SWMBO requested a chuck roast this weekend, and I like to make chili for NFL Opening Weekend, so that lined up well...
Sam's Club didn't have any prime chuckies, but we found a pretty decent looking package of choice ones. Dry brined one of them for 24 hours and took it out Saturday morning.
I used up the rest of our PBC Beef & Game rub, I like that stuff.
Hung it on the PBC with some mesquite chunks at 10:30am.
<pic removed because I was over the max # of pics>
It stalled around 160F for an hour, and after 4 hours was at 177F.
Now, every other chuckie I've ever smoked ends up with a REALLY significant bark. I love a good bark, but I also like to be able to actually chew it. So this time I wanted to try wrapping it, and I was happy with the bark at this point so that's just what I did along with a little Lea & Perrins Worcestershire.
It went for another 90 min in the oven at 275F until it hit 202F IT and was probe tender. I left it wrapped in the oven at 170F for another 90 min. By then it was dinner time, and my wife was wanting sort of a pot roast thing so I didn't shred it but just pulled apart chunks. So tender and juicy it was almost falling apart. I saved the juices in the foil and we had gravy and served it with sauteed green beans and mashed cauliflower. It was definitely the best one I've smoked, the bark and flavors were perfect, ironic that all the others I've done were prime and the choice one turned out the best so far.
We had about a pound of that leftover, so I used that to make some chili Sunday morning before kickoff. When I looked up my last chili grillin' notes they were ironically from a cook during Hurricane Florence last year. Dorian just left us, so hopefully this is the last of my hurricane chili attempts. Got the wife to help with prep...
Now, typically I did this on my 22" kettle using my wok and the "bbq system" grate with the baskets underneath (never felt like that got hot enough). But I sold my 22" a while back so something else weird I've been wanting to try is using my vortex under the wok to get it screaming hot. With a chunk of mesquite, it fits nicely. Yep... that sucker got hot enough this time - another Vortex win!
Now, my process for grilling chili isn't from any recipe, just from my gut and "what sounds good" but has evolved into something that we really like and is pretty easy... First I cooked up some homemade bacon lardons.
Then added a whole red onion, cooked that until it was translucent. Truth be told I was ready to just start eating with that big wooden spoon.
Then I added most of a bag of frozen corn and some garlic, and let that go covered for about 5 min. Don't know why, didn't grow up with it, but I love corn in my chili. The sweet juicy bites in the spicy chili are bueno.
Then I added the tomato sauce, Ro Tel fire roasted diced tomatoes and chilies, water, and the spices and mixed that all up. Then I added 1lb of browned ground chuck and 1lb of my smoked chuck. I covered that for a few minutes, stirring frequently so it didn't burn (did I mention that wok was HOT this time?)
Then added another 8oz water and beef broth and closed it up and let it simmer for 15 min. At that point, I added pinto beans... sometimes I add beans, sometimes I don't.
<pic removed because I was over the max # of pics>
Stirred that up real good and let it go covered another 15 min. Checked it and it was to my liking, didn't need the masa flour this time. It thickens up a bit more after I take it off and it sits a few minutes.
It was some doggone amazing mesquite-kissed chili, I had a big bowl for lunch. Then for dinner we put it over leftover reheated fries with some melted cheese and cowboy candy and a dollop of sour cream - decadent. Lunch today will be another bowl of this deliciousness, and tonight I'll probably have one of my favorite leftover chili meals - grilled chili cheese sandwiches - YUM!
Sam's Club didn't have any prime chuckies, but we found a pretty decent looking package of choice ones. Dry brined one of them for 24 hours and took it out Saturday morning.
I used up the rest of our PBC Beef & Game rub, I like that stuff.
Hung it on the PBC with some mesquite chunks at 10:30am.
<pic removed because I was over the max # of pics>
It stalled around 160F for an hour, and after 4 hours was at 177F.
Now, every other chuckie I've ever smoked ends up with a REALLY significant bark. I love a good bark, but I also like to be able to actually chew it. So this time I wanted to try wrapping it, and I was happy with the bark at this point so that's just what I did along with a little Lea & Perrins Worcestershire.
It went for another 90 min in the oven at 275F until it hit 202F IT and was probe tender. I left it wrapped in the oven at 170F for another 90 min. By then it was dinner time, and my wife was wanting sort of a pot roast thing so I didn't shred it but just pulled apart chunks. So tender and juicy it was almost falling apart. I saved the juices in the foil and we had gravy and served it with sauteed green beans and mashed cauliflower. It was definitely the best one I've smoked, the bark and flavors were perfect, ironic that all the others I've done were prime and the choice one turned out the best so far.
We had about a pound of that leftover, so I used that to make some chili Sunday morning before kickoff. When I looked up my last chili grillin' notes they were ironically from a cook during Hurricane Florence last year. Dorian just left us, so hopefully this is the last of my hurricane chili attempts. Got the wife to help with prep...
Now, typically I did this on my 22" kettle using my wok and the "bbq system" grate with the baskets underneath (never felt like that got hot enough). But I sold my 22" a while back so something else weird I've been wanting to try is using my vortex under the wok to get it screaming hot. With a chunk of mesquite, it fits nicely. Yep... that sucker got hot enough this time - another Vortex win!
Now, my process for grilling chili isn't from any recipe, just from my gut and "what sounds good" but has evolved into something that we really like and is pretty easy... First I cooked up some homemade bacon lardons.
Then added a whole red onion, cooked that until it was translucent. Truth be told I was ready to just start eating with that big wooden spoon.
Then I added most of a bag of frozen corn and some garlic, and let that go covered for about 5 min. Don't know why, didn't grow up with it, but I love corn in my chili. The sweet juicy bites in the spicy chili are bueno.
Then I added the tomato sauce, Ro Tel fire roasted diced tomatoes and chilies, water, and the spices and mixed that all up. Then I added 1lb of browned ground chuck and 1lb of my smoked chuck. I covered that for a few minutes, stirring frequently so it didn't burn (did I mention that wok was HOT this time?)
Then added another 8oz water and beef broth and closed it up and let it simmer for 15 min. At that point, I added pinto beans... sometimes I add beans, sometimes I don't.
<pic removed because I was over the max # of pics>
Stirred that up real good and let it go covered another 15 min. Checked it and it was to my liking, didn't need the masa flour this time. It thickens up a bit more after I take it off and it sits a few minutes.
It was some doggone amazing mesquite-kissed chili, I had a big bowl for lunch. Then for dinner we put it over leftover reheated fries with some melted cheese and cowboy candy and a dollop of sour cream - decadent. Lunch today will be another bowl of this deliciousness, and tonight I'll probably have one of my favorite leftover chili meals - grilled chili cheese sandwiches - YUM!
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