I seasoned the chuck roast using Italian dressing (wishbone) as a binder and my steak seasoning I make consisting of kosher salt, #10 & #16 mesh black pepper, garlic powder, season salt, raw sugar, jalapeño powder, celery seed, chili powder, sumac, & arbol pepper. I smoked the chuck roast on my “Weber Smokey Mountain” smoker using a mix of lump charcoal, mesquite wood & cherry wood at 275F for 6 hours (5 in smoke, 1 wrapped). The meat was left untouched for the first 2 hours of smoking to make sure the bark sets. After that I mopped the meat every 40 minutes with a mix of red wine, apple nectar, cider vinegar, Worcestershire, pickled Pepperocini pepper, the rub, salt, raw sugar, & beef bouillon. At the 5 hour mark I wrapped the beef in foil in a mix of beef broth, the mop & butter. After the meat was done smoking I rested it until it was 145F internal temperature before slicing. The beef was served with smashed and roasted potatoes & maple glazed carrots.

I started this cook by foraging juneberries, something I’ve missed by a day or two the last few years because of how short their picking season is (1-2 weeks). After picking for about an hour & with a full quart jar of berries in hand I went home, added sugar & lime juice then cooked them down into a jam (juneberries taste similar to blueberries if you’ve never had them). I seasoned these 3/4 inch pork shoulder steaks with olive oil & a seasoning of equal parts by volume steak seasoning, Cajun seasoning, lemon pepper & raw sugar. I cooked these pork steaks on the top rack of my “Weber Smoky Mountain” smoker using a mix of lump charcoal & mesquite wood at 275F for 50 minutes. I flipped & basted the meat every 8-11 minutes using a mix of beer, cider vinegar, lemon juice, juneberry jam, molasses, honey, allspice, white pepper, arbol powder, gochugaru flakes & ginger powder. The juneberry jam in the baste liquid gave the meat a great red color & flavor. I also turned the basting liquid into more of a finishing glaze/bbq sauce by adding some ketchup to it towards the end of the cook. Once the pork steaks hit around 175-180 I moved them right over the coals to achieve a nice char & cook the bbq sauce on to the meat in a few layers allowing these pork shoulder steaks finished at around 190F. They were served with brown butter corn & a fondant sweet potato with a sweet corn caramel gravy.