Lean Chuckie

B

Bluehawg

Full Fledged Farker
Joined
Nov 7, 2011
Messages
380
Reaction score
149
Points
0
Location
Richton, MS
Ok, I want to try this chuck roast thing and want it to be good. I have a home-grown beef in the freezer:becky:. It is from a Piney Woods steer (Heritage Breed) and they produce lean beef with lots of flavor (I know that may sound like an oxy-moron, but trust me, they are flavorful). Anyway, the particular animal in question didn't have a whole lot of finish or coverfat. The steaks and hamburger have been wonderful so far. I don't like "well done" as far as steaks go so it works out fine for me cause as lean as they are they get a little "chewy" if you cook em too much.

I have a chuckie or two from said steer in the freezer and before I thawed it out and threw it on the smoker I was gonna see what you guys would think about it first. I know they are good slow cooked in crockpot and all but don't know how well this thing will smoke because of the lack of fat.

so, do you guys think I should scratch the smoking idea and just go for the true and tried slow roast in the crock pot and go buy a chuck with some fat on it or should I go for it and risk serving smoked shoe leather?:confused:

I have never tried smoking beef like this but I have smoked my fair share of pork butts, shoulders, hams, turkerys, chickens, and such. I've even made Canadian bacon and regular bacon and have even smoked lamb leg before... however, beef isn't something I've ever cooked smoke style... A few steaks on the grill or something like that is about the extent of the beef on the barbie.
 
I'd try smoking it. Just don't overcook it and you should be fine. I like to put mine in a cast iron dutch oven over a bed of carrots, onion and celery with a few garlic cloves tossed on. I also pour in just enough beef broth to cover only the bed of veggies, and this last time, added a bunch of potato cubes. With the chuckie sitting on top of the veggies and above the broth, it gets some steam and also can develop a bark.
 
I often do hybrid cooks, where I will prepare a cook as if smoking, smoke for 2 hours then into the crockpot to finish.
 
I would do the entire cook on the smoker. Just cook the chuckie for an hour if so to get some smoke and crust, then transfer to a foil pan with some broth or a beer, then cover with plastic wrap and foil. Don't worry the plastic wrap will not melt, and the chuckie will cook quicker, hopefully avoiding drying out.
 
Sly-one said:
I'd try smoking it. Just don't overcook it and you should be fine. I like to put mine in a cast iron dutch oven over a bed of carrots, onion and celery with a few garlic cloves tossed on. I also pour in just enough beef broth to cover only the bed of veggies, and this last time, added a bunch of potato cubes. With the chuckie sitting on top of the veggies and above the broth, it gets some steam and also can develop a bark.
Click to expand...

+1 you'll love it! And if you don't have a CI dutch oven, a foil pan works fine. Cook uncovered (no higher than 250°) for 2 hours than cover and continue cooking until it probes like butter. :thumb:
 
Sly-one said:
I'd try smoking it. Just don't overcook it and you should be fine. I like to put mine in a cast iron dutch oven over a bed of carrots, onion and celery with a few garlic cloves tossed on. I also pour in just enough beef broth to cover only the bed of veggies, and this last time, added a bunch of potato cubes. With the chuckie sitting on top of the veggies and above the broth, it gets some steam and also can develop a bark.
Click to expand...
So how long do you smoke it before you put it in the dutch oven or do you have it in the oven the whole cook? This sounds good but I would definitely want some of the "smoke" flavor in it.

JONESY said:
I would do the entire cook on the smoker. Just cook the chuckie for an hour if so to get some smoke and crust, then transfer to a foil pan with some broth or a beer, then cover with plastic wrap and foil. Don't worry the plastic wrap will not melt, and the chuckie will cook quicker, hopefully avoiding drying out.
Click to expand...
Do you put the plastic on the chuck itself or do you cover the top of the pan with it? I'm thinking just over the pan itself because if I wrap it on the roast itself then I wouldn't think the broth or beer would help moisten it.
 
If me, I'd probably go the landarc method, smoke 2 or 3 hours, then off and into the crock pot. If you like the crock pot method you'll love it smoked.

I know, he's from California and all, but that doesn't make him wrong 100% of the time. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while...
 
I think the biggest help with lean chuckies is braising. Smoke for two hours and then foil with a nice seasoned beef broth until meat hits 200 or so. Let it rest in foil for an hour and you will be a happy man!
 
Guys, I certainly appreciate the input. I've been wanting to do one of these for a while but have been a little apprehensive due to the fact that the ones I have from "Duke" the steer were on the lean side and I didn't want shoe leather. On the other hand, I think the folks in charge of meat prices around here have started smoking crack cause I be danged if I didn't see rump roast, Sirloin Tip, and Chuck's on "sale" for 7-9 bucks a pound!!!! Hello, if I'm gonna pay that much I would just buy dang shrimp, THEY ARE CHEAPER!!! Never thought I would see the day where catfish and shrimp would be cheaper than beef but it is here.

I think I need to fix my fences that got tore down during the hurricane and get some more cows! I sold all mine after the storm because I didn't have the money to fix the fences or feed the cows but apparently, I'm going to have to start raising them again even if it is just for the family consumption.
 
