What the heck is a smoked chuck roast and why would you want to make it anyway? Let's see, have you ever craved some smoked brisket only to abandon the idea because of the effort and the time required to make it? I know you have. This happens to me a lot. But there is a solution! If you are time-strapped, make a smoked chuck roast. It's almost as good as brisket but made in a matter of just a few hours. You will love it!
Beef chuck is a cut that comes primarily from the shoulder section of the steer. Beef chuck roast is just a small part of a full chuck which can weigh in at 100lbs or more. It looks like a big steak. Or a roll if the butcher ties it up with twine. Together with brisket and short rib, chuck has the beefiest flavor in the steer. It's great for burgers. And it's excellent when smoked.
Prepping beef chuck for smoking
As is true with brisket, the more marbled the chuck is, the better it will taste. Choice grade works well, just pick the more marbled one. I see certified Angus chuck roasts on sale every now and again, they look beautiful. Nicely marbled, those are great for smoking. That marbling is the reason why I decided to smoke one in the first place.
If you have the luxury of time, keep that chuck in the fridge for 2-3 weeks in the Crayovac bag it came in. Wet aging will do its magic and make the meat very tender.
Put the seasonings on (coarsely ground pepper and salt for Texas-style) at least a couple of hours and up to a day before and refrigerate. The salt will draw some moisture out the meat which will be reabsorbed. Keep the meat uncovered. This will facilitate the creation of pellicle on the surface of the meat. A pellicle is a dry sticky layer that attracts smoke which results in a better color and a better smoky flavor.
If you salt the meat right before smoking, the meat will be wet. Not good for smoking. I do the same when cooking steaks, it works like a charm.
It's a good idea to take the meat out of the fridge an hour before smoking to let it warm up a bit. This will ensure that the meat won't sweat in the smoker. Smoke doesn't like wet surfaces.
Smoking
The biggest challenge for me when smoking beef chuck is maintaining the temperature at around 225F at the grate level . Which isn't that much of a challenge. You don't want to smoke chuck at higher temps as it will cook too fast and won't have enough time to get enough smoke. This is the reason why I like smoking it at 225F. It takes about 4-6 hours to get it to about 180F - 185F, the temperature when it's firm but tender, and still very juicy. The timing will depend on the chuck's size and thickness: larger and thicker ones will need close to 6 hours, while thinner and smaller ones will be done in four.
The wood choice for smoking chuck is the same as for brisket: oak and hickory. I prefer oak for larger pieces of meat and hickory for smaller pieces that will cook faster as hickory has a stronger aroma.
One trick I use when smoking chuck is I tilt it slightly by putting a wood chunk under one side. This is necessary as its surface becomes uneven during cooking, resulting in liquids pooling in various spots.
With chuck roasts being relatively thin, they have no trouble reaching 180F, so there is no need in a 'Texas crutch'. If you intend to pull the meat, wrapping becomes essential. You want to preserve every bit of moisture. Once the meat hits 175F - 180F, wrap it in foil or butcher paper and smoke until about 208F - 210F internal.
Smoked chuck roast resting and serving
After smoking, wrap the meat in foil or butcher paper and let rest for an hour or so to relax, re-absorb lost moisture and further tenderize, and until the internal temperature hits 145F. Then unwrap, slice and serve with a potato salad, pickled red onions or whatever side dishes you like.
When smoking to 208F - 210F and the meat was already wrapped, simply remove from the smoker, and let rest for about 1 hour, wrapped, until the internal temperature comes down to about 145F. Then unwrap, pull and serve.
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Ingredients
- 2 lb chuck roast
- 2/3 Tbsp kosher salt or to taste
- 1 Tbsp black pepper coarsley ground; or to taste
Instructions
- If possible, wet-age the meat in the fridge for 2-3 weeks in the Crayovac bag it came in.
- Apply the salt and the pepper at least a couple of hours and up to a day before. Keep the meat uncovered.
- Take the meat out of the fridge an hour before smoking to let it warm up a bit.
- Preheat the smoker to 225F. Smoke with oak or hickory for about 4-6 hours until the internal temperature reaches 180F – 185F.
- It the liquids start to pool on the surface of the meat, tilt it slightly by putting a wood chunk under one side.
- If you want to pull the meat, wrap it in foil or butcher paper once the meat hits 175F – 180F, then continue to cook until about 208F – 210F internal temperature.
- After smoking, wrap the meat in foil or butcher paper and let rest for an hour or so to relax, re-absorb lost moisture and further tenderize, and until the internal temperature hits 145F. Then unwrap, slice and serve.
- When smoking to 208F – 210F and the meat was already wrapped, simply remove from the smoker, and let rest for about 1 hour, wrapped, until the internal temperature comes down to about 145F. Then unwrap, pull and serve.
Ron jones
Thanks. 185 it is. I'll be doing this recipe this weekend.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan
Good luck and enjoy!
Ron jones
Just want to be clear. Are you saying I can wrap @ 175 degrees and continue to smoke until 208-210 degrees internally? I plan to slice this piece of meat.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan
That's for pulled meat. If slicing, stop at 180F-185F.
Ron jones
I will be using my Oklahoma joe's highland smoker to do this recipe. Is a water pan necessary for moisture? IMPORTANT.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan
Ron, I don't use a water pan for this recipe but I pick well-marbled pieces so never had a need for it. If your chuckie doesn't have good marbling I'd say a water pan may help keep it from drying out.
