Chuckie (Step by Step) with Qview

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How apt that you were working on a Chuckie. Thanks to Bear, I also tried a chuckie the week before last. Mine finally got up to 160* after a few hours (after which I foiled it) and then stalled there for about 3 hours more. When it got to 7 pm and the IT was only 182* I took it out of the smoker and put it in a 250* oven in the kitchen. At 9 pm it was still at 182* so I called it a night. The next morning I put it back in the smoker--foiled and it again took a few hours to get back up to 160*. After about 10 hours total smoking between the two days I served it for dinner. Some of it was great but about half of it was still undercooked since the fat hadn't totally rendered and the meat wasn't tender enough. The next day I stuck it in my convection oven to see if I could cook it down to a more tender state. I left it un-foiled since my convection oven is a microwave with a convection feature and it wound up so overcooked it now makes a very fine door stop or paperweight. I can also put it on display inside a plexiglass cube since it is so overly-well done it will never go bad or decompose...

I have no idea why this chuckie gave me more problems than any other meat I've smoked. Next time out I'm smoking a boneless pork shoulder.
Well---Let's do the Math:

It took my Chucky 7 hours and 15 minutes in a 240* smoker to get to 205* IT.

You're saying yours took 7 hours to get to 182* IT on the first day, and another 3 hours to get back up to 160* IT on the second day.

You didn't say what temp your smoker was at, but that 10 hours includes getting it up to 160* in a few hours (That's pretty fast). Then in 3 hours more you got it to 182* IT.

Right here is where you got off the trail I left for you & got lost in the woods.

Then it cooled down some when you moved it from the smoker to the 250* oven in the house, and it got back up to the same 182* IT. Then you put it in the fridge until the next day, so you had to start at 40* IT again, and it took a few hours to get up to 160* IT again.

So it seems to me that you had it to 182* in I'm guessing about 6 or 7 hours @ I don't know what smoker temp.

All of the cooling off, moving it, refrigerating it, and reheating it were pretty much a waste.

I don't know what temp you had your smoker at, but it would have been better to leave it in your smoker to get it to 205* IT, even if you had to jack the temp up.

Next time I would start earlier so you're not running so late that you have to quit for the day.

Overheating it in the oven the next day is whole other problem.

Sorry to hear you had such a time.

Bear
 
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Well---Let's do the Math:

It took my Chucky 7 hours and 15 minutes in a 240* smoker to get to 205* IT.

You're saying yours took 7 hours to get to 182* IT on the first day, and another 3 hours to get back up to 160* IT on the second day.

You didn't say what temp your smoker was at, but that 10 hours includes getting it up to 160* in a few hours (That's pretty fast). Then in 3 hours more you got it to 182* IT.

Right here is where you got off the trail I left for you & got lost in the woods.

Then it cooled down some when you moved it from the smoker to the 250* oven in the house, and it got back up to the same 182* IT. Then you put it in the fridge until the next day, so you had to start at 40* IT again, and it took a few hours to get up to 160* IT again.

So it seems to me that you had it to 182* in I'm guessing about 6 or 7 hours @ I don't know what smoker temp.

All of the cooling off, moving it, refrigerating it, and reheating it were pretty much a waste.

I don't know what temp you had your smoker at, but it would have been better to leave it in your smoker to get it to 205* IT, even if you had to jack the temp up.

Next time I would start earlier so you're not running so late that you have to quit for the day.

Overheating it in the oven the next day is whole other problem.

Sorry to hear you had such a time.

Bear
This was the day from hell when my smoker kept heating up to 295* no matter what my set point was and the wood pellets were burning up like they were kindling wood. My original set point was 240 and that stayed good for about 3 hours and then the high temp cutoff switch decided to do its thing. Again, I brought the chuckie indoors on the first day because when it got to be 7 pm and the IT was 182* I knew that dinner was blown for the night and I didn't want to spend another 3-4 hours seeing if I could get it up to temp while my smoker interior temp was still around 288*.  I had it in the oven at 250* for almost 2 hours and when the IT was still 182* at 9 pm I called it a night, kept it foiled when I took it out of the oven, left it on the kitchen island to cool down, and went to bed. Almost 4 hours later I woke up and put it in the fridge. The next day was as I already described and again, I wasn't going to again leave it in the smoker until 8-9 pm in the hopes the IT would get up to 205* since I was determined to serve it for dinner that night. That's why I took it out of the smoker when the IT got back up to 160.

