# 22 pounds of chuck



## obtuse (Aug 23, 2012)

I've gone and done it again... I went to Costco to find a shoulder clod or chuck roll and came home with a 22 pound chuck roast, whatever that is. I'm not too good at telling massive hunks of beef apart. My plan is to get it in the egg around noon on Friday. I'm thinking it will take at least 22 hours at 250°F. I'm going to make pulled beef out of it. Does anyone have experience smoking this cut of beef?


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## DwarvenChef (Aug 23, 2012)

22 lbs in a BGE?? wow that should max the carry capacity a bit lol


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## obtuse (Aug 23, 2012)

I'm fairly confident it will fit... we'll see.


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## Jim (Aug 23, 2012)

Good luck and take a couple pictures if you can. What are you rubbing it with?


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## obtuse (Aug 23, 2012)

Jim said:


> Good luck and take a couple pictures if you can. What are you rubbing it with?



I'm thinking of using this recipe for the rub:
http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/rubs_pastes_marinades_and_brines/big_bad_beef_rub.html


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## Jim (Aug 23, 2012)

Here is my base beef rub use one or two day before and reapply before throwing in the BBQ

¼ c kosher salt
1/4 c Paprika
½ c pepper 
2T lemon rinds
2t granulated garlic
2t granulated onion 
½ t cayenne 
1T fresh thyme

You can mix this up and try different things, just a place to start.


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## obtuse (Aug 23, 2012)

Jim said:


> Here is my base beef rub use one or two day before and reapply before throwing in the BBQ
> 
> ¼ c kosher salt
> 1/4 c Paprika
> ...



your rub recipe looks good. I'll have to get some lemon rind, fresh or dried?


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## Kyle (Aug 23, 2012)

Everyone I know that has bought those big ol roasts sections them off into 3-4 smaller pieces


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## Jim (Aug 23, 2012)

obtuse said:


> your rub recipe looks good. I'll have to get some lemon rind, fresh or dried?


I have used both, never saw a differences at the end. Its pretty easy to just use a veggie peeler on a lemon .


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## UCChemE05 (Aug 23, 2012)

If you can half it, you should be able to cut quite a bit of cooking time off (prob 8-10 hrs). Personally, I LOVE the outside of beef when it's properly cooked and rubbed... for me the more surface area the better!


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## obtuse (Aug 23, 2012)

I've been thinking about halving it, but I just can't help the desire to cook it whole. it's foolish I'm sure, next time I will cut it in half.


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## UCChemE05 (Aug 23, 2012)

I've never smoked something that long so I'm very intersted to see your experience.


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## lowercasebill (Aug 23, 2012)

warren / unconundrum does 6 [100-120lbs] every year for his charity cook. he cuts them in half and they go about 12 hrs .. i think you are on target with your timing. But just like a pork butt , every piece is different. good stuff i try to steal all the crispy parts when he is carving :hungry:. when he does them at home he makes rye bread and i make fresh horseradish ... real good eats!!!!


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## lowercasebill (Aug 23, 2012)

i did 32 lbs of butt last summer and lots of folks have done more


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## mhlee (Aug 23, 2012)

I've cooked shoulder clods twice before (from Smart & Final). They've come out quite well for the most part. But, I have never cooked a shoulder clod past medium well. 

Like a pork shoulder, it's got many different muscles so there are some darker meat (i.e., tougher muscles/sections that need longer cooking to get really tender) and some lighter meat (i.e. softer muscles/sections that are good on the rarer side that being fully cooked). I actually remember preferring the muscles that were well cooked and tender; the core was still very medium even though the outer meat was well cooked. (If some parts are cooked to around medium, they may need to be to be sliced to get the best texture; some parts may be tough.) 

Again, I'm not too sure about how it will turn out if it's fully cooked through (I haven't done that yet), but one thing I did notice is that it's significantly less fatty than a pork shoulder, and certain parts of the exterior were a little dry. It doesn't have the collagen of a brisket so it's not going to have that soft mouthfeel of a well cooked brisket. 

If I were to do it again, I would still cook it to medium, but finish the cooking by wrapping it in foil and give it PLENTY of time to rest so that the juices will redistribute through the entire shoulder so it's consistently cooked throughout. 

For me, beef needs less wood and more charcoal. Beef, IME, can get acrid tasting when smoked with too much wood. I also prefer a combo of oak and hickory, with more oak, for wood. 

For rubs, I tend to prefer either a simple pepper based barbecue rub (salt, black pepper, cayenne, garlic and onion powder, thyme - no sugar) or a prime rib type of rub when cooking beef, I've made various rubs that have a combo of salt, black pepper, white pepper, paprika, little cayenne, thyme, some garlic and onion powder, coriander and rosemary (being very judicious with this last ingredient). I don't like using rubs with sugar on beef because, to me, they can produce bitter/burnt/acrid flavors because, from what I'm assuming, is the long cooking time. 

Also, if you want to ensure that you have enough charcoal for that cook, bring the clod out of the fridge a few hours early keeping it covered, and let it rise in temp a little. That'll shave some time off your cook. 

P.S. - there are several threads on various forums about cooking clod. Good luck!


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## obtuse (Aug 24, 2012)

thanks mike and everyone for the great advice! I took a trip to home depot to get some wood chunks and more charcoal. unfortunately they were out of oak, so I bought cherry. I need some advice on a good sauce to go on the shredded beef. i'm not a big fan of overly sweet things or ketchup.


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## obtuse (Aug 25, 2012)

It has been over 24 hours since I put the meat in the egg. The temp. of the meat is 192F, I'm aiming for 200F. I made a pot of "texas beans" and I'm wiping up a batch of BBQ sauce for those who like it, based loosely on the recipe Jim forwarded me (thanks Jim :thumbsup: ) I'm getting hungry... Only so many beers can sustain a man, time for some meat.


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## 99Limited (Aug 25, 2012)

obtuse said:


> ... Only so many beers can sustain a man, time for some meat.



That was my biggest problem with long cooking times. By the time the meat was done, so was I.


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## apicius9 (Aug 25, 2012)

Well, as I said earlier, seven beers replace a meal. And if you started at breakfast.... Aaron, don't forget the pictures 

Stefan


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## Namaxy (Aug 25, 2012)

obtuse said:


> It has been over 24 hours since I put the meat in the egg. The temp. of the meat is 192F, I'm aiming for 200F. I made a pot of "texas beans" and I'm wiping up a batch of BBQ sauce for those who like it, based loosely on the recipe Jim forwarded me (thanks Jim :thumbsup: ) I'm getting hungry... Only so many beers can sustain a man, time for some meat.



This is very cool. Did you make it? That is some serious time!!


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## obtuse (Aug 25, 2012)

I made it to 200F about 26 hours after it went in. the egg us still holding temp (250F) 28 hours later on one load of charcoal. the beef has been resting for the last two hours in a warm oven.


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## mhlee (Aug 26, 2012)

How did it turn out?


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## obtuse (Aug 26, 2012)

sorry I haven't posted... I ate and fell asleep. it was great! very tender and the cherry wood smoke is pleasant. it doesn't need sauce, so I say it was a success. pics to come.


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## mhlee (Aug 26, 2012)

That's great! Congratulations! 

I would love to see pictures of the end product, especially pictures (if you have them) that show the tenderness of the final, cooked product. I'm very curious to see how clod looks when it's cooked through.


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