1.5lb Chuck, 7 hours?!?!?!

[smoke_chef]

Hello all,

It's been a while. I haven't been smoke'n much lately. Tonight I smoked up some ribs and thought I would through on a little chuck roast I had originally thawed out for the crock pot. But then I thought.... Crock pot??? When I'll have my smoker fired up anyway. So, three racks of ribs and my chuck all go in the smoker. Sorry no q-view. I totally spaced that tonight?? Any way... I live on a farm. I grow my own beef and pork for the deep freeze. Usually get some good quality meat. It's just the wife and I so my butcher packages everything for two people. I have these chucks that only weigh a pound and a half a piece. I've never done a chuck before but I'm thinking... 4 maybe 5 hours for a piece of meat that size. Which, would be perfect since I was doing 2-2-1 with my ribs. Well, smoker stayed at a pretty even 225 give or take 10 degrees the whole time. The ribs were perfect. Texture, taste, everything about them perfect! But, the chuck... good grief. After 7 freaking hours... I was still only at 175. I was planning on taking it to 195 but gave up on it. I figure it will still eat, it just won't be pulled? Did I do something wrong or did I just give up to soon?

 

[ronp]

Yes, you need to foil and braise it to 185' and hold it there for a few hours or until it falls apart. You will be fine.

 

[fire it up]

It is entirely possible it could take that long, lately I have been cranking the temp on the smoker up a bit more and running a good 300 and you would be amazed at how much quicker the meat cooks without losing any flavor or moisture.
Also, did you foilk the chuckie when it hit 160-165? That will help the temps rise a bit quicker.

 

[smoking gun]

I agree. I usually cook chuckies at 250-275.

 

[john3198]

My last 3 lb chuck roast went about 8 hours. Stalled for a couple of hours, then another hour to be foiled at 165, then two more hours to get to 205. If can take a while.

It pulled great, but was a bit dryer than I expected. Still good, through. Might try higher temps next time to speed things up.

 

[eaglewing]

So the idea for Chuckies is to get them to about the same temp as when doing a BUTT for pulled pork?? 195* ?

and foil just like a butt?

 

[flash]

Yep, I even take them to 210º. There are 7 types of chucks out there. Some pull, some don't and some pull partially. I found I got better results with 210º internal temps.

 

[smoke_chef]

Thanks all... I look forward to trying another one of these.