# New slow cooker, Looking to make perfect pulled chuck roast and brisket



## 68whiskey_ribeye (Mar 3, 2020)

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to slow cooking meats, looking for some help. A few weeks ago I was at the store are came across a giant beautiful piece meat for a great price called a chuck roast (about 2lbs). I bought without thinking about how to cook it, got how and googled the best way and found out it wasn't going be anything like cooking a medium rare ribeye! I threw it in my conventional oven (sadly all I have in my apartment with no backyard) at 250F just on a cooking pan with a piece of aluminum foil. About 2 hours in I opened and saw this amazing bark had formed. I then wrapped in foil with beef broth, waited about 3-4 hours (didn't have a thermometer) pulled it, let it rest for 15 mins, and it was amazing! Practically pulled, tasted more like a pot roast, but freaking delicious, juicy and tender. Since then I've fallen in love with slow cooking and I want to make a chuck roast and brisket at least once a week.

Here's where the problems start. Since then I bought a roasting pan w/rack, and thermapro internal thermometer and have tried 2 more chuckies, that have been complete failures compared to my first chucky. Process: I seasoned the night before with k salt, pepper, and brisket seasoning. Brought to room temp, then put in conventional oven at 250F on the roasting rack and waited for internal temp of 150F, but I got almost no bark at all, just some light browning. I wasn't sure if leaving it longer would make any bark, so I took the rack out of the roasting pan, filled the pan with 1/3 way up the meat, covered it with foil air tight and gave it about 3 more hours until I got an internal temp of 210. I let it rest in some fresh foil for 30mins -1hour. When it was finished, it would't pull, so I sliced it, it tasted okay but wasn't tender.

My questions would be:
1. Am I screwed trying to use smoking techniques in an oven?
2. What do you do if your chucky isn't forming a bark, does it need a higher IT like 165F, or is there a better technique?
3. I understand now to cook to tenderness, not to temp, but I don't want to keep opening the oven and poking the the meat and then waiting for the meat to get back to temp when you throw it back in. Should I have let the internal temp get to a higher IT like 212F-215F before I check for tenderness?
5. For resting, what's the best technique? Should I let it cool for a while and then wrap it with foil and towels, or wrap it immediately after its out of the oven? And, when wrapping it for the rest, should I add the juice or broth from the pan, or let it rest in dry foil?

Thanks anyone for help and sorry for the long post. I'm truly on the mission to be able to cook the chuck roast ever. If anyone gives advice, I'll take it and post pictures of the results for my next chucky.


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## noboundaries (Mar 3, 2020)

The question that pops into my head is the size of the first roast and the time to cook at 250F. A 13 lb chuck roast at 250 has a great bark at 2 hours and becomes pull-apart tender in 5-6 hours total? Do I have that correct? Something isn't adding up.


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## bregent (Mar 3, 2020)

noboundaries said:


> Something isn't adding up.



Yeah, I agree. 

68, what type of rub did you put on the first one?


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## noboundaries (Mar 3, 2020)

Was it a 1.3 lb chuck roast?


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## fivetricks (Mar 3, 2020)

Yes, I'm thinking there was a missing decimal point. A 1.3 lb roast probably.

Otherwise you're talking about a whole Chuck Roll..something not generally available to someone who isn't seeking it out specifically.


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## bregent (Mar 3, 2020)

Well, he used the term 'giant' so I'm guessing it was more than 1.3 lbs :)


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## 68whiskey_ribeye (Mar 3, 2020)

I'm so sorry, guys I had a complete brain fart. I have no idea what I was thinking. All the chucks have been close to 2-3 lbs. I don't know why the heck I was thinking 13. I'll go back and edit the original post


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## 68whiskey_ribeye (Mar 3, 2020)

Yeah, I have no idea why i said 13lbs. It was close to 2-3 lbs. 
For the first one, the rub was just ksalt, black pepper and chili powder. Seasoned it right before cooking.


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## JCAP (Mar 3, 2020)

I love cooking chuck roasts. But no two are ever the same and some will shread easier than others in my experience.

Two things : 1) did you use the same seasonings each time and in the same amounts? 2) Why not try again like your first go?

Also if you’re looking for pull apart chuck roasts, a Dutch oven or crock pot is a fantastic way to go.


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## 68whiskey_ribeye (Mar 3, 2020)

Hey jcap,
1) No, the first one I just used k salt and black pepper and chili powder. The other ones I used the HEB brand brisket rub, and k salt and pepper. (Might have been too much salt since the seasoning does have salt in it also) I did try to add a lot of the brisket rub because I thought it might help the bark form. 2) I probably will try just my original seasoning, because the store bought rub didn't seem to help in any way

Yeah, I might try a dutch oven because I have one, but I just feel a crock pot or dutch oven is a more of a mom/grandma way too cook lol, I want to cook as bbq manly as possible (insert  Tim the Toolman's "AR AR AR" grunt) out of my conventional oven lol.


