Smoked Chuck Roast
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Smoked Chuck Roast – #1 Chuck Roast Recipe

With the prices of brisket touching the sky, it only makes sense that people are on the search of finding the best substitute for it. While there are handful of cuts that resemble the brisket, I have found chuck roast to be the best replacement!

In today’s article, I am definitely using brisket as an excuse to deliver you the best smoked chuck roast recipe! I have had this recipe in my diary for months and it’d be such a shame to keep this treat all to myself.

Before we move on to the recipe for smoked beef roast, let’s get to know a bit about the cut itself!

P.S. It’s always a good idea to know about any beef cut before you start prepping it. This way you know better how to deal with the meat.

What Is A Chuck Roast?

The word chuck literally tells where this beef cut is obtained from – the shoulder of a cow. Chuck Roast, like brisket, is a richly flavored beef cut and is found on the forequarters of the cow. Since this part of the animal is mostly in motion, it also makes the meat tougher. But that’s nothing to worry about, a few tenderizer or marinade solves this problem.

Chuck Roast is commonly known as the best substitute for brisket, but today I’ll not let this cut be a sidekick anymore! Read this smoked chuck roast recipe and give it the main role it deserves.

How To Make A Smoked Chuck Roast          

If you have ever dealt with a brisket, then smoking this beef roast should be a piece of cake for you. With a sharp eye on temperature, you can easily get the perfect result.

How To Cut A Chuck Roast

Buying and dumping the chuck roast in the smoker won’t get your job done. Chuck Roast is heavily marbled and surrounded by fats. The fats sure give a nice taste to the lean meat but that doesn’t mean you completely sideline the ratio.

Once you have got your cutting board and a sharp pair of knives out, get the beef roast on the board and start trimming all the fats on the outside. Since the chuck roast is rich in intramuscular fat, we won’t be needing all the fats on the surface.

How To Season A Chuck Roast

Once the beef roast is nicely trimmed up, get your mustard bottle out and squirt it on the beef cut. Rub the paste well on both sides and edges. This mustard acts as a binder. In other words, it allows the seasonings to stick to it.

Unlike Tenderloin, Chuck Roast comes with tremendous amount of flavor, and so you don’t have to whack your brain on making a long list of seasoning for it. For this beef roast, I like to keep things super simple by going for kosher salt, paprika and some freshly ground black pepper.

Mix all the seasonings in a jar, and shake it well. Drizzle the seasonings on both sides, and of course don’t forget the edges too!

Let the seasoning stay overnight, so it can have enough time to penetrate the meat thoroughly. However, if you are running out of time and can’t afford waiting this long, then you can let it stay for at least 2 hours before getting down to the cooking business!

Cooking Chuck Roast

Like any other beef cut, chuck roast can be cooked in two ways – low-and-slow and hot-and-fast. For fast cooking, all you have to do is grill and sear it at high temperature. And as for low and slow cooking method, lets find it out!

How To Smoke A Chuck Roast

Now that your chuck roast is all ready to have a good time in the smoker, it’s time to prepare the smoker as well! It’s simple. Just light up your smoker and warm it to 250° F. Then, add your favorite batch of woods into the smoker.

Since the chuck roast already comes with a bold beefy flavor, I like to get my hands on a mild flavor wood – like pecan, apple, maple and cherry! Also, make sure your smoker is producing that nice and clean smoke once the woods catch fire.

Put the chuck roast on the cooking grates of the smoker, close the lid and let it get smoked for about 5 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 160° F.

How Long To Smoke A Chuck Roast

Smoked Chuck Roast may be like a brisket, but it definitely takes lesser time to cook. This beef chuck roast takes around 6 to 7 hours to be completely done and ready to be served.

Although many people ask for how long to cook meat in a smoker, I am genuinely not a fan of keeping track of doneness of meat through time. It’s better to use a meat probe thermometer to measure the smoked chuck roast internal temperature and know how longer you need to smoke it.

What Temperature To Smoke Chuck Roast

The ideal temperature to smoke a Chuck roast is somewhere between 225° F to 275° F. Since we are aiming for low and slow cooking, this low temperature range shouldn’t come as a surprise, really. Low and slow cooking or smoking is done so to melt all the intramuscular fat in the roast and convert all the tough tissue into super tender meat.

