Small 2lb Chuck Roast Q View

[grohl4pres]

Hey guys,

I went to the store this morning and I love it when they have some decent cuts marked way down due to their expiration dates.  Anyway I got this little 2 lb Chuck roast that looks magnificent.  I did a dry rub of black pepper, cayenne pepper,  paprika, old bay seasoning, and the only wet stuff is a lot of minced garlic.  It has been in the fridge for about 5 hours now and I will probably throw it on in the next hour.  I am waiting on my 3 hour break in the rain.  If you need rain just invite me over to start cooking outside because it never fails! 

My only concern is that with it being so small I do not want to let it sneak by medium but I really want it to be medium rare or around 140-145 internal.  I am going to use a hickory pretty heavy on this one and cook it at around 200-225.  Any guesses on how long it should take at that temp?

 

[realtorterry]

Chuckies are usually done at 200-205? What are you planning to do slice it or pull it?

 

[jirodriguez]

Probably won't take more than 3 hrs. to get to 145'ish.... maybe even 2 hrs.

Most of us do chuckies by cooking them till they will shred, which means taking the internal temp to 195-205. In that process we cook it till the internal temp hits 160'ish, the wrap it in foil with some beef broth, beer, ect. ect., and let it go till the internal temp hits 195+. Then pull it out of the smoker, wrap it in old towels (still foiled), and pop it into a dry towel lined cooler for 1 hr. to rest. After that just unwrap it, and enjoy!

The reason we usually cook chuck roasts that way is to get it real nice and tender. There is usually a lot of fat and connective tissue in a chuck roast, and the low and slow process rends out the fats and breaks down the connective tissues, leaving a nice tender chunk of meat. If you want to to a smoked med. rare chunk of meat I would suggest a tri-tip roast, or some other similary lean roast.

Either way the rub sounds good! Let us know how it turns out!

 

[scarbelly]

Throw a pan of beef stock under the chuckie and you are in for a treat. The smokey broth is amazing  

 

[grohl4pres]

I was planning on slicing it up but after reading some of the comments I will probably pull it out and wrap it up.  It is a pretty slice and like I said it is only about 2 lbs so when I hit a medium or medium rare I am going to make my final decision.  I am afraid hunger will influence my decision but I have a bird I smoked yesterday too so we will see.  Thanks you guys! 

 

[SmokinAl]

Medium rare it will be very chewy. It has to be cooked low & slow to 200+ like Johnny said. Follow his directions & you will have a tender juicy roast.

 

[scarbelly]

Al is right - chuck is not one to cook anything but well done

 

[grohl4pres]

Hey here is the final!

The meat was really good but I will tell you it was outdone by the sweet potato's!  The chuck was good and I ended up wrapping it and once it hit 150 and continued for an hour or so.  I did not have broth or I would have thrown it in.  I will say put some sweet taters in the smoker, poke some holes in them with tooth picks or what I used was corn cob holders and cook them about 4 hrs at 225 and they are awesome.  The potato was perfectly done and laced in butter but every bite had a hint of hickory smoke.  AWESOME!  All around great meat that cost my family $9.00.  It was good but I wish I would have been more prepared with the meat.  Thanks for the advice and next time I will talk about the beef not the taters! 

 

[scarbelly]

Congrats man , it all loooks good - need to try the taters

 

[africanmeat]

It looks good well done

 

[grohl4pres]

It was well done but not bad at all.  I am telling you guys, SMOKED SWEET POTATO is awesome!  Put some butter on it and go to town..  Smoking some today.