Here’s Chuckie

29 November 2009 @ 20:24 | Posted in » Culinary

One thing has become clear since I’ve begun barbecuing, I didn’t know what barbecue was previously. Truth be told, I still don’t, but for completely different reasons.

Good barbecue is not found around here . . . at least not that I have tasted. Once I began cooking, I could taste flavor in the meat (yeah, big pat on the back). It’s no magic; the online fora have been a blessing. Our stomachs have been the beneficiaries.

One thing I have learned in my journey is that barbecue is different depending with whom you speak. In Texas, barbecue is brisket. In Tennessee, whole hog. Others consider pulled pork barbecue. Some call the cooker a barbecue.

Some have tried to define barbecue as the temperature the food is cooked. Smoking is below 250°. Grilling is at high temperatures . . . perhaps 450° and up. Barbecue then is inbetween.

I don’t know what barbecue is. I live in South Jersey, hardly a mecca of barbecue, whatever it is. Of course, step onto our back deck and we’re rather certain you’ll be pleased with the fixin’s.

We have dined on lots of pulled pork over the last year and a half. We love it. But my reading kept bringing me to chuck roasts. Chuck is the beef equivalent to the butt of the pig, whence pulled pork comes from. I was intrigued. This was yet another cut of meat I never dabbled with previously.

During the summer and into fall lots of folks were cooking chuckies. Boy, did they look good. I kept wanting to cook one, but didn’t. I eventually went shopping, but was confused by what I found. Naming meat is not the science it should be. In an effort to sell off “inferior cuts” for more money, markets name meats with non-standard names. Doing so confuses the customer. After getting some help, what I decided I wanted was chuck roll. At BJ’s (Costco, Sam’s Club, etc.) this is sold cryo, two pieces, and runs about $50. I would like to begin a little more cheaply than that, so I went to Shop Rite and found a nice roast (underblade).

My research found that chuck roasts take up to three hours per pound of meat. With more than four pounds, that was a 12-hour cook I had in front of me. That is more than a recreational cook. As such, with Thanksgiving looming, this roast went into the freezer. I pulled it the other day in anticipation of a weekend cook. My original hope was to get this into the smoker last evening, but things didn’t work out that way.

Up this morning I got things going. I made a rub that Chris made for brisket. I substituted seasoned salt for Accent. I was certain I had MSG in the cabinet but I’ll be damned if I can find it. Anyhow, I rubbed the roast and got the WSM fired up. The roast went in just a tad before 10 this morning. I am near out of hickory and I thought apple would not do the roast justice. I pulled out alder, which I had picked up about a year ago. I need to replenish my wood supply. The smoker went along at about 300° for most of the cook. Normally, I would have adjusted that, but I got into watching the Eagles game and just let things go.

At 2:30, four and a half hours in, the roast hit 165° internally. I foiled the roast at that point and put it back in. At that point the family loaded up the truckster and headed down the road to the Christmas tree farm. Gert fancied beginning a new tradition of going out as a family to select a tree, cut it down, and bring it home together. We didn’t know what to expect when we got there. The lady came right over with a tree dolly and a hand saw. We were turned loose to find a tree and cut it down. We allowed Beetle to select the tree. She picked one; it is fine, but not the one Mommy wanted. Nevertheless, we began cutting down the tree.

I am not much for manual labor like this. I sawed, and sawed, and sawed. It wasn’t that big of a tree, but the branches went to the ground and it was difficult to get in there and get work done. I expressed I was not too into the new family tradition. Gert had declared today a “do nothing” day and I had looked forward to it. We had cleared our chores and I was enjoying smoking and watching football. All of a sudden I was sweating my butt off doing physical work all the while the family frolic in the warmth of the Indian Summer. Grrr . . . After a bit we went back to the Jeep, pulled out the chainsaw I had loaded (remember, we didn’t know what to expect), and felled that tree in three seconds. Screw manual labor for tradition; bring out the power tools!

Back at home I checked on the roast. It was about 190° and feeling pretty tender. I left it in for another hour just to get it fork-tender. And it was!

I wrapped it up in the cooler and let it sit for an hour as I prepared the turkey. Yes, as I type this, a 20-lb. bird is in the smoker. At 6:00 I pulled the meat. Awesome! The bark was nice. I wasn’t terribly pleased with the rub I made; it needed heat. Next time I will add some cayenne to the mix and back off the seasoned salt. Gert was nearby. She is apprehensive any time I change things up. She eventually gave it a try and liked it. I plated some on our seeded rolls and sat down.

At that point Gert summoned Beetle by asking her if she wanted some barbecue. So, I guess barbecue can also be pulled beef. Later Gert said she thought she may like this even more than the pulled pork. It’s nice to please the audience. It was pretty tasty.

I like that I had less meat to deal with. I did not need to break out the FoodSaver. I did not look at having four days of food in front of me. There’s plenty of meat to eat, but it will be gone in a day. This was so flavorful, the thought of sauce was non-existent. We’ll defintiely have chuckies again . . . it’s child’s play.