Any advice for beef “blade “ roast for pulling?

[Debmar]

Have (3 ) 5 lb blade roasts dry brining for tomorrows supper. (Will use one and freeze the other 2) Plan is to pull them and i was thinking to go unwrapped the whole time. Here i never see chuck roasts but cross rib and blade are more common. If my research is correct both the cross rib and blade are part of the chuck section of the shoulder so should be comparable to chuck roast posts i see here.
They are going on the UDS by 8 am and was hoping running between 275 and 300 should have me done in plenty of time for supper.

Do you think i am on track with my plans or should i adjust? Done lots of pulled pork unwrapped but this is my first pulled beef attempt.

Any advice appreciated
Thanks
Martin

 

[Big George's BBQ]

When I have done chuck I have smoked it to about 165*. I then take it off my Egg put it in a foil pan raised on foil balls. Underneath I had sliced onion and pepper with some garlic and a can of beer. I cover this with foil and put it back on the Egg till the chuck is tender then pull it. I usuallyb put it back on the egg tom reduce the liquid and then eat

 

[LYU370]

When I have done chuck I have smoked it to about 165*. I then take it off my Egg put it in a foil pan raised on foil balls. Underneath I had sliced onion and pepper with some garlic and a can of beer. I cover this with foil and put it back on the Egg till the chuck is tender then pull it. I usuallyb put it back on the egg tom reduce the liquid and then eat

Sounds like pepper stout beef. One of my favorites. :thumb:

 

[Debmar]

It’s on and just over 160 at the 5 hour mark. I am thinking its not going to make it unwrapped in time. Thinking I will wrap one in foil in an hour or so, leave one unwrapped, and pan the 3rd for a pepper stout type. That way I have all the bases covered and we can see what we like best
Thanks for the advice. Will post again after to say how it went

 

[Debmar]

Wrapped in foil roast probing tender at 207 IT at 8 hour mark and into cooler. Unwrapped and panned / foiled with onions and peppers + both at 189 and still needing a little longer
Smoker temps i have increased and averaging about 300
These blade roasts are bigger (5+ lbs each) and rolled and tied up so makes sense they are taking their time

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Interested in how everything turned out for you

 

[Debmar]

Both the unwrapped and panned and foiled roasts probed tender at the 9 hr mark, IT of 207-208. Took off smoker and into the cooler with the foiled roast i took off earlier. Couple guests for supper were unable to make it so decided to just use the unwrapped roast for supper today. It was good, not dry and still hot enough to hurt while pulling even with cloth gloves under nitrile ones. Only had time to rest that roast for 1/2 hour , longer prob better. Served on homemade burger buns with my wifes potatoe salad on the side along with pickled red onions and or oickles snd some different sauces. I think it may have benefited from a splash of “shack sauce”. (Thin vinegar base sauce i found here) to give it that something extra. Always use that sauce when doing pulled pork or lamb shoulder and i think would be good here too. Will yse that when reheating the unwrapped roast we froze. Bark was good though in roast we ate and people were digging that out in search of more as they served themselves.
After we ate i pulled the other 2 to bag and freeze and people sampled those. The foiled roast definitely more moist and while bark was softer it was still there and good. People thought the foiled and unwrapped equally good. The panned with onions and peppers (with red wine, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar used as i had no beer on hand) was good too, just different. So I dont think anyone of the versions a clear winner.
I think i will foil wrap in the future to save time (unless it seems to be moving along fast enough without it) and do a panned type once in a while for a change.
UDS type smoker i have ran hotter than i planned as i was not home to monitor it the whole time, prob 300 avg. oak chunk for smoke.
We have more of these roasts (we raise our own steers) and will definitely do again, fine tuning as we go. Prob try the cross rib ones next time, in my experience the blades and cross ribs similar enough to treat equally.
I think blade and cross rib just treat the same as all the chuck roast posts i see online. Only diff i think would be the flatter chuck roasts i see pics of would prob dry out quicker if unwrapped compared to the rolled up and tied versions i am working with.
Sorry no pics but i really find it difficult going through process to get pics on this site. I should try though as a post with pics is always better