Gonna attempt a Chuck Roast

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jacobtia

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Feb 24, 2011
231
23
Central Illinois
Hey guys! I am going to attempt a Chuck Roast either this wednesday or sunday. I have read through a lot of threads on chuckies and figured I'd just throw out the call for advise (cooking temps and times). I am doing it on my horizontal sfb.
 
I run my smoker at 225-250 and if I'm slicing mine I take it to 195 and if I am pulling it I take it to 205. The chuck roast is usually a pretty marbleized piece of meat so you will want to go low and low to break down that fatty tissue and make it into some wonderful goodness.
 
What Rob said. Run your smoker around 225°, take the chuckie to 165° internal temp, wrap it in foil with a splash of liquid (beef broth, beer, apple juice, ect.), let it ride for a few more hours till you get to an internal temp of 200-205. Pull it out and let it rest for 1 hr., dig in and enjoy dinner!

Just FYI you are looking at approx. 5-6 hrs. as a ballpark figure, so allow for that in your dinner schedule.
rolleyes.gif
 
Like said above.. chucks do well with varying temps so don't pull your hair out trying to control the fire. Keep it above 225 and if it rises above 275 or so just damper it down.

I like to use a foil roasting pan when I get between 145 and 165 or when i know i'm in the stall. I cover the pan with foil and press on. Foil pans are very cost-effective at a dollar store and eliminate if not reduce the drippage of fat.

Good luck..
 
Another thing to throw out there.......what is everyone take on lining the cooking chamber of my horizontal with fire brick? pros and cons?
 
I do my chucks to 200-205 with a pan of beef stock and onions underneath the chuck. I then put the onions in a pan to carmelize on the stove and add some Johnnies Au Jus to the stock - it makes an incredible dipping sauce and it give me a great base for other things too
 
I smoked mine about 8 hours in a foil pan and never foiled. I put my MES at 225 and used hickory. I let them rest for an hour in the MES at 100, then pulled them. In-cred-a-bull!

I almost took my hammer to the wife's crock pot, as that was our usual and customary for cooking chuckies. Never again.

Look at Bear's step by step thread on chuckies. I followed it pretty closely, and it was great.

Good luck, and make sure we get some Q-view.
 
To get a quicker answer, you might want to post this question over on the proper forum (I don't know which one, truthfully, not my style of smoker).  All the other advice is excellent.  Read some of Bearcarvers treatise's on Chuckies AND guite a few other submissions.  Low and slow is the mantra.  We really love chuckies for pulling AND the best part, chuckies are very economical.

 
Another thing to throw out there.......what is everyone take on lining the cooking chamber of my horizontal with fire brick? pros and cons?
 
Havta agree with the last coupla posts....check out Bears tutorial on chucks, very detailed. I followed his lead on my first one and was amazed how close they followed suit and it came out very well. The Bear knows chuckies
 
I've done a bunch of chuckies. I'm with what Ross and Johnny (rbranster & JIRodriguez) said.  The trick with chuckies is depending on the meat, you may have more connective tissue in some than others.  You might cook it right up to 200, then even foil and all, and when you go to shred, it's fighting you.  Just slice it or put it back in (crock pot or oven is fine) to cook in moisture some more, either that day or the next, if you want it to pull easily and it won't.  It is probably my favorite meat, it's not much for show-stopping presentation, but for meaty goodness and versatility, it rocks.  Sammies, tacos, pasta sauce, enchiladas, chili, hash, you name it - chuckie can do it all!  I do at least 2 each time, with different marinades and rubs, pull and freeze for all the above mentioned goodies.  Good luck! have fun with it!
 
I've done a bunch of chuckies. I'm with what Ross and Johnny (rbranster & JIRodriguez) said.  The trick with chuckies is depending on the meat, you may have more connective tissue in some than others.  You might cook it right up to 200, then even foil and all, and when you go to shred, it's fighting you.  Just slice it or put it back in (crock pot or oven is fine) to cook in moisture some more, either that day or the next, if you want it to pull easily and it won't.  It is probably my favorite meat, it's not much for show-stopping presentation, but for meaty goodness and versatility, it rocks.  Sammies, tacos, pasta sauce, enchiladas, chili, hash, you name it - chuckie can do it all!  I do at least 2 each time, with different marinades and rubs, pull and freeze for all the above mentioned goodies.  Good luck! have fun with it!
 Well picking that right chuck will increase your chance of a good pull. See my link. Also I find it most often better to take a chuck to 210º internal. Seems to pull better.
 
 
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