Last week, my brothers and my wife chipped in and got me a Masterbuilt Gravity 560 for a birthday present. I assembled and seasoned earlier in the week so the first chance I got to use it was Labor Day. I decided on something simple so I could develop a feel for the new smoker. I figured a chuck roast would be perfect.
Another reason I decided on the chuck was because
chopsaw
sent me a homemade wooden tortilla press. So I was eager to take both of these new toys on their maiden voyage.
I found a beautiful and ginormous 5lb Chuck Roast seasoned up with
tx smoker
beef rub with additional cumin, ancho and black pepper sprinkled on top.
Here's the 560 in action. It works as advertised and heats up to 250F in under 10 minutes. Although I let it run for about 25 minutes so the heavy smoke dissipated before I threw the chuck on. I ran it with Kingsford briquettes with some chunks of hickory in the hopper. I also threw some chunks in the ash bin. These didn't smoke as much as I thought they would. It seemed the Kingsford was more ash than embers but I will be trying different brands and lump charcoal to see what works best for me.
I decided to smoke the chuck roast at 250F for 7 hours and to be honest, it was quite boring. There were no needle valves to adjust, splits to add or vents to adjust. I kinda stared aimlessly out the window while the smoker did all the work. Since I had nothing to do during this time, I threw together a Chile de arbol sauce for the tacos.
Here's the chuck after 7 hours. I wasn't looking for IT (it was 163) but was looking at the bark because I would finish the chuck in the oven. Looks pretty good to me!
Next, the chuck gets panned and goes into a 300F oven until probe tender. This took about 2.5 hours. I add enchilada sauce and chili puree as a braise.
Two and a half hours later.
Shredded and then covered in a 200 oven to keep warm while I start the tortillas.
Here's
chopsaw
press that I will be using. This thing is just gorgeous!!! Thank you so much Rich.
First corn tortilla on the new press. It was perfect! All the other tortillas came out just great. I made 9 on Monday and also 6 more for Taco Tuesday. Chop, I wouldn't change a thing. This press makes a pretty mean tortilla.
Here's the finished product of the new smoker and press. Shredded chuck roast tacos with onion, cilantro, queso fresco, lime juice and chile de arbol sauce on mine. The wife passed because the sauce packs too much heat.
These were so good, that I had to have them today for leftovers. There's also enough meat for more tacos tomorrow. Three nights in a row!? I'm not complaining.
Well, I would consider this a pretty successful first run with the new toys. Rich's wood press works as advertised. The smoker ran great. My only gripe was that the paint bubbled and started to peel off the charcoal hopper lid after only one smoke. Oh well, can't complain about a gift and I was aware of some of Masterbuilt's quality issues beforehand. I'm going to invest in the SS inserts once my chimney firebox starts to rust out. Once the paint comes off, I'll probably just wire brush and hit it with some Hi temp spray paint.
Thanks for looking.
Another reason I decided on the chuck was because
chopsaw
sent me a homemade wooden tortilla press. So I was eager to take both of these new toys on their maiden voyage.I found a beautiful and ginormous 5lb Chuck Roast seasoned up with
tx smoker
beef rub with additional cumin, ancho and black pepper sprinkled on top.
Here's the 560 in action. It works as advertised and heats up to 250F in under 10 minutes. Although I let it run for about 25 minutes so the heavy smoke dissipated before I threw the chuck on. I ran it with Kingsford briquettes with some chunks of hickory in the hopper. I also threw some chunks in the ash bin. These didn't smoke as much as I thought they would. It seemed the Kingsford was more ash than embers but I will be trying different brands and lump charcoal to see what works best for me.
I decided to smoke the chuck roast at 250F for 7 hours and to be honest, it was quite boring. There were no needle valves to adjust, splits to add or vents to adjust. I kinda stared aimlessly out the window while the smoker did all the work. Since I had nothing to do during this time, I threw together a Chile de arbol sauce for the tacos.
Here's the chuck after 7 hours. I wasn't looking for IT (it was 163) but was looking at the bark because I would finish the chuck in the oven. Looks pretty good to me!
Next, the chuck gets panned and goes into a 300F oven until probe tender. This took about 2.5 hours. I add enchilada sauce and chili puree as a braise.
Two and a half hours later.
Shredded and then covered in a 200 oven to keep warm while I start the tortillas.
Here's
chopsaw
press that I will be using. This thing is just gorgeous!!! Thank you so much Rich.
First corn tortilla on the new press. It was perfect! All the other tortillas came out just great. I made 9 on Monday and also 6 more for Taco Tuesday. Chop, I wouldn't change a thing. This press makes a pretty mean tortilla.
Here's the finished product of the new smoker and press. Shredded chuck roast tacos with onion, cilantro, queso fresco, lime juice and chile de arbol sauce on mine. The wife passed because the sauce packs too much heat.
These were so good, that I had to have them today for leftovers. There's also enough meat for more tacos tomorrow. Three nights in a row!? I'm not complaining.
Well, I would consider this a pretty successful first run with the new toys. Rich's wood press works as advertised. The smoker ran great. My only gripe was that the paint bubbled and started to peel off the charcoal hopper lid after only one smoke. Oh well, can't complain about a gift and I was aware of some of Masterbuilt's quality issues beforehand. I'm going to invest in the SS inserts once my chimney firebox starts to rust out. Once the paint comes off, I'll probably just wire brush and hit it with some Hi temp spray paint.
Thanks for looking.
