Yoder Smokers Community Forum

This is a very simple recipe, with many different variations, and called many different names. You will have to refine the timings for yourself, as I don't cook by time, but rather internal temperature, and in this case, fall apart tenderness. I will also leave the "what rub did you use", and "what kind, type or brand" out of this recipe, and leave it up to you to decide what best fits your taste buds. The idea is to not self promote, nor promote a specific product, but rather share the basic information so you can "make it your own" and try new things.

What you will need:

a pan (I use full and half aluminum restaurant pans)
aluminum foil
Beef Chuck Roast (the bigger the better)
3 medium sized sweet onions (I use sweet white onions, but use what you like)
1 each: red, green and yellow bell pepper
12 ounces of stout beer

Get your smoker warmed up and set the temp to 225 degrees. Flavor up your Beef Chuck roast and put it on the cooker and let it get happy.

Remember: every time you open the smoker lid to peek, you interrupt the cooking process and collapse the cooking environment, which will require more cooking time. I'm sure we have all heard that "if you're looking, you're not cooking".

While the meat is getting happy on the smoker, clean and cut up the onions and peppers. I cut the onions into half moons, and the peppers into long strips. Put them into a storage bag and put into the frig for use later.

When the meat has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees, and, you cannot scratch off the rub with your fingernail, its time to put things together and start the party. If the internal temp is right, but, the rub is still soft and comes off on your fingernail, just close the lid and let it go a little longer.

Once I take the meat off, I raise the smoker temperature to 250.

Now it's time to setup the party. Take your pan and dump the onions and peppers into it. Now put the happy meat on top of the onions and peppers. Lastly, pour the 12 ounces of stout beer over everything and make it all dance. Tightly cover the pan with aluminum foil and put it back on the smoker.

How long do you cook it? Until you can easily use two forks to pull the meat into shreds. Once you can easily shred the meat, you have a choice; eat it right away in all its juiciness, or put it back on the cooker without the foil cover so that it can reduce the juices (make sure to stir and check frequently).

We have eaten this over rice, over mashed potatoes, in sandwiches (use a hoagie bun and dip it in the juices), as a main dish, you get the idea. The problem I have is that there is never any left when I go to the frig for leftovers.

Here is what I do when making this; I cook lots of chuck roasts, and when they come off the smoker, I vacuum seal and freeze them. Then when I get moved for the taste of this, I put the onions and peppers in the crockpot, put the meat in frozen, pour the beer over it all and slow cook until done.

That looks great, Herb.

Nicely done man!!

I just found this recipe...i have a Chuck on right now that is at 135... All i have is mushrooms and onions...bet it will work!


Edit: Chucky now at 145 and my midnight run to Wally World yielded some nice peppers

Will post some pics when its all done...is it done yet...is it done yet

Looks good Herb!

That looks great! I'll be trying this as well. Thanks for posting it!

I am going to try this. Love pulled chuckie sammiches!

Here is a curve ball for you...

Same process, but dice the onions and peppers, add diced carrots, diced celery, chopped parsley and cook as the recipe calls for.

Once the meat is done, take the pan off the smoker and turn the temperature of the smoker up to 385 degrees. Shred the meat and mix it all into the veggies, add a thick layer of fresh or frozen peas over the top of everything and then put a layer of mashed potatoes over the peas to seal everything up (try to not go past the top of the pan, as this will grow a little). Sprinkle the top with your favorite seasoning(s).

Once the smoker has come up to temp, put the pan, uncovered, back on the smoker until you see bubbling around the sides, or you have a 190 degree reading from the middle of the pan. The potato topping should turn brown and may start to get crispy.

Let the pan sit for 15 or so minutes before digging in to the best Sheppard's pie you have ever had.

Footnote: When making the mashed potatoes, we used 2 sticks of butter per 5 pounds of potatoes, and used half and half instead of milk, and used a mixer to make sure they were super fluffy. The butter will allow the potatoes to brown up extra nicely. The viscosity of the mashed potatoes was thin enough so that we could put them in a ziplock bag, and squeeze them into the pan by cutting off one corner of the bag. Just a slight smoothing out is all it takes to make it all look "pretty". As a reference, we made mashed potatoes from a 5 pound bag of potatoes, and had enough left over to almost fill a quart ziplock bag.

I love spreading mayonnaise mixture on one bread slice. Top with lettuce leaf, roast beef, tomato slices, onion, and remaining bread slice.Yummy sandwich.Sometimes with potato salad.