Barbacoa Beef from Smoked Chuck

I'm a big fan of Pepper Stout beef which involves smoking chuck and then braising in a mix of onions, garlic, peppers, stout, and Worcestershire sauce.  The other day I stumbled on a recipe for barbacoa beef (in the Chipotle burrito sense).  This is my attempt at combining the two recipes.

The barbacoa recipe can be found at the Serious Eats blog here.

I started with two USDA Choice chuck roasts, totaling about 5 pounds, and the Pit Barrel Cooker.  I added two small handfuls of cherry chips to the charcoal at the start.

While that was going, I went inside and made the sauce.

I started by cutting up the dry peppers - one ancho, one New Mexico, two cascabels, and one habanero.  Here they are after toasting and simmering in chicken broth.

Got the onion, garlic, and spices - oregano, cumin, cloves - together and started browning the oxtails.

Once the sauce was finished and blended, I put it in the pan with the oxtails and bay leaves to simmer.

I got tired of waiting for the chuck which seems to have stalled out at 145, so I pulled it.  I put the roasts in a pan with the oxtails and sauce, covered it, and put it in a 350 degree oven.

After 3 1/2 hours, it was ready.  I tried it alone in some corn tortillas.  It has a nice flavor and a little heat from the habanero.

I expect it will be even better tomorrow after it has had a chance to rest in the juices.