Heff,
I did that serious eats recipe several weeks back. Although I used a pellet grill and a chuck roast as a brisket alternative.
A few takeaways:
- tie it with butcher twine. Don’t skip this step.
- monitor the internal temp closely.
- don’t expect it to behave like brisket, it’s not brisket after all. I’d say the brisket is more forgiving with this cooking method relative to dryness.
- overall I enjoyed it. But for my tastes, I’d say this recipe’s best use is as a sandwich with horseradish sauce or cheese sauce.
- my leftovers are vac sealed and frozen, waiting to be added to chili or nachos.
Bottom line:
- I’m glad I tried it because I like experimenting.
- I’ll likely never do it again for 2 reasons.
- 1st, a brisket is irreplaceable if that end result is what you are after.
- 2nd, I’ve concluded that for my tastes, you just can’t beat the “smoke then braise†method for a Chuck roast that Bar B Lew described, whether it be pepper stout beef or otherwise.
- side note, if you try the smoke then braise, consider adding the chipotle and mushrooms that BBLew has mentioned at times. It’s a difference maker if those flavors appeal to you.
- if I’m not smoking/braising/shredding , I’ll just put chuck into the group of beef cuts that I would normally consider for smoked roast beef or pot roast.
