Grass fed chucks

[Father Flanagan]

Hey guys, I smoked up two chucks yesterday that came out dry and fairly tough. It was grass fed beef and didn’t look very well marbled. I brought it up to 207ish IT and thought “if it’s not tender now it’s never gonna be tender”. I’m trying to figure out if it was the meat or the chef lol

Anyone have this problem before? Thanks guys!

 

[edmonds]

It could be the meat.
But I use home-grown grass-fed beef exclusively, and it's never dry unless I screw something up.
Did you wrap in butcher paper at about 155-160 IT?
Here is one of my cooks with directions in description below video.

 

[Father Flanagan]

Yes I did wrap it around 170 IT in foil with no liquid. I appreciate the instructions. So do you think it was the late wrapping with liquid??

 

[Beentown]

I am not a fan of "grass fed beef". Terribly lean and lacks the flavor I look forward too. By tough.... Do you mean it still pulled but didn't chew well or it wasn't tender at all?

I find low in fat beef/pork needs a higher temp to finish. Chucks and beef ribs generally need a high time/temp to be tender/pull.

 

[edmonds]

Yes I did wrap it around 170 IT in foil with no liquid. I appreciate the instructions. So do you think it was the late wrapping with liquid??

Ideally, you want to wrap when the outer bark looks the way you want it. The longer you wait, the more it will dry out. And if it wasn't very marbled it will dry out sooner.

"Grass fed" beef tends to be somewhat leaner than corn fattened beef. But it really depends on the cow. Some breeds, such as Dexter, marble well on only grass/hay; other breeds, such as Angus, typically need to finish on grain to marble well.

In terms of flavor, some don't like the taste of grass fed beef. If I get a steak at a restaurant, the beef is usually pretty good, but it is also dusted with some type of house seasoning. For my grass finished beef at home, all I put on it is salt, and I think is has a much more beefy flavor. To each their own.

 

[Smokie185]

I had the same experience with some grass fed and grass finished beef. This type of beef is leaner than usual and can cook faster.

I got some good info from here.

https://fatburningman.com/12-tips-for-cooking-grass-fed-beef/