Smoked beef (chuck) question

[Scott_R]

I happen to like this chef's recipes. This one, for smoking beef chuck as a sub for brisket, was done on a Weber grill with a smoke tray. Presumably this could be adapted to the Traeger. Would it just be a matter of doing everything else the same but smoking at about 250F until internal temp is reached, or would other adaptations be needed?

 

[MidwestSmoker]

Yes, you can do it on a smoker:

 

[RayClem]

If you want more smoke, I would suggest smoking at 225 F as measured at the grate level on which your chuck roast is cooking. Season your beef the night before, wrap it and allow it to rest overnight in the fridge so the salt can tenderize the meat and the spices can migrate into the pores.

Remove it in the morning and allow it to warm up an hour or so before going on the grill. Do not leave it out more than 2 hours as this can allow bacteria to grow. Smoke the roast until the cook reaches the "stall" level somewhere around 165 degrees F. The stall occurs when the moisture evaporating from the surface of the meat is consuming all the heat available, so the internal temperature ceases to rise for a while. There are three choices at this point. If you have time, you can wait it out. Eventually, the moisture will evaporate and the temperature will start to rise. You can also bump up the temperature to provide more heat to the cook. Thirdly, you can do as Mad Scientist did and wrap your meat in either butcher wrap or heavy duty foil and place it back on the grill at 225 F. You can use butter, beef tallow, or liquid of your choice to keep the meat moist before wrapping. Just be sure not to add a lot of liquid. You want to wrap the meat to prevent moisture loss, but you do not want stewed meat.

Remove your meat from the grill when it reaches your desired internal temp as measured by an accurate thermometer. I would suggest not relying on the Traeger probe. You will want to be somewhere around 205 degrees, less if you want firmer beef and higher if you want the roast to be fall-apart tender.

After unwrapping the roast, you will find that the bark has softened due to the steam inside the wrapping. If you like firmer bark, put the unwrapped roast back on the grill and crank the temp up. Do not worry about the meat overcooking when you do this as moisture evaporating from the surface of the meat will prevent the internal temperature from rising. As soon as the bark has started to dry out, remove the meat from the grill, wrap the meat in foil and then wrap it in a towel or place it in an insulated cooler and allow it to rest until dinnertime.