Barbecued Chuck Roast

[MGZ]

OK, so Saturday morning is not the best time to post a new thread seeking responses for the next day, but I suppose any thoughts and reflections will be helpful for us all going forward. . . .

Anyway, I've been barbecuing* for years now and made plenty of the traditional cuts, as well as some not so traditional. Somehow, I have never tried to prepare a chuck roast. Seems like an obvious choice though - a collagen-laden cut of flavorful meat and smaller, so less cooking time than required for a brisket. Nevertheless, I picked up a fine looking piece of choice beef for very little money and, given the weather forecast, tomorrow I'm trying it.

The plan is to rub the meat tonight and cook the meat using a predominantly hard maple and oak as the fuel. I'm estimating a 6 hour cook, but as we say, "'cue is done when 'cue is done." Target temp is 190 to 200 and I generally don't use foil or finish in the oven.

I'm seeking any experiences others may have had with similar approaches. Fuels, rubs, sauces, whatever that may be more appropriate to this dish are likewise requested. If it matters, I'm thinking that we will be eating the meat on sandwiches during the Jets game.

*I use the term barbecue for the traditional, low-slow technique employed for pulled pork, ribs, etc. I have noticed that the term "smoke" has gained more popularity recently. I have no need to debate semantics, but thought it worth clarifying.

[ritabwh]

i might have missed this...is this chuck roast a "flat" roast as in a 7 bone, or a "round" roast that is tied?
thanks!

[fourunder]

The former, not the latter.......boneless or 7 bone

[ritabwh]

thank you.
fascinating. can't wait to try this out.

[sparky403]

This is honestly one of my favorite cuts to do on the grill.... it's uniform in thickness, it's a great show when it goes on the bbq and it always turns out well (I do it for a pretty large crowd).

I beat it up pretty good with a meat hammer, a bit of dry rub, coffee grounds (use a bit more than pepper - 2 tblspoons per side), wishy sauce, dejon, I also silver garlic and insert.

I sear on a very hot grill 10 minutes per side - move to indirect heat and cover the grill. It takes 30 to 40 minutes too cook the whole thing.

try it you'll love it...

sear on each side over a very hot grill

[MGZ]

Well, grilling the meat is completely contrary to the experiment contemplated by this thread, but, yes, you are correct, it does work that way as well. Personally, for that approach, I'd rather use a two and a half inch thick ribeye . . . .

[ritabwh]

either way works for me. i've done the grilling style, based on an very old cook's illustrated recipe. and yes, it is very good that way.
the actual bbq will be fun to try, as i will be at my sister's who has a side-burner bbq.

[EarlyBird]

All,

I did a 4.75 lb chuck roast yesterday. Rubbed it with a salty-peppery Texas style rub the night before and wrapped it in plastic.

Did it four hours in the smoker at constant 230 degrees using a combination of regular Kingsford blue and Kingsford mesquite briquets and a few small chunks of apple wood. Just kept it on the grate with a drip pan well below, and used a water pan for steam. Took it out after four hours, wrapped it tightly in foil and put in the oven at 250 for another three hours until the internal temperature of the meat was 200 degrees exactly.

Rather than being able to pull it as I expected, it sliced. It was quite good, with a deep smoke ring and nice bark, but it was a little bit on the dry side, the only disappointment. I was surprised that it wasn't super juicy, given the cut. It wasn't "dried out," but certainly not nearly as juicy as I had hoped for.

I don't want to blame the meat, though it was less marbled then I typically get chuck roasts.

Did I handle the temps right? Pointers, criticisms of the cook?

[fourunder]

First question, what target temperature were you shooting for? Were you looking to pull, or shred the meat ....or looking to slice it more like brisket?

I'm really not qualified to give you any pointers on smoking, but in general, meat only accepts the smoke during the first couple of hours. I suspect you cooked the meat too long (seven hours), but this is coming from a guy who likes his meat medium-rare.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/757268

[EarlyBird]

I was hoping to pull/shred the meat, basically have it falling apart, and brought it up to an internal temp of 200 degrees before resting it, uncovered, for 20 minutes. I agree that it only take smoke for the first few hours or so, and so along those lines I took it out of the smoker and finished it in the oven, foiled. Thinking it would finish it quicker and keep more of the juices.

