Chuck Roast

[Oak Smoke]

I’ve smoked several chuck roast and had great success with them. I’ve never really treated them any different than a brisket as far as the cook goes. The last two I smoked were for a dinner after a funeral. Naturally they were the ones that didn’t act like all the others. When I pulled them off the smoker they were probe tender, everything I could have ask for. After a two hour rest they had tightened back up and really disappointed me. Everyone loved them but I know they weren’t great. There is a local group that I smoke a brisket for each year for their Christmas party. You guessed it, they want two chuck roasts and a pork butt this year. I have no concerns at all about the pork butt. I do have concerns about the chuck roasts. Do you smoke a chuck roast any differently than you do a brisket?

[RonB]

Just the same, and more often too,

Of course, it's a shorter cook. But you already knew that.

[fzxdoc]

Do you want to pull the chuck roasts or slice them?

We like pulled beef from chuck roasts. For that reason, I take them to 207°-209°.
For sliced chuck roasts, 199-203°ish works for me, just holding together and fork tender. Like a brisket. Others recommend 170-180°ish for a bit tighter piece of meat.

Basic Method

• Dry brine 24 hours or more, either with a salty rub or just kosher salt.
• Inject with homemade beef broth mixed with Butcher's BBQ Phosphate.
• Apply (low sodium or no sodium) rub.
• Smoke at 250-275°.
• Texas crutch at 180°ish if time is of the essence. Otherwise, let it ride.
• Remove at 207-209° OR hold at that temp, still in the smoker, for 1 hour*
• Wrap in foil (if didn't use Texas Crutch or foil boat) and faux cambro for at least 2 hours.
• Pull and serve, mixing in any of the juices.

*I'm still experimenting with this "holding for 1 hr in the smoker step" which Huskee strongly recommends.

What I've been trying:
1. Using a Square Dutch Oven: When they reach 180°, putting the chuckies in a cast iron DO with a little bit of beef broth, taking to 207°ish, then starting the additional 1 hour hold then wrapping in foil and faux cambroing for 2 hours.
or
2. Using Foil: Wrapping in foil (no additional liquid) at 207°ish and holding on the smoker at that temp for 1 hour then removing to the faux cambro for 2 hours,
or
3. Using a Foil Boat: putting the meat in the boat at 180°ish, adding a little bit of homemade beef broth, and then taking to 207°ish, then holding for 1 hour at that temp still in the smoker before wrapping in foil and faux cambroing for 2 hours

All of these have worked well, some slightly better than others. Final Results still not in, though. Need to do more cooks of each method to nail down a preference over my basic method.

Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

Where I live, FWIW, water boils at 206°, Steve R.

Kathryn

[Steve R.]

I thought about that, fzxdoc. 😀 It's about 211° where I am. Point being I've never had to do anything different to keep the IT at 210°, I just keep cooking and it really doesn't push beyond that temperature.

[fzxdoc]

Yeah, I figured that you already knew the variability of the BP of water with altitude, Steve R. ; your comment made me think that maybe that's why my chuckies like to hang at about 207 to 209°. 💡

K.

[Michael_in_TX]

We like pulled beef from chuck roasts. For that reason, I take them to 207°-209°.

My chuck roasts turn out very well, but I never seen to get them to pull, but I am always taking them off the smoker at the "brisket magic temperature" of 203 F. I don't think I've ever taken one off over 205.

That is what I need to try....let it go those five more degrees or so and see if it wants to pull.

[Jerod Broussard]

I'm with fzxdoc

Close to 210 internal, hold in a 200 oven for a couple hours. Rest like a brisket after that hot marathon.

Typically the Angus Choice at Wolly World knocks this out the park with plenty intra-lipids.

[Jerod Broussard]

Oak Smoke, sliced you are going to about 180-185.

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/beef-and-bison-recipes/smoked-chuck-roast-recipe/

[Oak Smoke]

Thanks Jerod.

[fzxdoc]

And who doesn't love a nice batch of intra-lipids?



K.

[DaveD]

My experience with chucks has been very hit or miss. With no discernible difference in approach, sometimes they've been spectacular, and other times dry and tough as a boot. I've never taken them to that higher temp either though, and have been inconsistent in resting, so I will check those out. I happen to have three chuckies on hand at the moment, I feel an experiment coming on...

[Oak Smoke]

That is my experience to some degree, except I try to be very consistent with my cooks so I can replicate success and try to see what went wrong with a less than desirable outcome. The first two chucks that I smoked turned out incredible, as did the next several. I thought they were a piece of cake. Then for no reason I can discern the next two came off the smoker as tender as could be but were much tighter two hours later. Naturally those two were for a group of people expecting a great meal.

[DaveD]

Very similar history here - first few chuckies were just great, and I also started to think, these are reliably easy. Not so fast! I do need to figure this out...

[fzxdoc]

Nothing like a well-controlled experiment or two to make me want to toss a chuckie in the smoker too.

Lay on, Macduff!

K.

