Smoked Chuck Roast – Pulled and Chopped
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Most of the time when you think of smoked beef, your mind goes to brisket but if you have not tried a smoked chuck roast then you are missing out. Completely tender and moist and pulls like a pork butt when you cook it long enough.
I normally see these in the store at 2-3 lb sections so if you want a big one in the 8-10 lb range you usually have to let the butcher know so he can cut it for you special.
Cooking the larger, thicker pieces keeps them from drying out and helps you to end up with a really nice finished product that is so tender and juicy you'll have a hard time believing it's beef.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12-20 hours (depends on weight and thickness)
- Smoker Temp: 235°F
- Meat Finish Temp: 195°F or until tender
- Recommended Wood: Pecan and/or hickory
- 8-10 lb Chuck Roast
- Regular yellow mustard
- Jeff's rub
- Foil pan
Remove chuck roast from packaging and rinse under cold water
Apply some yellow mustard to the top of the chuck roast. This is only to help the rub to stick and it does not taste like mustard when it's finished cooking.
Be sure to rub it onto all sides including the bottom of the roast.
Sprinkle my rub onto the roast and massage it in all over making sure to get it into all of the folds and crevices of meat.
Set up your smoker for cooking at about 235°F. This will be a long cooking session so if you are using a charcoal smoker, you may want to set it up using the minion method.
A gas or electric smoker will work fine as well as long as you keep the heat right and continue to provide smoking chips or chunks so that the smoke keeps flowing for about 6 – 8 hours. I use a small smoke generator called the amazen pellet smoker in my small electric, gas and charcoal smokers when I don't have the time to be right there every minute adding more chips.
The Amazen Smoker
The Amazen smoker is a contraption that looks like a maze. It is filled with pellets and simply sits on your smoker grate. When lit, it provides smoke for 6-8 hours or longer depending on which size and model you are using.
This is the 5 x 8 model and smokes for up to 11 hours unassisted.
There is also one that is tube shaped and takes up a smaller amount of space. This particular one is 12 inches long and when filled with pellets and lit, will smoke for up to 4 hours without assistance.
Just a really nice option if you are looking for something that will eliminate the need to constantly add chips to your small electric, gas or charcoal smoker.
Place the chuck roast directly on the smoker grate.
Use the water pan if you have one in your smoker.
Let it smoke cook for about 1.5 to 2 hours per lb or until it reaches 195°F in the center.
While weight is what we use to estimate the time, thickness is a big factor. My chuck roast, while only 8 lbs, was more than 6 inches thick and took nearly 20 hours to reach 195°F in the center of the thickest part.
Even though it takes longer to cook, the thicker pieces of meat tend to dry out a lot less in my experience than pieces that are less thick.
You can wrap the meat in foil once it reaches about 160 °F to help speed things up a little bit and to power it through that stall period where it seems to get stuck.
For an even better finished product, wrap the roast in foil once it's finished (if you haven't done so already). Wrap a thick towel around it and place it into an empty ice chest like the ones you put ice and drinks into when you're going to the lake.
Fill in any remaining space with more towels, blankets, etc. and leave it for at least an hour. It will stay hot for up to 4 hours so this is a great method to use if you need to prepare the meat then travel with it to another location.
This is called the resting period and allows the juices which have been forced to the edge of the meat to flow back to where they came from toward the center.
Once the resting period is over, open the foil that the meat is being held in and let it cool for a few minutes. I highly recommend a good set of silicon gloves that are heat resistant so you don't burn your fingers. That meat gets HOT and stays HOT for a very long time.
Pull the meat apart into chunks then further pull the chunks apart into pieces that are the size that you want them to be. Take a little extra time to remove any large clumps of fat and gelatinous substances that you run across.
Another common way to handle smoked chuck roast is to use a cleaver or sharp knife to chop the long bundles of tender beef strands into much shorter pieces.
Put the finished, ready to eat product into a foil pan or other container.