The overheating was actually a few days later when I was heating up the leftovers for a lunch. I don't know why the chuck roast--at least in this one instance--got stuck for so long and was so heard to get up over 200* IT.  I usually cook on the 2nd rack but perhaps I should cook it on the 3rd or maybe even on the 4th rack that the water pan attaches to so it would be closer to both the smoke and the heating element.

None of this is your fault, of course. But now that I know enough to clean both sensors I can at least have the smoker temp stabilized when I give a chuckie a 2nd try some time in the future.
 
 
This was the day from hell when my smoker kept heating up to 295* no matter what my set point was and the wood pellets were burning up like they were kindling wood. My original set point was 240 and that stayed good for about 3 hours and then the high temp cutoff switch decided to do its thing. Again, I brought the chuckie indoors on the first day because when it got to be 7 pm and the IT was 182* I knew that dinner was blown for the night and I didn't want to spend another 3-4 hours seeing if I could get it up to temp while my smoker interior temp was still around 288*.  I had it in the oven at 250* for almost 2 hours and when the IT was still 182* at 9 pm I called it a night, kept it foiled when I took it out of the oven, left it on the kitchen island to cool down, and went to bed. Almost 4 hours later I woke up and put it in the fridge. The next day was as I already described and again, I wasn't going to again leave it in the smoker until 8-9 pm in the hopes the IT would get up to 205* since I was determined to serve it for dinner that night. That's why I took it out of the smoker when the IT got back up to 160.

The overheating was actually a few days later when I was heating up the leftovers for a lunch. I don't know why the chuck roast--at least in this one instance--got stuck for so long and was so heard to get up over 200* IT.  I usually cook on the 2nd rack but perhaps I should cook it on the 3rd or maybe even on the 4th rack that the water pan attaches to so it would be closer to both the smoke and the heating element.

None of this is your fault, of course. But now that I know enough to clean both sensors I can at least have the smoker temp stabilized when I give a chuckie a 2nd try some time in the future.
That is what I was pointing out. Since this is on one of my "Step by Steps", and you said "Thanks to Bear", and then go on to say how you followed my method & everything went wrong. I wanted you & others to know that it wasn't my method, but your smoker problems & stopping & starting that caused your problems getting it done. 

You didn't mention in your first post that "None of this was my fault, and you were having trouble with your smoker".

I don't like people being scared away from my easy to follow Step by Steps for so many things. I make my Step by Steps to keep people from having problems when they first start out.

Bear
 
 
That is what I was pointing out. Since this is on one of my "Step by Steps", and you said "Thanks to Bear", and then go on to say how you followed my method & everything went wrong. I wanted you & others to know that it wasn't my method, but your smoker problems & stopping & starting that caused your problems getting it done. 

You didn't mention in your first post that "None of this was my fault, and you were having trouble with your smoker".

I don't like people being scared away from my easy to follow Step by Steps for so many things. I make my Step by Steps to keep people from having problems when they first start out.

Bear
Oh--NOW I get it! I see how you misunderstood what I wrote. When I said "thanks to Bear" I meant that you had inspired me to try a chuckie from the tips you gave me in your private message. I looked at your step-by-step but only to remind myself of a couple of the tips and to again see what cooking temp you advised. I apologize if I gave your or anyone the impression that following your instructions took me into the weeds. Not at all; you weren't responsible for the chuck roast IT getting stuck or my smoker temp problems. However, I credit both you and Todd with helping me solve the high temp problem because that's what made me think of cleaning the sensors as the fix the next morning.