[Starsky]

I wrap my briskets at approximately 170 degrees using a little liquid and finish them in the oven to around 200 degrees. I'd think that would work for a chuck roast as well.

[tstalafuse]

For smoked chucks, I have been committing blasphemy of late in that I have been pulling/chopping the second they come off the smoker, adding some au jus, and then resting covered in a warm oven. If they tighten up, I can't tell.

[ssandy_561]

I’ll smoke my Chuck roasts on my Grilla OG set at 235° until the bark looks good. That is usually around 170°. I use an equal blend of Cherry, Oak and Hickory pellets.

I’ll then wrap in aluminum foil with a splash of beer or two and then finish them in the oven until they probe tender.

I love to shred the Chucks after they rest for an hour while inside my igloo cooler.

My go to way to serve it is on Kaiser rolls. I’ll reheat it a bit in a pan with a splash of Progresso French onion soup to keep it moist and add flavor or I’ll keep in warm in a crock pot if serving many with the French onion soup in the crock pot also.

[fzxdoc]

I’ll smoke my Chuck roasts on my Grilla OG set at 235° until the bark looks good. That is usually around 170°. I use an equal blend of Cherry, Oak and Hickory pellets.

I’ll then wrap in aluminum foil with a splash of beer or two and then finish them in the oven until they probe tender.

I love to shred the Chucks after they rest for an hour while inside my igloo cooler.

My go to way to serve it is on Kaiser rolls. I’ll reheat it a bit in a pan with a splash of Progresso French onion soup to keep it moist and add flavor or I’ll keep in warm in a crock pot if serving many with the French onion soup in the crock pot also.

Back in the day, I used to use the best French Onion soup I could find at the grocery when making beefy comfort food, like, say, Beef Stroganoff or Boeuf Bourginon--even chili. The processed soups were salty but not enough to ruin the dish. They brought extra umami to the party.

Now I pretty much exclusively use homemade beef broth. But your method has reminded me that perhaps I need to caramelize some onions to go in that broth that I add a little of, sometimes, before wrapping beef in foil for a Texas Crutch and/or a faux cambro. I may be missing out on a bit of a flavor bomb there.

Thanks for the timely reminder!

Kathryn

[Oak Smoke]

Well here’s a post game summary on the chuck roast cook. I put them in the smoker at 7: 20 am today. Everything settled beautifully at 275 F and held within a few degrees of that temp the whole cook. I was pleased that thin blue smoke appeared about an hour into the cook and stayed for several hours. The roasts came out of the stall at about 2:15 pm. I wrapped them at 185 F and put them back on the smoker until they hit 203 F. They were very probe tender at that point. I rested them in a cooler wrapped in towels for 3.5 hours then checked to see how I had done. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. They will slice just fine and be good to eat but they weren’t nearly as tender as when I pulled them off the smoker. They aren’t dry at all just not close to as probe tender as 3 hours earlier. I’m stumped for now. What happened to the good old days when I could cook something to probe tender and it would stay that way. There are times when BBQ can get in your head as badly as golf. In fact I gave golf up just because it left me so frustrated. I’m not quitting on BBQ.

[Steve R.]

CaptainMike +1 on braising. Even if you don't technically braise it, just wrapping tightly in foil with no liquid added and continuing to cook the hell out of it makes a big difference in being able to pull it when finished.

[Skinsfan1311]

+2 on braising. After the bark is nicely set, I put them in a tightly covered disposable aluminum pan. Sometimes I'll add a dollop of beef tallow if I have any on hand, or a splash of beef broth. It's important that the bark is set first...

[CaptainMike]

As Steve R. and Skinsfan1311 mentioned, wrap tight after your bark sets and continue cooking to north of 205 IT. I add a dash of beef broth or stock before wrapping. No too much or it might get that pot roast thing going. Not that that's necessarily bad, but it's not what we're shooting for.

[Tax Man]

I will typically take a chuckie off the PBC at around 190 and finish in the oven. Using a roaster with a lid, I pour a bottle of Sam Adams Boston Lager over the roast and bring it up to around 205 or so. Seems that the beer really helps break down the meat fibers. Very rarely have a tough one. Every once in a while though, I end up getting on that just won't pull. Don't know why.

[N227GB]

The PBC and chuckies go great together. When they sag on the hooks, it gives a little more surface area for the smoke to mix with. At least, that's my theory.

[Oak Smoke]

What I’m striving for is very tender roast that I can slice like a brisket. Cooking one of these like a brisket doesn’t do the trick.

[Oak Smoke]

Well if you like a story with a twist for an ending here’s one for you. I was pretty disappointed with the roasts when I delivered them but didn’t say anything. I got a call mid afternoon from them raving about the incredible roasts, tender, juicy, great taste. It turns out they had a lot of preparations to do for the party. They had put the roasts in crockpots on low and ended up leaving them there for two hours. Who knew that 2 more hours of low and slow was what they needed? I learned a lot today. Winning ugly is still a win!

[Jfrosty27]

I’ll never tell. 😉🤫