[scubadoo97]

For a chuck I would have been shooting for 195-205 internal temp for pulling.

[EarlyBird]

I got it exactly to 200. Hmm. I don't want to overstate the dryness. It wasn't jerky or anything, just not nearly as succelent as I expected.

[scubadoo97]

I know every piece of meat is different and some are tender at lower temps than others. Some people are advocates of "probe tender" not relying on temp but on how easy a prob can slide into the meat. Takes practice and you have to have a good frame of reference for what to look for in resistance when probing.

[EarlyBird]

Funny, that is my typical way of checking tenderness, but this time I went specifically for temp at 200, which was the recommendation from so many. Well, I guess I've just got to do more meat!

Thanks.

[fourunder]

I would suggest that in the future, select pieces of meat focusing on size and shape....rather than weight alone. My experience is the thickness makes a world of difference in the end results. The thicker and larger the piece of meat, the less chance you have of drying out the meat..

[EarlyBird]

That's a very good piece of advice. It so happens that this piece of chuck was longer and wider than it was thick. I'll definitely keep that in mind.

[fourunder]

If you look at the link to the thread I started on low temperature roasting for chuck roast, you can see the differences for specific pieces of meat based on time, temperature and thickness of cut.

[EarlyBird]

I'll be doing a chuck roast in my "smoker," i.e., a 22" Weber kettle grill with a Smokenator 1000 placed in it, this weekend. I'm going for a "cowboy" taste, and so am thinking I'll use Kingsford mesquite charcoal (which is basically just Kingsford blue with bit of mesquite in it) with a few oak chunks. Should this get the flavor I'm looking for? I am wary of mesquite overwhelming the food, but hope to get what I imagine cowboys out on the range would experience. I don't want to use hickory for this particular cook.

[scubadoo97]

I'm a big fan of oak with beef

Your method appears very sound and should give you the results you are looking for.

[MGZ]

Yep, oak for smoking beef is pretty much my favorite. Hard maple or walnut is also a fine choice. I reserve the fruit woods for pork and poultry. I can't really comment on mesquite, since I can't get it for free I pretty much never use it.

[EarlyBird]

Thanks, all. For overkill I'm going to inject it with some low sodium beef broth.

[scubadoo97]

A chuck is a perfect cut to BBQ/smoke. I do them often on my electric smoker. First it's an easy cut to find in the grocery store. You can pick up a boneless underblade chuck roast that is 2-3 pounds on any given day at the market. It has plenty of flavor and collagen to result in a moist and tasty end product. I treat it like I would if smoking a brisket. Dry rub for a couple of days then into a 225 smoker. I like oak wood when smoking beef but cherry and hickory will do nicely. I like to take the meat to around 170 and then foil and continue to cook until 200-205. I never slice a chuck but prefer it pulled so I can clean it up a bit. It is surprising that even at this smaller weight it can still take 10 plus hours to completion.

[MGZ]

Well, the air temperature didn't get much above 60 and the prevailing East winds made the Atlantic's dampness a significant factor for the cook. After 5 hours, the center of the roast was registering just a bit south of 140, so I figured I'd pull it of the grill, in light of fourunder's experiments.

I was pretty impressed with the results. The meat, though a bit past medium-rare was still tender in the center, as well as deliciously smokey and tasty. It mad for some damn good sandwiches on what passes for hard rolls these days.

The simple flaw in this approach was more borne out of my old-school method. The weather meant uneven heat on the surface of the barbecue rack as the wood required more frequent replacement. This resulted in some over cooking on the ends. I would suggest that the ability to maintain a constant temperature in the oven is quite important for this approach to a roast (though, I suppose an electric smoker or better weather conditions might also help pull it off).

I do so love to play with food . . . .

[fourunder]

Very Nice.....do you think your results would have improved with a Char Broil Offset Style Smoker like in the link below?

By this I mean you know it will take an approximate time before you start checking the meat and you can add wood to the fire without loosing any heat?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Char-Broil-...

