First Chuck Roast

[haglered]

The reason: neighbor generously gave me 1 homegrown chuck roast (means not purchased at a store-raised by neighbors father) and I will smoke just about whatever meat I can get my hands on.

(Neighbor also gave a half bottle of marinade called allegro, suggested I put it on after smoking, I am reticent, that means reluctant to do this, will probably give marinade back to neighbor with about half of roast.)

The plan as it sits now....

Get an aluminum pan and put a roasting rack in the bottom set the roast on. (we will not be covering the roast with aluminum foil in case you are wondering.)

Coat the roast in olive oil. make slits to insert garlic cloves. cover with a rub of coarse salt and freshly ground peppercorns. Add sliced onions to pan and on top of roast.

pour a small amount of water into bottom of pan to catch the juices to make a jous. Smoke with charcoal (start with briquett, use lump for main part of time. (limited lump charcoal)) and perhaps a light amount of hickory or apple chips. (it's what I have)

I'm thinking about 8 hours (maybe less) at no more than 200-250 temp range. Shoot for internal of about 200.

suggestions?????

 

[ronp]

Well just my opinion, 200' will murder it unless you want pulled/shreaded beef, and if you want that you will have to wrap in foil at 150 ' 160', and add some liquid. How much does it weigh? Normally chuck roasts weigh just a few pounds. 8 hours? Maybe you have a whole chuck?

More details are needed.

 

[pineywoods]

As Ron says need a bit more info but I do know I would be marinading tonight in that Allegro its good stuff.

 

[white cloud]

You may wanna check a post I did awhile back. Also did a beef roast a week ago and it was almost an exact repeat.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ber.php?u=2349

 

[flash]

Just remember there are 7 types of chucks. Some pull easier than others. If you are not sure what type you have and especially if you do not see alot of fat, I would only go to 180º tops and slice it instead.

 

[smoking gun]

I agree. Unless you wrap it or cover in foil at about 140 it's going to get dry and tough. Since it's in a pan you can cover it in foil and make a tent over top of the meat and the juices will baste the meat as it cooks. I've done 2 chuck roasts in the last week, the last one I took to 180 and sliced it, and although it was tender and juicy ( I cooked it in a pan and did the tent) it was still a bit overdone for my personal taste. Next one will be pulled out at 160. I'll try and find the post about the Pan method I used. I do like to start it out on the grate though to get that nice smoke ring.

Here ya go...

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...69&postcount=4

 

[haglered]

I think you guys are right about the internal temp.... I was looking at a meat thermometer and noticing it had beef done about 140. That just shows how much I retain about correct temps for doneness. I am not used to cooking meat by the thermometer. I have gotten used to looking at the juices that flow to decide how done it is. Also I am not used to cooking cuts of meat larger than a steak. I will have to be careful about not overcooking or undercooking my meat.

I looked up your thread WhiteCloud , it was called pre father's day smoke I did not see that one before, but I saw a couple of other threads here, that's how I found this forum.

I have looked a number of recipes on cooking roasts. whenever I attempt a new dish I like to look at a bunch of different recipes and then decide based on my small knowledge of the topic how I want to try to cook it. I did this with my rendition of chili and got some good results. I was not so happy with the brisket rub we used last weekend. But we will be doing another brisket very soon.

I was encouraged when I found so many smoked chuck roasts. I think I want to keep mine very light on the smokey flavor and more like a slow roasted beef, but I do want just that slight smoke in the flavor and very tender almost like roast beef. Probably closer to the 140 internal temp would be the best.

The roast itself is 3lbs 9 ozs I have attached a couple of pictures

 

[haglered]

Let me try those pics one more time....

 

[ronp]

Let us know how it turns out, always cook to temps not time.

Good luck!!
Ron

 

[pineywoods]

When doing roasts I usually marinade in either Allegro or MoJo overnight and often times inject some garlic and herb then smoke to 140 and pull from the smoker and wrap it the internal temp will usually rise another 5-7 degrees this way. I usually slice roasts. If I want pulled beef I'll just go with a brisket.

 

[haglered]

Change of Plan.....

The wife said she thought we ought to use the marinade, so we did. We also inserted 7 cloves of garlic and cut up two small oninons, sprinkled S&P over all before smoking.

I started it at 6:45 AM (A little earlier than I like to rise on Saturday) The smoker temp hovered about 200 all day. Finished about 11:AM My Wife sliced it but declared she wanted to wait to eat until I had finished the Italian Bread I had also started that morning.

It was good but I don't think I will smoking a lot more of these.

The way the day ended up This chuck roast was only the beggining of the day's smokes. I also did some hot dogs and my first slab of ribs ( I will post that smoke in the appropriate forum.)

The meat was tender, the flavor good but I think I may of undercooked it just a little and I think this cut of meat would be better suited to a crock pot. We did save the jus for some other use later... There wasn't much meat and it didn't last very long. Did I mention the roast was a 3 pound 9 ounce one...

I'll attach some pictures.

 

[flash]

Doesn't look bad, why did you consider it under cooked? What temp did you take it off at?

 

[haglered]

I didn't trust the instant read. It said 130 or so, a second reading only went to 120. I did not want to overcook it.

The meat was soft enough, but more like slow cooked roast beef, duh....that's what it was but I'm kinda thinking it should of been a little looser in consistency.

I had never cooked any meat of this nature. My wife is the main cook. I bake (bread, pies, etc...) or grill... steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs ect. I'm not used to cooking big hunks of meat. We both liked this but I wonder if I couldn't of made it more tender If I had cooked it more.

I am also thinking I am cooking too low. That smoker seems to love the 200 degree mark and will hover there with little or no attention, just give it a little fuel and a small amount of air to burn.

Perhaps I should try to keep it at 250 next time????