Now I also get what you were saying to me about my going off on my own regarding the chuckie. I didn't realize that you were referring to me no longer following your step-by-step. Thanks for this latest comment of yours because it's what helped me to see our miscommunication here. The steps of yours I did follow are what got the chuck roast to the edible state.
 
It turned out really good for me. I managed to get the roast to the right temp before I foiled it, and then took it to 205. I messed up when I foiled it and punctured the foil with my probe so a bunch of juice ran out and I had to refoil.

When it was done I don't think I let it rest long enough but either way it was tender and juicy. It didn't seem like it was of pulling consistency so I sliced it instead. Then we proceeded to devour it.
 
It turned out really good for me. I managed to get the roast to the right temp before I foiled it, and then took it to 205. I messed up when I foiled it and punctured the foil with my probe so a bunch of juice ran out and I had to refoil.

When it was done I don't think I let it rest long enough but either way it was tender and juicy. It didn't seem like it was of pulling consistency so I sliced it instead. Then we proceeded to devour it.
I'm glad you liked it, Ray !!

I had that problem with foil, so I started putting it in a foil pan, and then covering it with foil. The foil pan is much stronger than the foil.

Since you went to 205* it would have pulled apart easier with a longer rest.

Thanks for the report,

Bear
 
Mr. Bearcarver, when we get home later today and I am on my laptop I will be sending you a pm regarding this. Will be smoking a chuckie here in a couple of weeks for some tamales.
 
New member, I joined to say great step by step tutorial.  I wanted to do a pulled beef and was not sure what cut to buy.  I did some searching on google and came across this thread, perfect I thought.

The first thing I will say is there are a couple of different 'chuckies' out there.  I didn't know that when I set out to buy my cut.  I went to 2 different butchers shops and they couldn't sell me a chuckie that was not brisket, the rest of their chuck mean is ground.  I had heard brisket was quite a challenge and shouldn't be attempted by newbies.  So then I ended up at a grocery store trying to eye out the best err, I mean worst roast I could find.  I picked out a 2kg blade roast since I couldn't find a chuck roast.

Some more google-ing when I got home told me my eyes did not deceive me, a blade roast is a chuck roast!  Sweet, I am on the way now!  This chuckie will be my 3rd roast slow and low on the grill using amps.  

My first roast was a pork shoulder that I got nervous during the stall and added heat and ran out of time and results were so so.  My 2nd attempt was a pork butt that I just left (aprox 12lbs butt) started it at 10am and pulled it off the 240 degree grill 17 hours later (3am at 203 degrees IT) I was so tired I wrapped in foil, and towels put it in the cooler and went to bed.  When I went to pull it the next afternoon (about 2 hours before guest arrived, a much better timed cook :D ) it literally fell apart for me, so juicy 

So that was the plan for this chuckie.  Leave it alone till IT is right :D  Thats exactly what I did, however I was hungry and tried to pull it soon as it came off the smoker.  This was not easy, I ended up getting just enough for 2 sammies (the wife and I) then put it in a foil tray poured the au jus in and covered it.  that sat in a 170 degree oven for about an hour, and the remainder pulled wonderfully!

Sorry I missed the pics coming off the grill, but I did snap one of it pulled 


and one on a bun :)


Thanks Bear!
 
 
New member, I joined to say great step by step tutorial.  I wanted to do a pulled beef and was not sure what cut to buy.  I did some searching on google and came across this thread, perfect I thought.

The first thing I will say is there are a couple of different 'chuckies' out there.  I didn't know that when I set out to buy my cut.  I went to 2 different butchers shops and they couldn't sell me a chuckie that was not brisket, the rest of their chuck mean is ground.  I had heard brisket was quite a challenge and shouldn't be attempted by newbies.  So then I ended up at a grocery store trying to eye out the best err, I mean worst roast I could find.  I picked out a 2kg blade roast since I couldn't find a chuck roast.

Some more google-ing when I got home told me my eyes did not deceive me, a blade roast is a chuck roast!  Sweet, I am on the way now!  This chuckie will be my 3rd roast slow and low on the grill using amps.  

