First Chuckie Question

[Reds Fan 5]

Thinking about taking advantage of unseasonably warm weather and a day off tomorrow and cooking my first chuckie (yes, I've been a Pit member for three years and have never smoked a chuckie).

With the caveat that we all cook to IT and not time, any general guidelines on how much time to allow (cooker + cambro)? I'm thinking 8 hrs--6 on the cooker and up to 2 in the cooler.

Parameters: 26" kettle w/SnS, KBB, oak chunks, predicted temps low 30s at the beginning/mid 40s mid to late cook, 3-5# roast.

[Frozen Smoke]

Do you want to slice or pull? If slice there is a great recipe in the sneak peek section. If you want to pull treat it like a pork butt. Get the internal to 205 and rest for as long as you can but I would say a minimum of 2 hours.
I pan mine around a internal of 170 or so. I add some dark beer to the bottom of the pan along with some sliced onions and red and green peppers. Set the chuckie on top of all this. Continue to smoke uncovered until you hit the 205 temp. Rest and pull.
Pile high on a nice rustic bun with the peppers and onions. Add a slice of cheese if you want and live large!
I would say you will be closer to a 6 hour time rather than 8 but your mileage may vary.

Show us some pics of your cook and good luck!

[fzxdoc]

Here's Adrenaline Barbecue Company's video on smoking a chuckie on the kettle with the SnS:

It will answer many of your questions.

Frozen Smoke , I think I'll try your method with my next chuckie cook. I bet those onions and peppers taste amazing cooked that way.

Kathryn

[HouseHomey]

Hey Kathyrn I just watched this for the first time. Mine always took forever because I didn't wrap and didn't take the temp up to 350° like he did. DOH!! Face palm!! Amatures....Jeeze..

[Frozen Smoke]

Excellent video fzxdoc goes directly to the op's questions. I don't Weber much so my responses always have the stick burner slant

[HouseHomey]

Yah buddy. This beer thing with veggies has my attention.

[Reds Fan 5]

Frozen Smoke and fzxdoc, thanks for the ideas and the video. Planning to pull the chuckie. On a related note, shortly after my original post I discovered my wife purchased a choice sirloin tip roast. Thoughts on what to do with that cut--indoors or outdoors?

[HouseHomey]

Sirloin tip is very lean yes, but very flavorful too. Low and slow to desired temp and slice thin for sammich, mix with thin onion. Yum, beef dips or mash n gravy. It good.

[ecowper]

I would cook that sirloin tip to make Baltimore pit beef. Low and slow with smoke until you get an internal temp of 115, then sear on all sides to get a nice crust and internal temp of 130’ish. Slice thin, pile high on hoagie rolls, slather with horseradish sauce!

[EdF]

I sure like that pit beef idea!

[fzxdoc]

Reds Fan 5 , here are some topics on cooking sirloin tip roasts:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/beef-steak-brisket-roasts-prime-rib-etc/52451-9-5lb-round-sirloin-tip-roast-what-do-i-do-with-this-thing#post52451

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/grills-and-smokers/charcoal/pit-barrel-cooker/268887-yesterday-s-top-sirloin-roast

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/grills-and-smokers/charcoal/pit-barrel-cooker/19252-7-5-pound-sirloin-tip-roast-on-the-pbc

Personally, I'd reverse sear it to medium rare and slice it really thin against the grain if I didn't have a sous vide. Which I do. So tough lean cuts like this get the sous vide treatment at our house.

Even in a crock pot, a lean cut of meat tends to dry out, at least in my experience. You need the marbling of fat throughout the meat to make it juicy in a crock pot or on a low/slow grill setup.

HTH,
Kathryn

[Reds Fan 5]

Thanks, Kathryn. When is your Pit Cast interview?

[Frozen Smoke]

Here's some pics of one of my last chuckie cooks.
Veggies and dark beer in pan.



Chuckies after they have been on smoker and are at or near 170 IT



Back on the smoker until the reach 205 and then pulled after resting a few hours.



Finally a sammy..Onion bun courtesy of Pepperidge Farm

[Spinaker]

I love your dedication. Frozen Smoke

[Bruce R]

After the meat came to temp, did you wrap before holding? If not, did you hold it in the pan with the onions and beer? In the oven or did you keep it in the smoker?

[Frozen Smoke]

Bruce R I don't wrap the chuckies at all until they are at the 205 temp. All I do then is cover the pan with foil and put in the cambro for a couple hours. I do lift a corner of the foil to let the steam escape.

[fzxdoc]

Oh man, I'm in chuckie love. That looks amazing, Frozen Smoke . Thanks for posting the photos.

Kathryn

[Frozen Smoke]

Thanks Kathryn give it a try and let us know how you like it!

[jgreen]

Great job with that chuckie! I am going to have to try that pan method.

[RandomAccess]

Hey Reds Fan 5, I have done a number of sirloin tip roasts in the 3 to 4 lb range. It helps a lot to dry brine days in advance with one of my best going for 5 days. The last one I did on the weber was 3 inches thick and took 2hours 30 min with BBBR over the whole roast. I took it off at 120 degrees and my notes say lots of juices. Good luck!

[Steve R.]

I always plan for about the same cook time for a 3-4 # chuckie as an 8# butt, + an additional hour of holding time.

[DWCowles]

To me they seem to pulled better when I take them to 210 F IT temp and 2 hrs in cambro.

[Polarbear777]

Still learning chuck myself. First cook I did came out too dry. This time I stacked several (15 lbs worth) and rolled overnight at 225F crutched after 12 hours and finished a few hours later internal at 210F before cambro for 3 hours and pull. Bark came out like the best meat candy. Internal meat was much better but still a bit dry. I’m guessing an earlier crutch will alleviate dryness of meat at the cost of some bark hardness.

Definitely not as foolproof as pork butt.

Pics of the start and half of it pulled.

[Reds Fan 5]

I'm looking forward to trying it. Hope mine is less than 12 hours. I don't have that much time tomorrow!

[Polarbear777]

I did two stacks of 3 chuckies each (see pic). My theory was it would slow down the cook so I could get better bark on the edges and more time for breakdown on the inside. The bark part worked but the inside was still drier than I’d like.

[BBQCentralShow]

These are chuck roasts? "Chuckies"

[HorseDoctor]

Yes... and when buying do not look for the leanest one in the meat case. Too lean is a big part of "too dry"! Enjoy!

[DeusDingo]

i recently did a bunch of chuckies for pulled beef. one of them was probe tender and done at ~198 degrees, others were done around 210. i'm finding it harder and harder to advise people to reach a certain temp these days. i think i'm always giving advice for a temp to start poking.
i also collect the drippings with a pan under the meat and add them back in when i wrap around 180 and then i keep all the juices inside the foil and add it to my pulled product. i'm usually very happy with my pulled beef.

but yes, dry brine is very important as well