[MGZ]

Actually, a slightly modified, older version of that grill is what I use. I think it was primarily the outside temperature and dampness that caused me grief. I went through more wood than usual trying to maintain a steady temperature. Each addition caused a bit of a temporary spike.

[fourunder]

The local Bravo market has Chuck Steak on sale this week(2.39/lb.)......the butcher will custom cut any meat on sale if requested. I'm headed out to order a 3.5 inch thick roast which extends out to 6+ pounds.....While I will be roasting this inside.....I will do so with your experience in mind.....and jealous I will not be able to smoke it outside.

[MGZ]

The more well done ends lent themselves quite well to reheating with steam and barbecue sauce in a slow cooker for a few hours. The result was the tender, pulled beef that I had originally contemplated when deciding to try this cook. In a way, I wound up with the best of both worlds - a sliced medium/medium-rare smokey roast beef sandwich one night and a sloppy, saucy pulled beef burrito another. I will definitely try the whole experiment again before long.

As a aside, I have had success in the past with better cuts of beef roasts on the grill employing a barbecue-roasting technique. Basically, it's a wood fueled cook at 300-325 degrees that results in a fantastic rib roast. Admittedly, I have only done it with 2-4 rib sections.

I will use this same technique for turkeys, chickens, and leaner pork roasts. I usually cook the poultry to the 160/180 mark, pork to 140, and the beef to 125 - basically traditional temps. Ultimately, this type of cook helps avoid dryness and over-smoking, reduces the commitment of time required, keeps me away from the oven in summer, and produces roasts a little different from what one might expect.

[fourunder]

You do not indicate how big, or more appropriately, how much the piece of chuck weighs. Also, is it a large round piece, or has it been cut to more of an even thickness. I have not barbecued or smoked a chuck roast on the grill, but I have experimented with the low and slow approach in the inside home oven. Personally, I prefer to roast the meat to medium-rare or medium temperature. Here a thread where I experimented with different size roasts at different temperatures and times.......with pictures.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7572...

[MGZ]

Thanks. You may have convinced me to take your experiment to the barbecue and aim for a medium-rare roast. BTW - 3.25 lbs and approx. 2.5 inches.

[acgold7]

I think your plan is spot on but you may find it will take longer than you think. Are you planning on pulling or slicing?

I would treat this just like a pork shoulder and smoke for 4-6 hours, then finish in the oven for another 4-6. Flavors can be whatever you like.

For Beef, my rub is more or less Seasoned Salt, Black Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Chili Powder and Paprika. But sometimes I go with just salt and pepper.

I really have grown to like finishing in the oven in a foil tray, tightly wrapped, because that traps all the juices that are exuded during the final phase of cooking when much of the shrinkage occurs and juices could otherwise be lost in the smoker. These juices are then mixed into the meat when pulling. A benefit of doing this is that you cannot overcook it this way if you are planning on pulling.

These days I rely more and more on my Electric Smoker for an unattended overnight smoke, and then into the oven in the morning to finish, so we can have BBQ for lunch, because as I get older I get lazier.

[MGZ]

Thanks for your response.

I've got the meat on the counter coming to room temp, having sat rubbed in the fridge all night. The rub is similar to yours, though my base rub does use some turbinado sugar* and significantly more that the usual amount of ground chile powder.

The weather does not look to be quite as warm and dry as forecasted and I am thinking the cook may be longer than anticipated. I am afraid I have a bit of a stubborn, romantic's approach to barbecue. No ovens, no electricity (unless you count the chop saw that I occasionally employ to shorten wood pieces), and a reluctance to use foil. I will mop the roast with the drippings from the pan, perhaps mixed with some bourbon or applejack, but I really like to have a crisp bark on the meat.

As for pulling versus slicing, I think I will just wait and see. Either would be acceptable and I have seen "recipes" for each. I am still uncertain about sauce. I have some Bone Suckin' Sauce or may make some with the booze from the mop, but feel obligated to at least try some dry. I guess we'll see, but it's fun to be exicited about it at this point.

*The funny thing is that my barbecue rub is practically the only thing I ever use the sugar in.