Smoked Chuck Roast

[dedmiston]

I wanted a pot roast, but I wanted it smokey instead of bathing in the crock pot. I did it on the smoker instead and it turned out amazing.

Two hours at low temp to coat it in smoke and get a ring. Then braised for a few more hours until it hit 165°, and then I covered it in foil and turned up the temp a little and cooked it for a few more hours until it hit 208° IT and was soft enough to pull. While the meat rested, I used the juices to make a gravy.

The secret to the seasoning is to add more rub as you pull the meat so it won't just be the bark that's seasoned.

Everything was perfect and we've been enjoying the leftovers.

[dedmiston]

magnusfide wrote:

dedmiston wrote:


I have an apron that says, "No matter what happens, we're eating it."

You've given me a great idea. I just put that apron on my Christmas list. :B

:B

[magnusfide]

dedmiston wrote:


I have an apron that says, "No matter what happens, we're eating it."

You've given me a great idea. I just put that apron on my Christmas list. :B

[oldcat1]

I have an apron that says, "No matter what happens, we're eating it."

Now that's funny right there.

[dedmiston]

magnusfide wrote:
I like to call the kitchen my chemistry lab. I'll experiment and the family doesn't mind at all.

I love it! Great attitude.

I have an apron that says, "No matter what happens, we're eating it."

[magnusfide]

dedmiston wrote:


The leftovers are gone now, but it was all fun experience for me just like most things in the kitchen usually are.

I like to call the kitchen my chemistry lab. I'll experiment and the family doesn't mind at all.

[dedmiston]

Trekkar wrote:
Smokers are great for so many foods. I usually add a little broth to my leftover roux when I refrigerate it to keep it from turning to cement. What kind of wood did you use for your cook?

I started smoking about seven years ago and I've tried all sorts of different woods and finally decided that my household couldn't tell the difference. I finally settled on "whatever I've got laying around". It's a pellet smoker, so it's not as if I'm using scrap lumber. I just pick up whatever's on sale though.

I usually buy mostly apple and cherry because they're milder. They still put out great flavor without tasting like a woodpile.

[Trekkar]

dedmiston wrote:

jkwilson wrote:
The result was probably very similar to brisket on a smaller scale. Good food!

Yeah. Kind of. It's definitely a different cut with different characteristics and even a different flavor. The chuck is more marbled but the brisket has fat caps and the big fat separator between the flat and the point. The chuck is kind of too ugly to slice, but the brisket looks pretty sexy when you slice it.

I guess the biggest difference between the two is the scale though. You can probably find the brisket for a buck a pound less, but a whole brisket is such a big cut that it's a more serious investment. I probably spent under $20 for the chuck, but a brisket is at least a $75 cut. You're taking a bigger risk if you mess up a brisket than a smaller roast. Plus the brisket is a bigger time investment (usually 12-14 hours). Briskets are a lot of fun though. Plus there's SO MUCH you can do with the packets of leftovers compared to the chuck.

It's all a lot of fun though. I think my favorites are still the pork butts because they're such a no-brainer and the leftovers are so amazing. I parcel mine out into vacuum-sealed pouches and freeze them for later. Two good sized butts will keep us in tacos for months.

Smokers are great for so many foods. I usually add a little broth to my leftover roux when I refrigerate it to keep it from turning to cement. What kind of wood did you use for your cook?

[dedmiston]

Thanks. 🙂

The plot thickened last night when I tried to serve the leftovers. More accurately, the gravy thickened.

I reheated the gravy and no amount of heat was going to turn it back into a liquid again. I could have baked it into Meat Muffins, but it didn't want to become gravy no matter what.

I finally heated up some more beef broth and stirred it into the gravy and finally got the congealed gravy back into a liquid again.

The leftovers are gone now, but it was all fun experience for me just like most things in the kitchen usually are.

[derouen6]

Been making roux, quarts at a time for over 50 years. You done good??????