John Drozdowski
On the Texas style smoked chuck roast, Can you just vacuum seal the roast to let it set for the 2 or 3 weeks? Would I let it cure for a shorter time then? Thanks, John Drozdowski
Victor @ Taste of Artisan
John, if you are vac sealing with salt and pepper (step 1), you don't need to cure (step 2) for hours or overnight to get the flavor but keeping meat in the fridge for a few hours or overnight will dry the skin and create a pellicle which will enable the smoke to better adhere to the surface of the meat, so keep that in mind.
Andrew Zep
I'm having to pre cook/smoke my roasts for a holiday meal the day before. How do you suggest reheating it and serving it the next day. I love your recipe and it comes out perfectly delicious every single time but never served it the next day seeing there are never any leftovers.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan
Andrew, I recently posted a brisket recipe called Smoked Brisket Done Right, it's really, really good. It's first smoked at a low temp of 200F - 225F for 10-12 hours, so won't be fully cooked, then cooled down and refrigerated. The next day, it's baked in the oven covered with foil at 250F for 4 hours. It comes out perfectly juicy and the biggest benefit of this method is that you can pre-smoke it the day before and the next day you can have it ready for the precise time you need it without any hassle. Now, I haven't tried this method with chuck roast but it should work well too. I'd smoke it at 200F or so, hopefully without letting it cook through all the way. Then the next day I'd bake it covered at 250F for 1-2 hours tops as it's much smaller than a whole brisket. If you buy a whole chuck (at Costco) and smoke say 1/2 or 1/3 of it, not a thin pre-cut chuck roast you get from a grocery store, you can just follow my brisket timings. Hope this helps. Good luck!
Reece Tidwell
Loved it!
Eric
I just smoked a couple chuck roasts. Not happy with the results. Pulled one at 180 like instructed and it had a great smoke ring but the meat was dry. It appeared to the eye to be over cooked also.
I was going to wrap the second roast but decided to pull it at 160. It too was dry and appeared to be overdone. Not sure why this is. From the looks of how mine turned out, my thought was that I should have treated them as though they were steak an pulled them at a much lower temp. Not sure.
Both my roast were the larger roundish shape not flat like yours. I smoked at 225 the entire time on my smokin bros. pellet smoker, so I had consistent heat, and the outside temp was around 30degrees all day. These roasts spent 8.5 hours on the smoker to reach those temps.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan
Hey Eric,
Looks like your smoking time was much longer than mine, wonder if that caused the dryness. Another thought that comes to mind is that it could be the meat. The one that I buy is usually pretty marbled and I never had issues with the dryness of the meat. Cooking to a lower temperature is an option but chuck is tougher than, say, striploin or ribeye, so it benefits from low and slow cooking.
David Miles
Make sure you dry brine the roast for 1-2 days before cooking. Spray water or beef broth on the meat every 45-60 mins. Pulling at 160 or 180 is way too early. You can wrap in foil or butcher paper at those temps and include 1/2 to 1 cup of beef broth if wrapping in foil. Finish cooking until meat temp reaches around 200-205 degrees. Most important is that the meat probes tender like warm butter. The purpose of slow cooking is to break down the intra-muscular fat (collagen) not to gain more smoke.
Paula
Sounds from your description like these might have been top or bottom round roasts instead of Chuck. A lot less marbling with those which could account for dryness. I don’t know that I’ve seen round Chuck roasts.
Gary
Eric, to me it sounds like it wasn’t on long enough. If you don’t get the meat to the 195-200 degree range, the fat doesn’t render and release the juices. The meat is actually cooked, but the fat will stay solid leaving a dry meat. The juiciness comes from the rendered fat melting inside the cut of meat.
You can try the probe method of checking the beef. Insert a meat thermometer into the meat, and if there’s any resistance, it’s not ready.
At 225, it would take a LONG time to get there. Maybe 10-12 hours. Once it begins to render, it slightly cools the meat, adding additional time. It’s why you hear people have smokes that go on well over 12-14 hours or using the texas crutch to speed things along.
Matt
Followed the recipe for pulled chick roast. Wrapped in butcher paper and it turned out fantastic. A great alternative to brisket if you want a smaller piece of meat and quicker.
For this smoke I used my trusty Weber charcoal grill with Apple wood using the snake method.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan
Weber and the snake method - used it hundreds of times, can't go wrong with it. Thanks for your feedback. Happy smoking.
David
If you don't want to pull it at what point do you take it off the smoker? I really want to slice it and serve it like Brisket.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan
David, I normally would smoke to 180F-185F for slicing.
Tommy
could all this be done the same way on a charcoal grill? wood chips? How would you do this using a charcoal?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan
Yes, done it many times on my Weber Kettle grill. Either push the charcoal on one side and the meat on the other, or put a SS bowl with 1/2" holes drilled in it, upside down, in the middle of the grill and the charcoal snaked around it. The meat is in the middle over indirect heat. Yes, wood chips or wood chunks over charcoal. Start the fire going on one side, get the grill to about 200F then close the dampers to maintain about 225F. Works very well.
Kenneth Glanton
Love it! Do this all the time.
Just noticed that nice knife you have. What kind is it?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan
Thanks, Kenneth. The knife is Takeda AS Stainless. Love it.
John
It made this for Mother's Day. I was so disappointed that I didn’t get a bugger hunk of meat – because this recipe was DELICIOUS, and the meat was smoky and fall apart tender!!! My wife raved about it! I am making it again next weekend.