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## noboundaries (Mar 3, 2020)

2-3 lbs. Now I get it. Personally, I NEVER check the internal temp of chuck roasts. When it probes tender, it's done. I struggled with chuck roasts for years until I ate one at a church reception that was melt-in-the-mouth tender. I told the elderly lady who cooked it my problems (flavorful, but tough and dry), then asked her secret. Her answer? "Honey, you gotta cook the snot out of it." She went on to tell me about cooking it until a fork slid right in.

I've had them finish like your first one, and I've had a 2 lb'er NEVER GET tender even after 8 hours. I braised it into chili the next day and that took more than 2 more hours to get tender.

Chuck roasts can be the most ornery meats on the planet, but with time, heat, and patience they eventually finish.

And don't get locked in to 250F. You might have better luck at 350F...and it will cook faster.


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## old sarge (Mar 3, 2020)

68whiskey_ribeye said:


> Practically pulled, tasted more like a pot roast, but freaking delicious, juicy and tender


It was a pot roast just missing the taters, onions and carrots.  

If you are trying to achieve smokey goodness in your oven, try a little liquid smoke in a marinade.

Some chucks just have a couple of large bands of fat while others have numerous thin ribbons or striations of fat in addition to the two or more large bands.  Choose wisely.


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## 68whiskey_ribeye (Mar 3, 2020)

"Honey, you gotta cook the snot out of it." - Haha

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I think might try cooking at a higher temp next time. Only trouble I have with cooking to tenderness is having to keep opening the oven and probing, and waiting for it to get back to temp, so that's why I've been more focused on trying to find the perfect IT. But I think I'll just have to rely more tenderness from now, and not be afraid to give it the time it needs. 

Side note, the next day I brought the leftovers to room temp and then foiled them with some broth, left them in the oven at 275F for while and it came out really nice, better than it was the day before.


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## JCAP (Mar 4, 2020)

68whiskey_ribeye said:


> Yeah, I might try a dutch oven because I have one, but I just feel a crock pot or dutch oven is a more of a mom/grandma way too cook lol, I want to cook as bbq manly as possible (insert  Tim the Toolman's "AR AR AR" grunt) out of my conventional oven lol.



If you want that BBQ smoky flavor, then follow OldSarge's advice and add some liquid smoke. But a nice slow cook chuck roast in the oven can be just as amazing as one out on the smoker or grill. You could also go the Sous Vide route if you have one of the circulators.


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## SmokinAl (Mar 4, 2020)

Either SV or a crock pot will get you the most tender & moist chuck you have ever had. You can always use some liquid smoke to give it a smoke flavor. Or just pick up a $99 Weber Kettle & cook it indirect with some wood chunks mixed in the charcoal. Then you can transfer it to the oven to finish it off when you wrap it.
Al


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## noboundaries (Mar 4, 2020)

68whiskey_ribeye said:


> Yes, I think might try cooking at a higher temp next time. Only trouble I have with cooking to tenderness is having to keep opening the oven and probing, and waiting for it to get back to temp, so that's why I've been more focused on trying to find the perfect IT.



It is pretty much impossible to overcook a chuck roast, especially if it is wrapped in foil or sealed in a pot. Undercooked they are dry and tough. Overcooked they fall apart but maintain their juiciness. Chuck is not a steak. It gets it's juiciness from melted collagen, the fibers that make it tough, and they don't start melting until well past the point a steak should be served. 

Checking for tenderness every 30 minutes or so toward the end of the cook works fine. By checking for tenderness you'll develop instincts because there is no such thing as "the perfect IT." IT is a cookbook trap. It is an indicator, not a destination. No two cuts of chuck roast are the same because one might come from a lazy animal, the one right next to it from an active one. 

Instincts are easy to develop, but take practice. You're already well on your way. Small changes like the pan used, oven temp, heat source, liquid added, vegetables added, all CAN make a difference when you reach a tender IT. But...when that fork slides right in with the little to no resistance, you'll know you are done. Check the IT for reference. It might be the same the next time, or not. And when you develop your instincts, you can change anything you want from chamber temp to pan used to method cooked (smoker, oven, grill, stovetop, etc) and as soon as you slide that fork into the meat, you'll know if it's done or it needs another 38.27935 minutes.


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## zwiller (Mar 5, 2020)

"Perfect" pulled chuck is a lofty goal and will take some commitment.  Lots of good info posted but I did not see anything posted relating to bark.  We love bark.  Bark is actually quite simple to achieve.  I learned the technique here and it is called pellicle.  Essentially you want the meat exterior to be dry before cooking and I mean DRY as in dry to the touch.  Overnight rest uncovered works and some of us use a small fan on it for half hour or so.  Another thing I learned here was cutting the meat in half double the bark and shortens the cook.  Not quite in half but close.  Both wins in my opinion. 

All this being said, a few guys  already suggested it and I agree, SV would really work here and this guy is pretty much doing what I would recommend for a guy without a smoker to achieve something similar to what we get.  https://jbsousvide.com/2019/10/20/the-most-incredible-sous-vide-shredded-bbq-beef/


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