How to smoke chuck?

Trying my first decent chuck (chusck) roasts tomorrow. Can you probe these and if so do std wrapping and done temps apply.

Any other hints or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Shoulda said up front. About 3.5# each.

Dave, thanks. Nice to see you.

Here's what they looked like at noon just before going in. Haven't used this picture method before so if theres no pic its because it was farked. I'll try and fix it later.

KC

I don't think you have enough thermoters :lol:

and is this the uh gas "assist" rig (Nice looking anyway)? my wife saw so many of them on FoodTV she wants me to do it to the Bandera so I don't have to fark around so much trying to keep it at 230


R

and is this the uh gas "assist" rig (Nice looking anyway)?

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R, as Cue'lio pointed out its a log lighter and in the top photo you can actually see the lighter bar between the therms and the stack. I remove it when lighting is over so as not to wear it out prematurely or fill the jets with ash.

I can see where you wouldn't trust the factory installed one,

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Bro Kick, I've read a lot about moving the therm in other forums. I think this must apply more to the lighter gage Brinkmanns. Either by function or by being correctly inaccurate it only reads 5 degrees less than a oven therm or digital at the grate. That box is just something that was lying around the shop. Actually it was the firebox on a model of the smoker I hope to have built. It would work better if I lined the back of it with metal so the magnets could be utilized.

My favorite new toy not pictured is the digital video camera the pix were taken with. I had heard that the still function on these wasn't much. It might not work good for prints but it sure is convenient for posting on the site. No resize mod necessary and decent enough quality, although it will take stills at a higher quality setting. Special word of thanks to Brother jt for helping me pick out a good one.

That is one "clean looking rig". Maybe the rain will let up and you can burn it up a bit
Or, do you keep it that way all the time?

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Tim you posted while I was typing. Got a reprieve on the rain for the afternoon so I let the fire fly. Only the 3rd cook on Rosie but I do try to keep both cookers as close to new as I can. I had to wear the p***y hat way to long to get my gear to not maintain it (and I'm too poor to buy stuff twice). I oil any dry spots before I cook and hit any after while its still warm. No rust spots on the BSKD either. A few scratches from scooting wood on top of the fire box and some fuzzies from the cover that Solidkick wouldn't like :wink: other than that it looks pretty good too.

KC,

That really does look great - I am the messiest (sp) person in the world so you would have real problems with my patio and the Bandera.

Do you keep the inside as clean - cause another thing I noticed on FoodTVs BBQ weekend - no one seems to ever clean their grills or cookers - I saw stuff that had to have been there for years and years

R

I am the messiest (sp) person in the world

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I bet I could hold my own with you on everything but my cookers and my tools. I do scrub up the cooking grates if they've got crap hanging off of them. The inside of the cooker I understand should be left alone, that I can do. If the grates don't have sauce or marinade gooped all over them I just use a piece of crumpled foil held in the tongs and give 'em a quick scrub after they've warmed up just before I put the meat on. Saw some yahoo on tv do it, I tried it and it works real well, especially on the stainless grates on the gas grill.

I absolutely have no luck with a chusck roast. I've tried several methods, even marinading and it just doesn't turn out tender.

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Kick, Don't give up on beef just yet. There is wisdom in Chad's advice. With beef especially low is key. That part in the brisket article about not boiling out the juice is paramount. 215 is my target for beef. I don't start cracking doors until 225, but aim for 215 and no higher.
Foil- use a strong flavored wood and foil a bit early if you want. Get the smoke on with strong wood and foil at 150.
Temp- Gotta take beef to 200 if you want pulled pork tender, maybe even a little higher. I did some reading that suggested removing beef @ 190-200 depending on the texture you wanted. I've pulled some briskets @ 192 or 3 or 4 and there's no comparison, 200 min.
Rest-The longer you can cooler or just leave it in the foil the better it gets.
Today I was hungry and impatient and put the heat up to 250 after foiling, didn't hurt a thing. Took me 6 hrs to get to 160 and only 90 mins to get to 200 from there. The chuck we ate was very good the one I just unwrapped to bag up and put in the fridge was absolutely shreddable.

For those that haven't tried chuck roast I suggest you give it a go. It's not brisket but it was $1.49 on sale and near zero waste like a trimmed flat @ $2.99. Another big plus to me was I lit my fire at 11:00am and had dinner at 7:30, can't do that with a packer. The rub spices mixed with the mop and beef juices makes an au jus that is to die for.

Phil, have you ever used chili specific spices for rubbing chuck you intend to use for chili? If so I'd be very interested to hear what you use. I can't wait to try this.