So I tried a chuck roast

[WaterRat]

Hey All, My first post other than on Roll Call so be gentle ;)

I attempted my first chuck roast on Wednesday. The local market had "block cut" chuck roast (not quite sure how that is cut, haven't seen it before, by looks they took the entire chuck and put it through the band saw to make slabs) for $2.99/lb so why not! It had a couple small bones and was 3.4lbs. For prep I simply used 2:2:1:1 SPGO and let it warm up a bit. Got the pit to 250°F and tossed it on. Also did some short ribs while I was at it.







After 2hrs it was reading 156°F IT so I pulled it off (most things I've read say to cover it once it hits 150 or so), put in a pan with a half sliced onion and a cup or so of beef stock, covered with foil and back on with a probe in it.



An hour later (3 total) it was reading 201°F IT which I thought was really fast to get to that temp. I did a little test pull with 2 forks and it was nowhere near done. It was finally done at 5.5hrs. I removed it from the pan and let it rest covered for about an hour then pulled it by hand.



Overall the tenderness was right on but the flavor was a little low. I believe I need to start at a lower temp, maybe 225°F and leave it in the smoke a minimum of 3hrs next time. It made a great sandwich and isn't bad at all, but it could certainly be more. On the plus side I have 2 more chucks sitting in my freezer :)

 

[Bearcarver]

Yours looks Great !!

I'm thinking your Therm is wrong.
Below are two different Chucky Smokes;
Both had 240° smoker temp.
One had 5 1/2 hours of smoke before foiling, and the other had 6 hours of smoke before foiling.
They both had plenty of Smoke Flavor.
Pulled Beef Chucky
Smoked Pulled Beef Chucky

I would check your Therm, or get a digital wireless, like the Maverick ET-732 or similar.

Bear

 

[oddegan]

I smoke mine at 225. That being said you've got a pretty good looking sammie there. Good job on your first chuck. Is that tiger sauce I see?

 

[SmokinAl]

It sure looks good from here!
Great looking sammie!
Al

 

[yankee2bbq]

Yeap, great looking Sammie!

 

[WaterRat]

Yours looks Great !!

I'm thinking your Therm is wrong.
Below are two different Chucky Smokes;
Both had 240° smoker temp.
One had 5 1/2 hours of smoke before foiling, and the other had 6 hours of smoke before foiling.
They both had plenty of Smoke Flavor.
Pulled Beef Chucky
Smoked Pulled Beef Chucky

I would check your Therm, or get a digital wireless, like the Maverick ET-732 or similar.

Bear

Thanks for those links Bear, those are some nice looking chucks! With regards to temp, while the smoker was set at 250, I've noticed the temp at the grate is a bit higher, around 265. Also it's a pellet smoker with a fan so you also have the convection aspect which can lead to higher temps faster (in theory). As for internal temps, I used both a digital oven probe and my Thermo Pop and they were the same. I've only had this smoker for 2 months and am still learning its quirks but I think the biggest factor here is temp at the probe vs grate temp, why the probe is not at the grate blows my mind, I need to check if I can re-position it.

 

[WaterRat]

I smoke mine at 225. That being said you've got a pretty good looking sammie there. Good job on your first chuck. Is that tiger sauce I see?

Thanks everyone for the compliments. Melted provolone and hot cherry peppers. Not tiger sauce. It's a homemade creamy horseradish sauce. I looked for a long time to find something that was similar to the sauce they served with prime rib way back when I was in high school and worked as a busboy/expeditor at the local county club. This recipe is the best I've found: https://www.chowhound.com/recipes/horseradish-cream-sauce-28403 It's not gross like mayonnaise type horseradish you buy at the store, it has texture and is pourable like thick gravy. Adjust horseradish, salt and pepper to personal taste. I make it with sour cream not crème fraîche as I think that would be too sweet.

"Edit" In hind sight are you referring to the sauce in the glass bowl? Yeah, it does kinda look like tiger sauce, but no, it's just au jus from the pan with the fat separated ;)

 

[oddegan]

are you referring to the sauce in the glass bowl?

Nope. Sauce on the sammie. I'll have to check out your sauce recipe. I'm always on the lookout for new horsey sauce.

 

[mowin]

Don't worry about if your set temp is off from the grate temp. Just adjust according.
It's what I do with my pellet pooper. The higher I set mine, the farther it's off.
I also use a amazin tube smoker for additional smoke flavor. I also start most of my smokes
at the lowest temp for a hr or so. (lower the temp, the more the pellets smolder, creating more smoke).

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks for those links Bear, those are some nice looking chucks! With regards to temp, while the smoker was set at 250, I've noticed the temp at the grate is a bit higher, around 265. Also it's a pellet smoker with a fan so you also have the convection aspect which can lead to higher temps faster (in theory). As for internal temps, I used both a digital oven probe and my Thermo Pop and they were the same. I've only had this smoker for 2 months and am still learning its quirks but I think the biggest factor here is temp at the probe vs grate temp, why the probe is not at the grate blows my mind, I need to check if I can re-position it.

That's always a problem. That's why we MES owners put the meat probe about 3" from the meat to get the reading of the area around the meat, and adjust the MES temp to make that area the temp we want the meat to be in.
If I want my meat to be in 230°, I might have to set my MES Digital setting at 210°.
You'll get there--No problem!

Bear

 

[WaterRat]

Thank you everyone for the advice and compliments.

 

[petehalsted]

One other thing that might have gotten you on the temp on the chucky is making sure you are in the muscle and not the fat, if the tip of your probe was in that fat pocket it would read much higher than in the muscle.