I love meatloaf! My wife doesn't care for it, so seldom does it get made at home. But sometimes I'll order it at a restaurant, or get leftovers at work...mmm...
Love a smoked chuck. Cheaper and quicker than a brisket too. If done properly they can be just as good
I have really come to appreciate the smaller cheap cuts of beef for smoking. Brisket is the standby but with only two of us in the house, it is weeks of food. Chuck is a great substitute and when I can find one that is well- marbled, a bottom round roast is even better in my opinion. Truly a very close substitute to brisket but in a reasonable size and at least as cheap as brisket to boot. I find I have to find the right shape and more fat in the roast than bottom rounds normally have to smoke well though. Have also started to smoke / bake (smoking but at low baking temps. rather than smoking temps.) entire chickens. A fantastic meal IMO and both cheap and uber- easy as they require virtually no prep. I smaked (or boked) two of them a couple of weeks ago, photos in this thread, and the one we ate was excellent. The other was frozen in a vacuum bag and we just ate that one this weekend- it too was excellent and did not seem to suffer from freezing at all other than it was not as juicy as the first one. Still excellent though and I am sure we will be doing more of them. I have no problem buying more expensive meat or cuts of meat but the chickens were truly excellent and I am looking forward to the next ones. Also very easy to smoke multiple chickens at the same time.
Thanks, been addicted to wings ever since I started doing them on the weber kettle not too long ago. Usually just go straight traditional Buffalo sauce but like to switch it up here and there. with sauces I always figure simple is better!
Chuck has better flavor than brisket. It is not popular simply because it isn’t traditional. In addition to BBQ, smoked chuck chopped up makes a great meat for various Mexican dishes, and is a great improvement to chili.
Yes, smoked chuck is great. But don't go telling everybody, cause then it's liable to become the next "thing" and the price of that will get stupid like other cuts that took off....
The price is already climbing. Personal preference but I actually prefer a bottom round cut on the smoker- it is more like brisket and does not have the large 'threads' in the grain. The only problem is finding one with a bit of a fat cap and enough fat throughout the roast (marbling) so that it does not dry out while smoking. Top round is also good but even harder to find a well- marbled cut IME. But if you trip over one, give it a try; they smoke better, IMO, than chuck and the outside stays a bit juicier, again IME. I still prefer the flat of a brisket to other cuts for smoking but they are so big (I always smoke a full packer's cut) as to be impractical oftentimes.
