! (never done one before so should be fun!)
Both look fantastic. I would continue to make both kinds. Surprised it didn't get above 200. My experience is that once you wrap the temp goes up pretty quick.
Fall apart, "pullable" tender is a function of both time & temperature. You may not have gotten the temp to 105-107 but you certainly put in the time to get the job done. Awesome looking chuck!!! Congrats!
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