So, following Capt. Jack's lead, I decided to give smoking a couple of chuck roasts ... Kroger had a sale ($2.29/lb) so I figured a couple of four pounders were a good risk for the sake of the scientific method.
I injected each using a simple mix of melted salted butter, worcestershire sauce, molasses, a few tablespoons of my beef rub, and a little Wild Turkey ... I cooked it down to about the thickness of steak sauce to burn off the alcohol and refrigerated overnight.
Today, I injected two cold 4+ lb. chuck roasts with a goodly amount of the marinade I made, then applied a thin layer of molasses to the outside and liberally applied my beef rub. They went in the smoker with a 50/50 mix of pecan and cherry, and a Shiner Bock went in the hanging water pan. I set the smoker for 215 and let it do its thing.
Temps stayed stable but these roasts cooked like they had somewhere to be ... both were at my target temp of 150 in less than two hours. They were removed and wrapped in HD tinfoil and then held for 45 minutes. I started carving with very thin slices but had to keep swapping angles to cut against the grain of the meat ... the once I just broke down had at least four distinct grain changes. The final product was ridiculously juicy ... the collected juices were added to the giant pile of sammich meat but it didn't even need it.
The flavor was exactly where I hoped it would be ... molasses and bourbon will be in my rotation for a long time to come; I had some reserved marinade that I added a splash of balsamic vinegar to and it made a KILLER steak sauce. If I had this to do over again I'd likely back the temp down a little more (205?) to allow more time for the collagen to break down and add some sort of tenderizing agent to the injection. While the meat that was safely against the grain was quite tasty, other bits give my jaws a workout. I probably would also bust out the food slicer and cut it deli style as well.
All in all, it was a good day for science!
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