What a difference 25 degrees makes

Basselope

So yesterday AM I hit Sam's club for something to cook for last night. Found some boneless chuck roasts about 3" thick packed 2/ package. Package came out about 6.5 lbs.
Bought em, rubbed em, and put them on about noon. I had some bacon in the fridge so I covered the meat with strips of bacon for moisture. Set up indirect, rack over a drip pan with some beer in it. Started out about 210 and allowed the temp to creep to about 250.
At 5 I pulled one at 154* so we could eat. I left the other on. The first roast looked rare inside and was very flavorful, but the connective tissue was damn tough.
The second roast hung at a 154* plateau for about almost 5.5 hours! At 12:30 this morning I pulled it at 179*. I was gonna go to 185* and try the fork test, but I was getting REAL tired.
Anyway, the second roast is tender beyond belief. Thin sliced, add a little salt and a dash of Q sauce, it was out of this world.
One question though. I can't see a smoke ring on either piece of meat. When I put the rack on I added 3 pieces of oak and let it go. Why no smoke ring?

Joel Ferman

Basselope,
I have noticed that when I add bacon to the outside of beef it eliminated the smoke ring. I dunno if the smoke can't penetrate it or what, but I noticed the same thing you did, and narrowed it down to the bacon. Any other ideas?
-Joel