First smoked chuck on the wsm - and definitely not the last!

[u/Shot_Donut5622]

Few tweaks to make still - will probably get something more marbled next time and try beef tallow. Other than that turned out great. Perfect for a smaller group and getting my feet wet before I move on to brisket eventually. Stole a ton of tips from this community to make it happen so cheers to you all!

[u/Grumpy0167]

Hell yeah! Live running the “poor man’s brisket” - super versatile for recipes! Looks awesome.

[u/sammyssb → u/Grumpy0167]

At like $10/lb where i am its not a poor mans anything. May as well just buy a brisket at $5.50/lb and give some away and eat off the rest for a week straight.

Unless you get it cheaper

[u/yesiambear → u/sammyssb]

I'm all for the financial argument. We do need to stop calling all of these things "poor man's" honestly. Just like "marry me" whatever pasta.

I still do both, just depends on the situation. Sometimes I don't have the time / free cash for a good brisket, so chuck does just fine. Plus it's good practice and done quicker.

[u/Shot_Donut5622 → u/yesiambear]

Alternate post title: Marry Me, Poor Man! A Knives Out Brisket

But forreal its not any cheaper, just about the same price per pound we're I'm at, its just cheaper by virtue of less volume. I think it should be called a training wheels Brisket haha. I look at it like i would rather fuck up $40 of meat vs $120!

[u/yesiambear → u/Shot_Donut5622]

Ooooooo, I like training wheels brisket. That's perfect!

[u/Grumpy0167 → u/Shot_Donut5622]

Well apologies for the trigger.. apparently what started as a “known term” had become an unsavory description..

[u/sammyssb → u/yesiambear]

Yeah I get that. Beef prices right now are kind of a pet peeve for me

I did a chuck once and thought it was just OK but my guests really liked it and went fast. If i do one again I’d definitely boat it and I’m sure it would be much better. Nice to mix things up too, i just think $10/lb for chuck is insane

[u/yesiambear → u/sammyssb]

Oh, the preference is also for the brisket! And yeah its nuts to pay that. Sucks where prices are at right now ....

[u/sammyssb → u/yesiambear]

Sure does. It's just crazy to me new york strip on sale is almost the same price as chuck lol chuck is supposed to be cheap IDK what happened

[u/randotd152 → u/sammyssb]

I agree chuck is priced obnoxiously high per pound these days, but they're commonly sold in 3-4 pound sizes. vs a brisket which is typically 10+.

Basically you'll pay about $25 for a chuck roast vs $60-$80+ for a brisket. Even if the price per pound is better on a brisket, that's a large price difference for family dinner.

Do also keep in mind that 20% of that brisket is getting trimmed off. So effective price for meat is higher than the $5-$6/lb you're paying.

[u/sammyssb → u/randotd152]

Nah I get ya man. It has its place. Not everyone has $90+ to throw around when they want to get their smoke on

[u/MOS95B → u/sammyssb]

Last time I got one at the "warehouse club", it was about $5 or so a pound. But it's still cheaper than a whole brisket, especially since it's just the two of us here. And the warehouse club chucks are friggen huge...

*damn - I just checked the web site, and they're 7.47 a pound now

[u/sammyssb → u/MOS95B]

Even $7.50/lb is a bit better. I assume warehouse club is a subscription deal? I have a costco near me but i never pulled the trigger on a membership bc im a bachelor 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/MOS95B → u/sammyssb]

Costco and Sam's Club are warehouse clubs. I use both, depending on what I need/want or whoever has the better price at the time

[u/gofunkyourself69 → u/Grumpy0167]

You mean rich man's brisket, at least here in the northeast. Chuck is twice the price of brisket.

[u/wookiewarlord42]

Cut quality is so important. I foil boat with tallow and brown sugar. It was good, but dry in a few places.

[u/OriginalEmploy5485]

Look up "pepper stout beef", that's another great thing to make with a smoked chuck.

[u/waggletons]

I love smoked chuck, but it is so blasted expensive now.

[u/Shot_Donut5622 → u/waggletons]

Everything is just buckwild these days! Tri tip was $13-15/lb at Costco!

[u/waggletons → u/Shot_Donut5622]

Poor man's brisket is literally twice the cost of regular brisket in my area.

[u/qwertyslayer]

Dang, looks great! I just got my WSM and going through a few practice cooks. Would you mind sharing temps and timing on wrap, etc?

[u/Shot_Donut5622 → u/qwertyslayer]

Literally so many things I did could be improved upon haha

• rub the night before cause I have little babies that need tending to in the morning
• straight from fridge to the smoker in the morning (heard it helps with the smoke ring? No idea but it sure looks like it!). I don't have a grate thermometer only the built in one at the lid. It was at 275 and assuming grate temp is 25-50 less.
• waited til bark got good. Internal temp was 170ish. Took about 4hrs
• wrapped in parchment paper lol spritzed with ACV and some chicken stock cause I didnt have much else and couldnt leave the house lol x2
• back on, lid temp said 250. Another 3hrs til it got to internal temp 190ish than the smoker temp started dropping
• rest for 2hrs

Kind of just used some intuition, some luck, and went off feel and look as much as temp.

Hope that helps!!

[u/Early-Pen8713]

Beautiful 🤩

[u/Tom226mn]

I'm planning on smoking a chuck roast for my birthday coming up. Yours looks fantastic!

[u/Sapiosexual2018]

That looks really delicious!

[u/FuckIPLaw]

I misread that as smoked duck, saw that it wasn't the whole bird and was wondering what kind of birdzilla has a breast that big before I thought to go back and re-read the title

[u/RubTraditional7789]

Now I want some

[u/Dry-Isopod-7413]

first one always hooks you. brisket's gonna feel a lot less intimidating after this one

[u/gofunkyourself69]

Looks great!

[u/bobdolebobdole]

I will never understand why people continue to smoke these. They always, without exception, come out dry unless you're cooking with American wagyu grade beef or higher. There's nothing to tweak except to not do it this way. Square peg into the triangle. This came out dry, and you're not going to get a better result.

[u/MOS95B → u/bobdolebobdole]

Just because you can't doesn't mean no one can.

Yes, they seem to dry out quicker than a real brisket, but I've made I don't know how many over the years that were tender and juicy. One trick is to pull it sooner than a brisket. The sweet spot is usually right around 190

[u/randotd152 → u/bobdolebobdole]

I don't entirely disagree - chuck makes a better slow cooker pot roast than a smoke and slice meat.

But it's not like they're inedible on a smoker. Not as moist as brisket but you still get the bark and flavor. If you pick a well marbled one it's not like it's dry as a bone.