2 Chuckies for Pulling & New Hot Rub - Q-view

[forluvofsmoke]

Hmmm....what I thought was a large single chuck lastnight while thawing the package turned out to be 2. The larger one is about 3-3/4 lb, the smaller one is about 2 lbs.

The thaw didn't finish overnight like I planned. I had them in a dry cooler outside along with 2 slabs of spares, with a fridge therm in the cooler just to be sure. Once I saw the thaw progress this morning, I had to change my plans a bit, and start the smoke alot later than I wanted to. I will smoke them into (maybe through) the plateau with the spares, then foil and finish in the "O".

Hopefully the weather won't turn ugly. We have a strong disturbance in the area, and thunderstorms are cropping up like weeds already, even before noon. Not a good sign at all.

This rub is a variation of what I used for my beef short ribs...it is very similar, as the rib rub worked out so well with the hickory smoke, I didn't want to fix what wasn't broke. The changes that I did make where due to the differences in the cuts of meat, with the chuckies not being as rich and heavily marbled with fat.



Hot Rub for Pulled Beef

Ingredients:

1 Tbs - White Pepper
2 Tbs - Black Pepper, fine grind
4 Tbs - Kosher Salt
1 tsp - Cayenne Pepper
2 Tbs - Garlic Powder
1 tsp - Cumin
1 Tbs - Mild Smoked Paprika
2 Tbs Onion Powder

A look at the blended rub:


Chuckies are ready for Hickory in the SNP:


First items into the thin blue for todays smoke:


I've got the spares in already along with the start of twice smoked taters, so I'll be a bit busy for awhile!

Back later!

Thanks for lookin'!

Eric

 

[cajunsmoke13]

Looks good smoke. Rub sounds real good. Need to give it a try...

 

[harrylips]

Looking forward to the finished pics....looks good so far!

 

[irishteabear]

Nothing like a challenge to start off a smoke.

Looking good so far, Eric. I'll be checking back to see how it's coming along.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Got through the first thunderstorm of the day OK. No probs to speak of so far, other than having high temp alarms on my probs from turning up the burner to compensate for the heavy rain and wind...it was soaking my sfb and temps dropped kinda hard for a bit, then spiked when the rain stopped. No biggy.

Here's what they look like @ 2 hours into the smoke:


And, 3 hours in:


HELP, I'm bleeding!:


I haven't worried about stabbing probes in yet. I'll get to that here in a bit (around the 4 hour mark) and see how they're doing. The smaller one is probably close to stalling already, so it won't take long to finish up. Might get to partake of some pulled beef for dinner, along with the spares and taters!

Back later!

Thanks everyone!

Eric

 

[forluvofsmoke]

The Larger/Smaller Chuckies were at 162*/166* respectively @ just over 4 hours. 1st stab of the probes brought great news, so they are in a foil tented steam pan with OJ as I post. I won't need the "O" tonight after all.

I guess I had forgotten about the L/H end of my grates running hotter towards the center when I use a coffee can for a smoke box in the sfb. If I use a 9" x 9" cake pan, then the center/left runs about the same as the rest, so I unknowingly did myself a favor by meat placement and the smoke can I used.

Here's the 4 hour mark:


Brasing to follow:


And, the rest of the bunch---the Onion Blossoms will be for Sammie toppers, the Peppers for some heat in a few of the twice-smoked taters:




The Taters have been on now for over 4 hours. I need to check them and pull for the final stage if they're done. I rotated them and turned them over once @ 2-1/2 hours in.



Back with the finale on this later. Thanks again for lookin' at my smoke!

Eric

 

[the dude abides]

That's looking great!

 

[forluvofsmoke]

I just pulled the Chuckie steam pan and probed the larger of the 2, and we're at 198* right now. I'll give it another 15-20 minutes and probe 'em both, should be about right by then. And we'll go into the wraps for a final thermal soak.

No pics this time...I wanted to recharge the cam battery so I can get the finale's captured. I've snapped off about 150 pics so far today, and the camera's gettin' tired!!!

LOL!!!!!!! Nothin' like a full smoker to use up a camera batttery on.

Later. Thanks again Everyone!

Eric

 

[forluvofsmoke]

For my first pulled chuckie (and pulled beef, I think), this was surprisingly good. The pulling is different than pork. I didn't get the fall apart texture so I had to work at it a bit. I think my internal temps came up too fast and it didn't allow the connective tissue to soften as much as it could have.

My first look after resting in a cooler for 2 hours:


The smoke ring got pretty nice on this:


Pulled the smaller one and drizzled some pan juices on top and tossed it together:


And, my plate with a pulled beef/smoked red onion/smoked jalepeno sammie, served with some other smokin' goodies from today
(glazed hot rubbed spares and twice smoked tater with jalepeno):


Another good day in thin blue has come to an end for me. I hope everyone else has a good time smokin', too!

Thanks everyone for your interest in my smoke!

Eric

 

[billbo]

Man, it's 7:15am and I am droolin' for that chuckie! Looks great!

 

[meatball]

That's one awesome looking plate of food!

 

[shellbellc]

Looks great!!!

 

[mauismokemeats]

looking good, nice job there.