Sous vide chuck roast and the smoker

[LeCheffre]

This really isn’t a question of belief. It’s a question of science. The wood in an electric smoker never reaches full combustion, so you don’t get to the point where the best aromatic gasses come out of the wood. That’s in the 650-700* range in the wood… the same reason why you will never get a smoke ring in an electric smoker without using prague powder to cheat it is the same reason why folks feel their electrics don’t produce the same rounded and complex flavor that folks get from charcoal, wood, gas or pellets).

What You Need to Know About Wood, Smoke, And Combustion

I run one of these:

But I also run chunks of wood on the flavorizer bars of my Weber Genesis 330 and a tube of pellets.

Propane smokers work really well, also. For ease of use, I like my pellet grill, but my brother and I made some very tasty ribs on his cheap propane smoker.

Electric grills are great for cold smoking, for fish, nuts, cheeses, anything where you want to keep humidity high and don’t really need good bark.

[CFLBob]

Now I’m more confused than I was before.

They say electric heaters don’t get hot enough to reach this 650-700 range they recommend for certain compounds, but those compounds are going somewhere. When I empty out the smoker after a meal, it’s not like there’s pieces wood in the tray, unless I turn it off before the chips have stopped smoking. There’s just a fine white dust where the chips used to be. That means everything that was in the wood other than that ash went somewhere and I always assumed they went up into the smoker.

Likewise, I have the external smoker for cold smoking. If I open that up before the chips have turned to ash, they catch fire. Every 1 to 1-1/2 hours, I open it to break up clots of chips that form from the resins in the chips getting out, and the chips catch fire. That means the only thing keeping them from igniting all the rest of the time is absence of enough air.

I thought, from reading elsewhere, that the issue with getting a smoke ring in the electric smoker was the lower quantity of smoke not lower quality of smoke. I have gotten a pink smoke ring on pork shoulders for making pulled pork in my Masterbuilt electric but it isn’t consistent. I’ve always gotten a good thick bark on pork shoulders. The only issues I’ve been having with not enough bark started up with my sous vide experiments.

[LeCheffre]

Quality. It’s quality of combustion.

[Bellyman]

Thanks LaCheffre,

I hope the way I asked my question wasn’t offensive with using the word “believe”. Might have been a less than great selection of words. Sorry if it came across in a bit of an odd way. Not intended…

[daddyoh]

I use an amazen smoke tube and a wedgie with my masterbuilt smoker. It is the only way to go.

[Maried]

What’s a smoke tube and wedgie? Thanks!

[Maried]

I suspected as much. If I want good quality of smoke I have to leave it on high or near high and it literally bakes my meat so can’t leave it for hours and hours. If I turn it down to say 225° it stops smoking.

[daddyoh]

These are device that you put pure wood pellets in and use in your grill or smoker. For my electric smoker this gives me much more control over the amount of smoke and I can mixed pellet types. Electric smokers tend to produce smoke with wood chips when the heating element is on. These devices produce smoke all the time there are pellets burning in them.

https://www.amazenproducts.com/Default.asp

The Smokin Wedgie | Wood Pellet Cold Smoker, Cold Smoke Cheese

I mostly use the wedgie for meats and the tube for cheese or beef jerky. The tube does not burn as long.

I added stainless steel feet (screws) to mine so they sit above the floor of the smoker.

[LeCheffre]

I use one of those on my gasser, the tube. And it’s a decent solution. I also use one to cold smoke on my pellet grill. Or to boost the smoke a bit.

[CFLBob]

Eric, the Smokin’ Wedgie is a new one on me, and looks simpler than the Amazen. I’ve got a couple of questions if you don’t mind answering - or can answer.

The knock on Amazen is that they don’t stay lit. I think that’s partly because of the way they burn, following the maze. Does the Wedgie stay lit? How long does it generate smoke?

[daddyoh]

Bob

This is what I do to keep the pellets burning in the tube and the wedgie:

• mix in some hickory if I’m using other wood pellets. 25% seems to work
• dry the pellets in the oven at ~200F for 30 minutes before use. Some people microwave them. I don’t because I don’t want to risk a fire.
• raise the tube up with u bolts and raise the wedgie up with screws. All hardware needs to be stainless steel. Galvanized metal is toxic (zinc fumes)
• light with a torch and let burn outside of the smoker for 5 to 10 mins before inserting into the smoker

The wedgie lasts for 2 to 3 hours. If the vent is wide open and the chip tray is pulled out all the way it burns faster.

I love both. The last smoke I did was some beef jerky and I used the tube because I did not want the to put too much smoke on thin meat. I pulled the tube out after 20 mins. Should have been 30. It needed a little more smoke.

Also light one corner of the wedgie, not both. Since the pellets are in a triangle, in the middle of the burn, it puts out a lot of smoke. Great for a big piece of meat.

Here is a pic of the tube with the u bolt feet shown.

Happy low and slow.

[CFLBob]

Like nothing else. Medium rare, steaks, but braise tender. There’s no way but Sous Vide to get them there.

It took a while to get here, but I just put 8 short ribs into my sous vide container. Set to 133 for 72 hours and the cook has started. At this point, my plan is to take them out Wednesday around noon and then into the smoker for a finishing five to six hours.

[LeCheffre]

Shock to fridge temp before smoking. And maybe finish more like smoke roasting (350) than smoking (225) to temp, rather than time. They bark up, imo, a bit better going hotter than going low/slow for bark.

[CFLBob]

Thanks. I had planned on the “shock to fridge temp.” I can’t make 350 in my Masterbuilt Electric, but I can set it as high as it will go (275 I think).

[CFLBob]

The 133 for 72 hours trick is quite something. I have to recommend it to everyone.

They were falling off the bone tender before going into the smoker. I did a very simple rub of onion, garlic and my wife’s favorite “Mr. Pepper” (sort of visible top left). They already had a salt and pepper rub before going into the sous vide. Smoked about 4 hours with apple wood - a mild smoke.

Like you say, @LeCheffre, like nothing else.

Dinner tomorrow night, too.

[CFLBob]

I had this thread open to compare my second chuck roast, today, to the one I did to start this thread. I may as well update this.

Second roast was a 4-1/2 pound, 2" thick chuck roast tied up with butcher string. 155 degrees for 48 hours, more like the Serious Eats recipe I originally didn’t do.

The bark is coming out better by running the smoker hotter, like @LeCheffre suggests. By temperature, 155 is well done which I think of as tough and probably dried out, but by time, the long hours at the temperature act to break down the tissues that make a well done cut of beef tough.

What you can’t see is that it’s juicy, (the surface literally dried out and darkened a bit in the 30 seconds it took for me to go get my camera), as well as tender and delicious. Best smoked chuck roast yet.

[daddyoh]

If you did the sous vide for 24 hours what would the difference be?

Thanks.

[CFLBob]

If you did the sous vide for 24 hours what would the difference be?

Which do you mean? Chuck roast at 155 for 24 hours wouldn’t be as tender and easy to pull as the 48 hours was but would still be more the “well done” color.

[juice]

If you did the sous vide for 24 hours what would the difference be?

Time affects tenderness, temperature affects doneness.

[Jeff0093]

Just did these two monsters on the pellet smoker. Turned out great 6 and 3/4 hours. I only went to 190 had a giant stall and didn’t want them to dry out wrapped and let sit for 75 mins