Pulled Beef

[manderso]

Hello All,

Let me just echo the sentiments of many and say thank you all for the wealth of help and information that you are willing to share.  It has aided me greatly in creating some mighty fine meals.  To date, I have done spare ribs, baby back ribs, pork butt (pulled pork), beer can chicken, and a chuck roast (pulled beef).  Everything has been absolutely fantastic except for the beef.  I have tried to do pulled beef twice now (because a few friends at work have raved about how good it is) and I just don't seem to be able to master it yet.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong?  Here's my process:

Set the OBS for 210-220 degrees (btw, I've seen several posts regarding the accuracy of the thermometer that is in the door.  Mine is within a few degrees of several other temp probes that I used to verify it)

Dry rub the beef and let it get close to room temp and fire it into the OBS.

Apply smoke for 3 hours (hickory)

Then boat the roast with a cup of minced garlic/cider vinegar/apple juice/honey and seal tight with foil.  Back into the OBS.  Continued cooking until internal temperature reached 200 degrees.

Approximately 6 hours total time for a 3 1/2 pound roast.

It looked beautiful.  FTC'd for another 2 hours.

Dinner time!  I went to pull it apart and it was quite a struggle.  The fat tissue didn't render like I had hoped it would and the meat, though tasty, was kind of chewy.  Maybe my expectation of what it was supposed to be like is warped.  I thought it would be similar in texture to a pulled pork (still my favorite).  I thought maybe it was just a bad piece of meat, but this is the second time I've tried it, and both times have had similar results.

If anybody can point out any flaws in my approach or has suggestions on how to improve the method would be greatly appreciated.

Manderso

[acords]

I can't say for sure, but maybe take it up another 10-20 degrees.  It seems to me that somebody else was asking about pulling beef not to long ago.  I think 215 was the magic number. 

[Skipystu]

Sounds to me it is drying out and under cooked a little.

I tend to spray my meats down every 45 mins or so to make sure they stay moist. Maybe put some bacon or fat on the shelf above the beef. I do that with my pork butts.

I also tend to FTC 3-5 hours. As long as the meat is warm and I can stop from eating it, I leave it in there.

Hey worst thing is you get to keep testing and then eating it! Yummy

Oh the spray I use is 2 parts Apple Juice, 1 part Jack Daniels. I tend to make more then I need so I still have enough left when I am cooking.