Grain Belt said:
I think the biggest help with lean chuckies is braising. Smoke for two hours and then foil with a nice seasoned beef broth until meat hits 200 or so. Let it rest in foil for an hour and you will be a happy man!
Click to expand...

I'm a big fan of this for all my Chuckies. I smoke around 200 for 3 hours, to give it as much smoke as I can.

Then I take it, cube it into about 2" chunks. Put the chunks in a foil pan with about 1" of beef broth/stock on the bottom.

I cover with foil, braise until tender. The duration depends. Sometimes, it's an hour more, but I've had it take even 3 hours more. I just keep cooking until it falls apart.
 
posey's_pork_pit said:
+1 you'll love it! And if you don't have a CI dutch oven, a foil pan works fine. Cook uncovered (no higher than 250°) for 2 hours than cover and continue cooking until it probes like butter. :thumb:
Click to expand...

Ho yeah, thanks for the reminder. I forgot that I covered it after the first two hours. Here's the link to that cook:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119639

It was in the subsequent chuckie cooks that I started doing the potato chunks in with the veggies. Dang, I may have to cook one of these this week.
 
OK, I got the chuckie on smoker. It is kinda small and has a bone in it so it probably won't be enough to satisfy my insatiable hunger, but since I was to do a spatchcock turkey for the family gathering tonight I decided to experiment while the coals were hot.

Put it on at 10 and, as was suggested, took it off after 2 hrs and poured 1 cup of beer in aluminum pan and put roast in and quartered an onion/added it to the pan, and peeled a few cloves of fresh garlic and cut them in half and put in there for good measure. Covered pan with foil and sat back on smoker.

Turkey looks fabulous too by the way.:becky:

As of 2:00 pm, chuckie has been pulled off smoker and is now residing in the cooler alongside the spathcock turkey and wrapped tightly in some foil and covered with a thick towel to rest.

Will pic this place up later when I can get good fotos after I unwrap it all.
 
Last edited:
Sly-one said:
Can't wait to see the results!
Click to expand...
Thanks man, however, since this wasn't a store bought roast but rather a home grown animal that was taken to the slaughter house, it don't look just like the ones you guys have been posting pics of. For one, it is a LOT smaller because it likely came from a smaller animal to begin with and secondly, I don't think it was a "retail" chuck cut. This one has a chunk of bone it, and well, you will see what I'm talking about when I post pics up.:thumb:
 
Bluehawg said:
Guys, I certainly appreciate the input. I've been wanting to do one of these for a while but have been a little apprehensive due to the fact that the ones I have from "Duke" the steer were on the lean side and I didn't want shoe leather. On the other hand, I think the folks in charge of meat prices around here have started smoking crack cause I be danged if I didn't see rump roast, Sirloin Tip, and Chuck's on "sale" for 7-9 bucks a pound!!!! Hello, if I'm gonna pay that much I would just buy dang shrimp, THEY ARE CHEAPER!!! Never thought I would see the day where catfish and shrimp would be cheaper than beef but it is here.

I think I need to fix my fences that got tore down during the hurricane and get some more cows! I sold all mine after the storm because I didn't have the money to fix the fences or feed the cows but apparently, I'm going to have to start raising them again even if it is just for the family consumption.
Click to expand...

I agree. I am one state over in AL and our beef prices are ridiculous. I used to be able to get chuck roasts on sale for <$2/lb all the time. Not any more.
 
Results:

I was very pleased with the chuckie results and my only complaint was that it was too SMALL!!!!!!!!!!

chuckie%252520I.jpg



chuckie%252520II.jpg


I smoked it about 2 hours over indirect then pulled it and put it in pan, poured about a cup of beer in pan, cut an onion into 1/4's and threw it in, and peeled 5 cloves of garlic and cut in half and threw in. Covered with foil and put back on for about an hour or hour and half and when I probed it, I dang near went slap through it because the probe just "sunk" in like I was probing dang water!!!!

I also tried a new twist on the leftover pieces. I sauteed some purple onion, mushrooms, green onion and bell peppers in EVOO and cubed left over chuckie into about 1/2-3/4 inch cubes and threw it in along with all the "juice" from the pan. Added about 3 tablspns of BUTTER and kept heating it all together and allowing the sauteed veggies to caramelize and the meat juice to slobber all over em. When I got finished, I toasted some whole wheat bread, slathered some mayo on it, put some shredded cheese on it and then piled the meat/veggie mixture on and proceeded to chow down. OMG it was FINE!!! I will definitely repeat this for sure!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Beef chuck ribs
Replies
4
Views
1K
Big George's BBQ
Big George's BBQ
F
My experience with beef belly
Replies
0
Views
163
Fsonicsmith
F
G
Cuts of beef for roast beef sandwiches
Replies
17
Views
2K
Big George's BBQ
Big George's BBQ
cayenne
Whole Vac-Pak Rump (Top Sirloin?): Smoke whole or break it down?
Replies
4
Views
713
ronbrad62
ronbrad62
PitRow
"Roast beef" ???
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
LYU370
LYU370
Back
Top