[dedmiston]

jkwilson wrote:
The result was probably very similar to brisket on a smaller scale. Good food!

Yeah. Kind of. It's definitely a different cut with different characteristics and even a different flavor. The chuck is more marbled but the brisket has fat caps and the big fat separator between the flat and the point. The chuck is kind of too ugly to slice, but the brisket looks pretty sexy when you slice it.

I guess the biggest difference between the two is the scale though. You can probably find the brisket for a buck a pound less, but a whole brisket is such a big cut that it's a more serious investment. I probably spent under $20 for the chuck, but a brisket is at least a $75 cut. You're taking a bigger risk if you mess up a brisket than a smaller roast. Plus the brisket is a bigger time investment (usually 12-14 hours). Briskets are a lot of fun though. Plus there's SO MUCH you can do with the packets of leftovers compared to the chuck.

It's all a lot of fun though. I think my favorites are still the pork butts because they're such a no-brainer and the leftovers are so amazing. I parcel mine out into vacuum-sealed pouches and freeze them for later. Two good sized butts will keep us in tacos for months.

[jkwilson]

The result was probably very similar to brisket on a smaller scale. Good food!

[magnusfide]

- Ask myself what a "roux" is, how is it spelled, and wonder if I should have watched 45 minutes of youtubes first.

- Slowly integrate the rest of the liquids. If there's one thing I knew, it's that my wife never just dumped anything into that pan. It was slow and full of Merlin's alchemy.

Great instructions. :C

[2112]

LOL
I won't have any problem following that. I'll start with the wine.

Thanks for sharing

[dedmiston]

It's funny that two of you asked about the gravy. I had never made gravy before, but my wife shamed me into it. It wasn't a ton of shame, but just a subtle "You'd better make gravy out of that".

Message received.

She didn't give me a recipe though and just said "don't forget to make the roux", as if all dudes even know what a roux is or how to do it. Luckily we're 34 years into our dance and I've seen her do it enough times to kind of have an idea. But there's a difference between "see her do it" and "watched her do it".

Anyway, my orders were "gravy" and "roux". Check.

The pan had a ton of juice in it. More specifically, there were seven cups of juice. Some of it was drippings from the meat, some was perspiration from the veggies, and there were also four cups of beef bone broth from the braise.

So my extremely scientific method was...

- Separate the fats from the liquids and add them to a hot skillet.

- Fetch our smallest measuring cup and canister of flour like I've seem my wife do it so many times before and just start sprinkling flour into the fat and whisk it in.

- Let it boil but not burn (not high heat, but hard medium) and keep whisking it.

- Slowly add more layers of flour and whisk them in.

- Ask myself what a "roux" is, how is it spelled, and wonder if I should have watched 45 minutes of youtubes first.

- Slowly integrate the rest of the liquids. If there's one thing I knew, it's that my wife never just dumped anything into that pan. It was slow and full of Merlin's alchemy.

- Keep fussing with the consistency of liquids and flour and dutifully whisk the lumps out of the flour globs.

- Stop and taste.

- It's not great yet, so add a ton of fresh cracked pepper and taste again.

- Keep whisking while I think and decide what it's missing. I see tons of seasoning in the bottom of the rest of the liquids, so I need to take those into account.

- It needs red wine, so I poured a glass of open Cabernet into the pan, one into myself, and put another one "on reserve" as the chefs like to say.

- Add a little more flour in anticipation of the rest of the liquids, whisk it in, and then add the remaining liquids and their herbs and seasonings.

- Sip wine, add more pepper, keep whisking, more wine, pet the dogs, and keep whisking.

- Get bored and call it "done".

And that's the bulletproof science behind my gravy. Lord knows whether I'll ever be able to repeat it, but it was a winner.

My only regret is that we didn't have any white pepper (translation: I couldn't find the white pepper). I think a good gravy needs to take its bite from the white pepper.

It was still good though.

Lotsa luck following these horrible directions.