Quick pepper stout beef question

@PBandJ thanks for the advice and I'm glad I took it.  For anyone else having the same question, my two 2-lb chuck roasts were pretty stubborn with a long stall around 145-150.  Ended up taking the full 3.5 hours I had originally planned on if it was one 4-lb roast.  Although the egg settled in around 250 instead of 275 and I didn't bother adjusting, so that slowed it down some as well.  Good thing with this cook is that it's easy to just keep it warm if you get it done a lot earlier than expected, so I'll just start plenty early each time like with a pork butt.

A couple notes, FWIW.  We had some younger kids that would be eating, so I cored the jalapenos instead of putting them in seeds and all since I was worried about heat.  Three small cored jalapenos resulted in zero heat, next time I will do two jalapenos with the seeds and see how it goes for the people that like less spiciness.  I also definitely recommend pulling out the large chunks of fat during the shredding step.  Pretty easy to do and you get rid of a lot of big chunks that people would likely notice in their sandwich.  And I realized after the fact that I put in a pint of stout rather than 12 oz, so I think I had extra liquid form the get go.  After an hour uncovered at 350 for the last step, there was still a lot of liquid in the pan.  Wasn't a big deal to just use tongs and kind of drain it as you pick it up, but will try to use 12 oz next time to see if there's a noticeable difference at the end.

All in all it was a big hit and everyone seemed to really enjoy it.  Definitely going in the rotation for when we have some people over.  Also here are some pictures of the results.

Veggies chopped up as the chuck roasts smoked:


After about 3.5 hours at 250 and ready to join the veggies, used a mix of cherry and pecan wood (rubbed with DP raising the steaks prior to going on):


Shredded after another three hours wrapped tightly at 350:



Did sandwiches with provolone on brioche buns.  By the way, the veggie side is green beans/mushrooms/cauliflower roasted in the oven with crumbled blue cheese over the top that melts in.  Probably our favorite vegetable side to do and super easy:  https://cupcakesandkalechips.com/blue-cheese-roasted-cauliflower-green-beans-mushrooms/

We forgot the shallots the first time and it was still great, so haven't bothered adding them since.


Also did some ABTs with pimento cheese this time, but like a dummy I forgot the after pic. We like the cream cheese ones but I think pimento cheese will be our go to from now on.  Did these as an appetizer during the foil covered phase and just moved the beef pan from the egg to the oven while the ABTs cooked.

vcool said:

I find jalapenos can be tricky.  Some are almost like they're bell peppers, and others are firey as all get-out even after removing seeds and pith.  What I usually do is have a tiny taste of the pepper without seeds or pith, raw.  If its hot, you'll know.  If it's not, you'll be able to know if you want to leave the insides.

That’s a good idea that I’ll start doing since I have that same issue. Some with no heat, some that are hot as hell. I love jalapeños, but it would be an issue with the rest of the family if I made stuff too spicy. So I usually err on the side of caution since it can really vary.