My first roast was a pork shoulder that I got nervous during the stall and added heat and ran out of time and results were so so.  My 2nd attempt was a pork butt that I just left (aprox 12lbs butt) started it at 10am and pulled it off the 240 degree grill 17 hours later (3am at 203 degrees IT) I was so tired I wrapped in foil, and towels put it in the cooler and went to bed.  When I went to pull it the next afternoon (about 2 hours before guest arrived, a much better timed cook :D ) it literally fell apart for me, so juicy 

So that was the plan for this chuckie.  Leave it alone till IT is right :D  Thats exactly what I did, however I was hungry and tried to pull it soon as it came off the smoker.  This was not easy, I ended up getting just enough for 2 sammies (the wife and I) then put it in a foil tray poured the au jus in and covered it.  that sat in a 170 degree oven for about an hour, and the remainder pulled wonderfully!

Sorry I missed the pics coming off the grill, but I did snap one of it pulled 


and one on a bun :)


Thanks Bear!
Great photos and congrats on the chuckie! But you make me feel blessed that I live on the West Coast. Both blade and boneless chuck roasts have been found in abundance in the supermarkets in all the towns I've lived in. Ironically, my first and only Chuckie has been the one failure I've experienced in smoking. It stalled at 160° for about 12 hours over two days (yes, TWO days) and the highest IT I ever got before I pulled it out was 190° which had not been enough to render out all the fat and break down all the tough connective tissues. Someday I'll get back up on that horse but not soon.

Don't fear the brisket, newbie! Cooking a flat brisket (the most common cut you'll find at the supermarket) is no harder than smoking a pork shoulder and it's a very similar process. What is smoking anyway? It's just cooking with low heat over wood smoke over time. The only real thing to know about a brisket is the hard fat that won't render down from the soft fat and that's very easy to see. You trim off the hard fat and leave all or most of the soft which will render down nicely. You apply the rub exactly the way you do with a pork shoulder and place it in the heated smoker with the smoke source going. I typically smoke a 4-5 lb brisket flat which is more than enough for a small family or group of friends. This last time I also smoked the point for my first try at burnt ends but stick with the flat for your first time out.

I own a MES 30 and I cooked the brisket at around a 225° set point. I was all set for a long stall at 160° but it really wasn't that long. A similar short stall also occurred at 170°. Following a recipe, I foiled both the flat and the point about 6 hours with foil juice inside the foil (what and where else?) The cook lasted about 11 hours and about 30 minutes or so from the end I unfoiled both brisket cuts and brushed on BBQ sauce for some extra flavor and because I like the wet look on my smoked meats. I smoked it over oak wood pellets in my AMNPS and this was the best brisket I've ever made out of a total of three smoked briskets. And this was among the easiest smokes I've ever experienced. Believe me, it's not that difficult to produce a great smoked brisket in an electric smoker over wood pellets.

And smokinjoe, welcome to SMF. I've been here 3 years and people here have enabled me to really up my game. In the beginning everything I smoked was harsh and bitter. Thanks to the help I've received I've learned how to use smoke to enhance meat and cheeses and not overpower it. With that brisket I talked about, it was so good that it blew me away that I not only made it myself but that I smoked it in a little MES 30 Gen 1 and got what I felt was restaurant quality BBQ beef brisket. You can do the same thing.
 
daRickster

Thanks for the welcome, and the props on the pics!  

I think maybe my issue finding a good chuckie was the butcher shops I tried first, seems they are trying to hold a higher standard of cuts.  Not to mention the price difference.  The brisket at the butcher shop was 8.99/lb where Loblaws (where I found the blade and a brisket which is in my freezer right now :D  ) had the blade for 12.10/kg and less for the brisket ten and change :D big difference there!

