Pulled Chuck for Taco Meat

I feel like Brad and I were on a similar wavelength recently. In fact, I also had to do a little experimenting, though not necessarily by choice. I got a great buy on a boneless chuck, and seeing I needed a new supply of meat for my tacos... .

And so, I got busy slathering the meat with some good ol' basic mayo. Seasoned it very generously with coarse ground pepper. Man, does that ever work wonders, like, for instance with pastrami. Simple. Off to the pit.



Got the hardwood charcoal goin' in the smoker along with some hickory. That hickory is especially intoxicating this time of year for me. Here is where my coerced experimentation comes in. I decided to foil this at a temp of 140, as time was getting too close to the baseball game and debate. No harm done! Phew!



I don't know what temp to which it finally reached. I just went by past experience and feel. It pulled quite readily. Funny to me how it looks kind of like I cooked it inside out, like an inverted medium rare. That wonderful hickory flavoring came through quite nicely. Now I'm happy as I can very easily reheat this meat in a really hot chile sauce with my favorite carne asada seasoning and make some top notch tacos.

Great color on the meat - looks tasty! And I'll bet the mayo slather helped keep it moist, too...can you detect any flavor from it?

Looks great. I bet thsoe are gonna be some tasty tacos. I was going to ask about the mayo, too. What does it do for it?

Looks perfect! Nice smoke ring!

Thanks once again, Guys

The mayo does indeed make a most effective seal preventing moisture loss. More effective than mustard, you do not even have to mop with cider vinegar (or whatever) afterwards during the cook. Many years ago, a friend taught me that for doing roast chickens. I believe originally it's an old Pennsylvanian trick. And no, I certainly can detect no flavor influence from it. It is completely neutral.

Griffin-- Yes, who doesn't like tacos with ground beef?-- Well, I would testify that once one tries them with shredded beef or pork, one will not want to go back. That really elevates the experience. Alternatively, one could slice up a roast or steak, but once cooked, pulling the meat is easier, faster than slicing to bits (a tad more tender, too).

Had to be some great tacos. I like the mayo idea. I always used on chicken breast for breading to stick.

I've used mayo for years as a butter substitute on many things. It essentially breaks down to oil once heated.

Looks great!!

Thanks Jsperk and Tbk!

You guys from Pennsylvania, you're wise to that trick all right. I find that mayo works even faster and easier than an egg wash for getting breading or batter to stick.