It’s important to maintain a constant temperature to get a delicious and juicy chuck roast. During the cooking process, make sure your smoker’s temperature isn’t below 225° F or above 275° F.

When To Wrap Smoked Chuck Roast

There are two rounds of smoking when it comes to cooking beef roast. The first round of smoking goes without any wrap. However, the chuck roast is wrapped for the second sitting in the smoker.

Once the beef chuck roast has sat in the smoker for 5 to 6 hours or until the temperature reached 160° F, you will see a nice bark forming on this succulent cut. Take it out and wrap it up in a butcher paper or foil. Put the wrapped and smoked beef roast back in the smoker for another hour or so, or until the internal temperature reaches somewhere between 195° F – 205° F.

Now before you think of skipping this part, I want you to know that your roast will only become tougher without wrapping it. Like any other beef cut, smoked chuck roast is wrapped to retain all the moisture inside. Low and slow cooking method require hours, and longer the meat is surrounded by heat,  more the moisture it loses. So, always wrap the chuck roast when instructed to do so!

Resting The Chuck Roast

After the wrapped smoked chuck roast has spent its time in the smoker, it’s time to get this beauty back to room temperature so we can finally have our hands on it. But before we get down to serving this beef, I would like you to know the difference between a butcher paper and an aluminum foil.

When taking out the foil wrapped meat, its crucial to open it enough to let the built-up steam escape. If the steam is trapped inside longer, it starts ruining the perfect bark by making it soggy – putting all your hard work to waste.

Butcher paper, or any other paper, releases you from worrying over this issue. It is breathable and allows the steam to escape without unwrapping it. And this is why butcher paper is my favorite and I recommend it to everyone!

Serving The Chuck Roast

This beef chuck roast recipe not only makes the roast super soft and succulent, it also makes it possible to serve it in uncountable ways! The smoked chuck roast can be topped on creamy pasta, sandwiched between the burger buns, or assembled as tacos and sandwiches!

With this never-ending serving possibilities, be courageous enough to pick the one that intrigues you and let us know your experience in the comment section below! Until then, happy smoking!

Recipe Card

Smoked Chuck Roast – #1 Chuck Roast Recipe

With the prices of brisket touching the sky, it only makes sense that people are on the search of finding the best substitute for it. While there are handful of cuts that resemble the brisket, I have found chuck roast to be the best replacement!
Prep Time 7 hours 10 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 13 hours 40 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 7 People

Ingredients
  

  • Pounds Chuck Roast
  • Teaspoons Kosher Salt
  • Teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper
  • Teaspoons Smoked paprika
  • Tablespoons Mustard Paste

Instructions
 

  • Slicedown all the fats on the surface of the chuck roast
  •  Addmustard on the roast, and rub it well on both sides and edges.
  • Addkosher salt, ground black pepper and paprika in a bowl and mix it well. Likemustard, sprinkle the seasoning generously on all the sides and edges. Let theseasoning sit overnight.
  • Preheatthe smoker to 250° F and add your favorite flavored woods in the smoker.
  • Placethe well-seasoned chuck roast on the cooking grates of the smoker and close thelid. Let the roast be slowly cooked for 5-6 hours or when the internaltemperature reaches 160° F.
  • Oncethat irresistible bark has formed, take the beef roast out and wrap it up in afoil or butcher paper.
  • Putthe wrapped smoked chuck roast back in the smoker for another hour until the internaltemperature reaches 200° F.
  • Letthe beef roast rest until it gets back to room temperature. If you have usedaluminum foil, make sure you have unwrapped the meat enough to let the steamescape. This prevents the bark from getting soggy.
  • Servethis beautiful tender thing as sandwiches, burgers, tacos and even on pasta!

Nutrition

Serving: 7gCarbohydrates: 1.9gProtein: 54.6gFat: 14.7gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 164mgSodium: 162mgPotassium: 512mgFiber: 0.9gSugar: 0.3gCalcium: 38mgIron: 7mg
Keyword Smoked Chuck Roast
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Rita Williams

Rita Williams

Hey, it’s me Rita! My love for BBQ began at an early age, learning the art of smoking meats from my dad in their small town in Texas. Weekends were filled with smoky aroma of brisket or ribs as family and friends gathered for backyard cookouts.

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