So I am really glad the new Loblaws opened in Barrie, that is my store of choice now.  For the service and the selection, the butcher at Loblaws took time to show me the different chuck cuts he had and explained where and how they came to be.  Awesome!
"Don't fear the brisket, newbie! Cooking a flat brisket (the most common cut you'll find at the supermarket) is no harder than smoking a pork shoulder and it's a very similar process. What is smoking anyway? It's just cooking with low heat over wood smoke over time. The only real thing to know about a brisket is the hard fat that won't render down from the soft fat and that's very easy to see. You trim off the hard fat and leave all or most of the soft which will  render down nicely. You apply the rub exactly the way you do with a pork shoulder and place it in the heated smoker with the smoke source going."
I guess it was brisket cooked for slicing that I was advised to wait till I had more experience before attempting.  It sounds like a pulled beef using brisket is quite easy, and it will be my next beef cook.  :)
"With that brisket I talked about, it was so good that it blew me away that I not only made it myself but that I smoked it in a little MES 30 Gen 1 and got what I felt was restaurant quality BBQ beef brisket."
that is exactly how I felt about my last butt cook.  Looking forward to doing the same with beef soon.  

Thanks for the encouragement!

Joe  
 
 
daRickster

Thanks for the welcome, and the props on the pics!  

I think maybe my issue finding a good chuckie was the butcher shops I tried first, seems they are trying to hold a higher standard of cuts.  Not to mention the price difference.  The brisket at the butcher shop was 8.99/lb where Loblaws (where I found the blade and a brisket which is in my freezer right now :D  ) had the blade for 12.10/kg and less for the brisket ten and change :D big difference there!

So I am really glad the new Loblaws opened in Barrie, that is my store of choice now.  For the service and the selection, the butcher at Loblaws took time to show me the different chuck cuts he had and explained where and how they came to be.  Awesome!

I guess it was brisket cooked for slicing that I was advised to wait till I had more experience before attempting.  It sounds like a pulled beef using brisket is quite easy, and it will be my next beef cook.  :)

that is exactly how I felt about my last butt cook.  Looking forward to doing the same with beef soon.  

Thanks for the encouragement!

Joe  
Joe, AHA! You are in Ontario, Canada, my friend! As I like to say that's a horse of a different story. It all became clear when you said the blade was on sale for 12.10/kg. Don't know how that converts into U.S. dollars per pound, though. Barrie's a fair-sized town so I don't understand why it's a bit of a challenge to find blade and boneless chuck roasts. I really didn't know much about chuck cuts but it basically all comes from the cow's shoulder above the brisket.

Joe, let me continue to ease your mind about brisket. When you've cooked it properly it will both slice and pull. When I slice my finished brisket, parts of it slice nicely while others fa;; apart. You get both types of meat with one brisket flat! When you smoke the point along with the flat, you chop it up into what's called "burnt ends". They're incredibly full of flavor especially when covered with BBQ sauce. The point is a different cut of brisket from the flat--the grain runs differently, too. It's separated from the flat by a layer of fat which trimmed away when the point is separated from the flat.

It's a piece of cake, really.
 
haha I did the same thing.  I thought BC when you said west coast lol, too funny.  I see Seattle now, hindsight right :) 

So there is 2.2lbs in each kg that would work out to aprox $5.50/lb, not too sure how that compares to prices south of the border?

I hear people saying the brisket is less forgiving, I'm thinking with both mavrick probes in place how bad can I mess it up?  Unless of course its too much smoke or something like that, if such a thing exists (jk I know it does).  I do have a brisket in the freezer now and I'm just waiting for that right time to warm up the smoker!

Before I do I may post a pic of the roast to see if I can get it identified so I know which part of the brisket I do have.  As in anything the more you know the better off you will fair.

cheers,

Joe
 
Welcome Joe!!

Looks like your Pulled Beef from your Chuckie "Blade" came out Great !!
drool.gif


I love pulled Beef !! I haven't done any for a long time, but I got one thawing right now.

I don't know if you saw any more of my Step by Steps, but here's an Index of over 50 Step by Steps done on my MES smokers.

Just click on "Bear's Step by Steps".

