Chuck Roast is the best fresh from the grill or smoker. It simmers over hickory for hours, making it one of the best cured meat cuts. Find out everything you need to know with our complete smoked roast beef recipe and guide.
Smoked Roast Chuck is an amazing cut of beef made with the right balance of rich marbling and strong connective tissue. Get it straight on the grill and you’ve got a smoky dish that melts in your mouth and is served pulled or sliced to perfection.
Its quality comes close to grilled breast , but is only a fraction of the price. In this recipe, we’ll smoke a 10-pound roast in our choice of drum or offset smoker and cook it until perfectly tender.
Chuck Roast is often thought of as oven-cooked or pan-cooked meat, but grilled it’s like no other. As the brisket needs is quite a bit of cooking time(more than 6 hours) before it becomes tender. But oh boy is it worth it?
The beef chop is made from various groups of beef shoulders and is best suited for long, slow cooking. Its fat will melt, enriching it with moisture and flavor, and it will fall off. It’s outrageously delicious. So, let’s get into that!
What is Chuck Roast?
The beef chop is one of the main cuts of beef and comes from the shoulder area, across the breast and in front of the beef ribs .
Because the shoulder is a well-worked area of the cow, beef feed contains a healthy amount of muscle, but also lots of tendon and fat. This perfect combination of rich muscle fibers, healthy marbling, and connective tissue is what makes beef such an excellent meat for slow, slow smoking.
It’s traditionally used as part of a pot roast(hence “strip roast”), but can also be grilled. Grilling makes it tender and moist with a rich beef flavor. The fat content in the marbling IS slowly processed and melted during cooking, infusing the meat with a rich beef flavor.
Chuck Roast vs. Brisket
The steak and brisket each come from different parts of the cow, making them two completely different meats. They differ in taste, consistency and method of preparation.
The chuck steak comes from the shoulder while the brisket comes from the lower chest or chest of the cow. The breast contains more fat and meat than the loin, making it popular for grilling.
Where to buy beef tenderloin
Decent beef is available at most meat counters, but quality can vary. To ensure you’re getting a quality cut that has the right amount of fat and marbling, visit a butcher. Make sure you get carne asada, not steak.
Meat preparation
Rinse the meat with cold water. Put it on a cutting board and salt the surfaces of the meat. Apply to the entire surface of the meat and rub in. This IS referred to as dry brine and helps the meat retain its moisture and flavor while maintaining warm temperatures in the smoker for several hours.
Place the meat in your fridge and let it sit for a few hours. This allows the salt to be calculated.
Take it out of the fridge and apply a little yellow mustard to the entire surface, including the bottom. The mustard acts like a glue or paste that the spices stick to. The actual flavor of the mustard will fade a bit after grilling, so don’t worry about the flavor reaching your nose.
Sprinkle the spice over the roast and massage it all over the plate, even into any creases or crevices you find.
BBQ rub dry
For this recipe, he opted for a simple drizzle. As with the brisket, I like the smoked roast to get the job done and not rely on spices or herbs.
The ingredients for my massage are:
- 2 table spoons of kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons of black pepper
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
If you want to give your meat a little kick, try adding 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder. I find it’s better to use too little than too much, so be careful not to overdo it.
Prepare the grill
Bring the temperature of your smoker to around 107°C(225°F). If you’re using a charcoal grill as a smoker , try setting your grill for indirect grilling.
Using an outdoor gas or electric grill will work, but you’ll still need to feed it smoky fries so there’s a constant flow of smoke throughout the 6 hours of cooking time we have. Planned for this!
Pro tip: Intend to use a pellet smoker . These little devices sit on top of the grill and contain granules that help deliver an even stream of smoke to whatever you smoke.
Place your roast on the smoker grates and cook 1 ½ to 2 hours per pound or until it reaches 195°F on the center. Both thickness and weight can have a big impact on cooking time, so it can take a lot longer.
You can wrap the roast in foil once it reaches 160°F to speed things up a bit. This isn’t always necessary, but can help if the temperature in the meat seems to have stopped rising.
If you continue to have trouble increasing the heat, try placing the chuck in the oven(wrapped in foil) to help get over the line. This should only be used as a last resort.
Remember to keep the heating temperature around 225°F as at any temperature there is a risk of burning any spices or condiments you use(both during and after cooking). Less heat means tasting meat!
Rest and serve
Remove roast from smoker and wrap in foil(if not already done). Wrap it in a thick towel and place it in an empty cooler or a soft- sided cooler. While these are used to keep food fresh, they are also good for helping meat retain its juices after cooking.
Fill in stained gaps with towels or blankets and leave for at least an hour. This IS referred to as the resting time and we recommend it because it allows the juices to circulate through the meat, which changes to maintain a good texture during grilling.
Unwrap the foil and place the meat on a cutting board, allowing the meat’s internal temperature to drop to about 150°F.
Smoked beef steak can dry out after slicing, so don’t slice until you serve. Using a sharp knife, cut the roast into thin pieces about an inch thick.
Only cut what you use. If you have leftover roasts , leave the meat intact and store in airtight foil or wrap in the refrigerator.
Pull meat
If you prefer your meat shredded to sliced, this portion is for you! Open the foil and let the meat cool for a few minutes. Attention: The meat is still hot after this resting time!
Cut the meat into desired size chunks, or use a hatchet or sharp knife to cut the long strands of tender meat to trim.
Once you’ve done that, mix in the dressing of your choice… and enjoy!
The best wood for grilling
The best woods for smoking beef tend to be woods with a deep, earthy flavor, as opposed to the sweet woods we use for poultry or pork.
These include oak, hickory, and mesquite.
For Chuck, I recommend hickory. It’s a deep, strong wood and you only need a little to get the flavor you want.
Indoor temp
Smoked meat is not cooked until it has reached the desired temperature and in the case of beef we want it to be between 190°F and 200°F.
This is slightly higher than most beef, but we want the feed to reach a consistency where we can pull the meat. Aiming for 195°F helps the connective tissues in the meat break down and break down, allowing us to achieve the ideal melt-in-the-mouth sensation we desire.
Writer & content creator. BBQ fanatic!
