Chuck tender experiment in the pellet grill. Success!

[radio]

I have been very disappointed in the flavor of meats smoked in the pellet pooper, even with the addition of a pellet tube.
I thawed out a chuck tender to smoke today and decided to experiment a bit. I started about a dozen RO briquettes and added two small splits of my dwindling stash of seasoned Masnzanita wood.
My butcher sells me a cryo pack of 6 of the chuck tenders at $2.99 per pound and they are very versatile, but a bit lean for smoking. When they hit 160 or so, i foil them with a bit of beef base and brewed coffee to keep them moist.
I find the circulating fan on the pellet grill also tends to dry out smaller cuts of meat on an extended cook.
If this works to my satisfaction, i will have to weld up a small tray of expanded metal to hold the briquettes and allow the ash to drop. I have the Maverick probes in there to monitor the temp, but the pellet grill *should* compensate for the extra heat

 

[chopsaw]

Watching

 

[smokerjim]

Watching

what chopsaw said

 

[Bearcarver]

Looks like a Good Start.
Believe it or not, I never even saw a "Chuck Tender", but it looks Great!!
Be Back.

Bear

 

[radio]

Looks like a Good Start.
Believe it or not, I never even saw a "Chuck Tender", but it looks Great!!
Be Back.

Bear

They are known by many names, also Known As: Chuck Eye; Chuck Filet; Chuck Mock Tender Roast; Medallion Pot Roast; Scotch Tender. The pic shows where they come from

 

[radio]

It finished pretty fast once i panned it with beef base and brewed coffee, then covered in foil. These are very lean cuts and would be dry without foiling.
It shrunk a good deal as these are prone to do, but the flavor is excellent!
I doubt I try the charcoal and wood again in the pellet smoker though. I will go back to starting the smoke in a stick burner, then at the stall foil and move to the pellet grill to finish.
I wrapped it and it is resting in the cooler before slicing. Those two were sacrificed in the interest of quality control

 

[chopsaw]

When you said tender , I thought chuck eye . Didn't know they were the same .
I did them for the first time a week ago . Really good , very tender and great flavor . I took them to medium rare .

 

[Bearcarver]

It finished pretty fast once i panned it with beef base and brewed coffee, then covered in foil. These are very lean cuts and would be dry without foiling.
It shrunk a good deal as these are prone to do, but the flavor is excellent!
I doubt I try the charcoal and wood again in the pellet smoker though. I will go back to starting the smoke in a stick burner, then at the stall foil and move to the pellet grill to finish.
I wrapped it and it is resting in the cooler before slicing. Those two were sacrificed in the interest of quality controlView attachment 399707

That looks Awesome, Radio!!
Nice Job!
Like.

That looks like also a Great Prospect for SV.

Bear

 

[radio]

When you said tender , I thought chuck eye . Didn't know they were the same .
I did them for the first time a week ago . Really good , very tender and great flavor . I took them to medium rare .

They are commonly sliced and sold here in many meat departments as mock tenderloin. I suspect grilling them much past medium rare would result in a fairly tough steak. I make jerky, beef stew and shish kabobs with some of them, but they really shine when smoked like brisket. I would not smoke one without foiling it as they are very lean and I fear they would dry out.
I will stop in the next week or so and get a heart of shoulder clod to smoke, aka, boneless beef ribs

 

[radio]

That looks Awesome, Radio!!
Nice Job!
Like.

That looks like also a Great Prospect for SV.

Bear

Thanks Bear! I have never played with SV, but these are not an inherently tender piece of meat no matter the "tender" in the name. Medium rare might work well, but over that and they become tough. They make excellent pot roasts, jerky, beef stew, and of course smoked like a brisket to probe tender.

 

[Bearcarver]

When you said tender , I thought chuck eye . Didn't know they were the same .
I did them for the first time a week ago . Really good , very tender and great flavor . I took them to medium rare .

These might be Chuck Eye, but not like Chuck Eye Steak.
Chuck Eye Steaks aren't lean, and I think that's what you said you made last week. Those are almost identical to Ribeyes. And Mighty Tasty.
I think these gotta be made like Radio did these, or SV @ about 132° for 21 hours or so, like an Eye Round.

Bear

 

[smokerjim]

yeah these are not the same as chuck eye steak, mock tenders come off the blade bone of the shoulder, chuck eye steaks come off the end of the chuck leading into the Delmonico's.

 

[radio]

yeah these are not the same as chuck eye steak, mock tenders come off the blade bone of the shoulder, chuck eye steaks come off the end of the chuck leading into the Delmonico's.

see the pic I posted above. The mock tender, or chuck tender lies on the outside of the heart of the clod

 

[smokerjim]

absolutely, then to the right of the mock tender would be your chicken steaks or flat iron steak depending on how you slice them then you got the shoulder clod left.

 

[chopsaw]

These might be Chuck Eye, but not like Chuck Eye Steak.
Chuck Eye Steaks aren't lean, and I think that's what you said you made last week. Those are almost identical to Ribeyes. And Mighty Tasty.
I think these gotta be made like Radio did these, or SV @ about 132° for 21 hours or so, like an Eye Round.

Bear

Radio , don't want to mess up your thread.
Yeah bear you're right . Mine were marbled .

 

[smokerjim]

Radio , don't want to mess up your thread.
Yeah bear you're right . Mine were marbled .

around here we call them chuck delmonicos, and the chuck eye are called mock tenders, depending on where you live they might be called something different but they are 2 different cuts of meat. as chopsaw said I don't want to change radios thread but I don't want people thinking chuck eye(mock tenders) are the same as chuck delmonicos(chuck fillet)

 

[Bearcarver]

around here we call them chuck delmonicos, and the chuck eye are called mock tenders, depending on here you live they might be called something different but they are 2 different cuts of meat. as chopsaw said I don't want to change radios thread but I don't want people thinking chuck eye(mock tenders) are the same as chuck delmonicos(chuck fillet)

Yup, Those Chuck Tenders look like they'd be really Great the way Radio made them, and I'm sure they'd be Great with SV.
As for those Chuck Eye Steaks, they are awesome, but the only problem I found with them is they fall apart awful easy when you grill them.

Bear

 

[radio]

Radio , don't want to mess up your thread.
Yeah bear you're right . Mine were marbled .

no worries. interesting to read about different names for cuts, and where they came from