Bear
 
 
haha I did the same thing.  I thought BC when you said west coast lol, too funny.  I see Seattle now, hindsight right :) 

So there is 2.2lbs in each kg that would work out to aprox $5.50/lb, not too sure how that compares to prices south of the border?

I hear people saying the brisket is less forgiving, I'm thinking with both mavrick probes in place how bad can I mess it up?  Unless of course its too much smoke or something like that, if such a thing exists (jk I know it does).  I do have a brisket in the freezer now and I'm just waiting for that right time to warm up the smoker!

Before I do I may post a pic of the roast to see if I can get it identified so I know which part of the brisket I do have.  As in anything the more you know the better off you will fair.

cheers,

Joe
Joe, before I took a BBQ class I had no idea that a brisket was made up of two sections of meat. Some people cook them together and slice them apart after it's finished. The BBQ instructor guy cut the point from the flat and that's how I did it.

Approx $5.50/lb for brisket? On the Seattle West Coast that's a really good deal but now I can't recall what I've been paying for it. I think $7/lb but I'm not sure. Around here a brisket flat can be hard to find in the supermarkets. I usually buy no more than an 9-pounder. My wife will use 4 lbs. for her slow cook recipe and I use the remainder for smoking. That's how I was able to smoke a 5 lb. brisket with the point because that's the half I took! You can find photos online to show you how to tell the point from the flat. The point is literally that--the pointed part of the muscle.

Brisket it most forgiving. Cook it long enough and it's really a nice guy. I place the ET-733 FOOD probe in the meat and the BARBECUE probe through the metal clip that I attach between the rack tines, or whatever you call them. Then I monitor both probes from inside my house. There's a bit more to it because adjusting the smoker temp, turning the brisket over, and foiling and unfoiling are involved but no big deal. I know guys who take the finished brisket, keep it inside the foil, and place it inside an empty cooler and pile newspapers or something over it and just let it rest for 4 hours or more (they do this same thing to a pork shoulder). I don't. When the brisket's done it's dinner time. No more waiting since it already took about 11 hours to get there.
 
@Bearcarver

Thanks Bear, like I said it could have rested a little before my 1st attempt at pulling but did great the 2nd time around :)  

I'll check out the other step-by-step posts and see what catches my fancy, great job in posting them easy to follow with great turnouts!

I have to admit though there are other great resources on the site as well.  I recently read a post on a blueberry cherry dry rub for pork that sounds so yummy, I can see myself spending a great deal of time here haha.

@daRicksta
 I place the ET-733 FOOD probe in the meat and the BARBECUE probe through the metal clip that I attach between the rack tines, or whatever you call them. Then I monitor both probes from inside my house. There's a bit more to it because adjusting the smoker temp, turning the brisket over, and foiling and unfoiling are involved but no big deal.
This is exactly the process I used for the blade roast.  I didn't do anything for temps in between 200-250 thats where my hi/low alerts are set.  I only heard 3 beeps in the blade roast cook.  If it raised I would have to go adjust the air flow to allow more air in and heat out and vice versa for when it dropped.  If a Brisket can handle that sort of variation I am set and ready :D  

Keep up the good work Bear, and everyone!  

A great community is the best resource to have.
 
 
@Bearcarver

Thanks Bear, like I said it could have rested a little before my 1st attempt at pulling but did great the 2nd time around :)  

I'll check out the other step-by-step posts and see what catches my fancy, great job in posting them easy to follow with great turnouts!

I have to admit though there are other great resources on the site as well.  I recently read a post on a blueberry cherry dry rub for pork that sounds so yummy, I can see myself spending a great deal of time here haha.

@daRicksta

This is exactly the process I used for the blade roast.  I didn't do anything for temps in between 200-250 thats where my hi/low alerts are set.  I only heard 3 beeps in the blade roast cook.  If it raised I would have to go adjust the air flow to allow more air in and heat out and vice versa for when it dropped.  If a Brisket can handle that sort of variation I am set and ready :D  

Keep up the good work Bear, and everyone!  

A great community is the best resource to have.
If you could successfully smoke a chuckie you definitely can successfully smoke a brisket.
 
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