When you are done pulling and chopping, sprinkle a good bit of my rub over the top and then mix it in for some of the best beef you've ever tasted.
Will I experience a time when the temperature just stops rising for several hours like on other large pieces of meat?
Most likely you will and it usually happens between 150-160°F . This is called a stall and it happens to the best of us.
To speed things up, wrap the roast in foil or place it in a foil pan and cover with foil once it reaches about 160 °F in the thickest part.
This will almost always either prevent the stall or at least make it a lot less severe.
So is it “bad” to transfer the chuck roast to the oven once it reaches about 160°F?
Of course not.
If you decide to wrap the chuck roast in foil once it reaches 160 °F, it no longer matters where the heat is coming from. The meat is wrapped so smoke is not getting in. The oven is a completely acceptable heat source for the meat.
If you do decide to finish in the oven, place it in a foil or other oven proof pan and cover with foil to prevent the meat juices and rendered fat from leaking into the oven.
Can I crank the heat up to get this thing done faster?
You certainly can but you have to remember that rubs such as mine, with sugar in them, will burn. Also, great things happen to these large cuts of meat when it's cooked slowly so, don't rush the goodness.
If you are dead set on racing through the process, just do so with care and, while it will probably end up ok, I can't promise it will turn out as good as when it's cooked nice and slow.
Printable Recipe
Smoked Chuck Roast - Pulled and Chopped
Ingredients
- 8-10 lb Chuck Roast
- Regular yellow mustard
- Jeff's original rub
- Foil pan
Instructions
Prepare the Chuck Roast
- Rinse the piece of meat under cold water
- Apply a thin coat of yellow mustard to the chuck roast
- Sprinkle on a coat of Jeff's original rub onto all sides of the meat
Smoking the Chuck Roast
- Prepare smoker for cooking at about 235°F
- Place meat directly onto smoker grate
- Cook for 12-20 hours or until the thickest part of the meat measures 195°F
- Apply smoke for at least 6 hours if you are using an electric, gas or charcoal smoker.
- The meat can be wrapped in foil once it reaches 160 °F to hold in moisture and to speed up the process
Resting
- Once the meat reaches 195 °F, wrap the meat in foil (if you haven't already) then in a thick towel and place it an empty ice cooler to rest for at least 1 hour.
- Fill in any remaining space in the cooler with more towels or blankets.
Chopping or Pulling the Meat
- Once the meat has rested, open the foil and allow it to cool for a few minutes then using heat resistant gloves, pull the meat into pieces.
- Remove any fat and/or gelatinous substance you come across
- Further pull or chop the meat into the size that you want.
- Apply more rub and stir into the meat
- The meat is now ready to serve
Can I do this with a rump roast?
I did 2-3 lb chucks as in the recipe. It took 20 hrs. Pulled and good though a bit dry.
I am doing again wit 2-3 md chucks but after 4-6 hrs smoke time I am going to put them both into one foil pan with a Budlight, cover and cook to 195 degrees so they will not be dry.
Hi Jeff, I tried this recipe Yesterday with a 2.5 lb chuck roast. After 5 hours in the smoker @ 235F the meat was only up to 159F. I finally put the roast into the oven at 350F (in foil) to finish it because I had guests coming over to enjoy it. When the roast finally got to 195F I removed it from the oven and placed it into a cooler (still wrapped in the foil) for 1 hour. Your rub gave the roast a great taste but the roast was a little dry and it could not be pulled, it had to be cut with a knife. It was a lot like eating a dry brisket. What happened??
First time smoker, a bit confused, wrapped in foil but open at top, pan of water below, gas, wood chips, 5 lb chuck. With in 2 hours my temp probe shows 154. Going up fast, when it gets to 190 which may only be on me 3 hours into smoking the way it keeps raising. So I turn it way down and continue smoking or take it out already?
If it’s been in the smoke for 3 hours , I would wrap it in foil and put it in the oven as a time saver . Set the oven at 300 degrees , stick a thermometer in and wait for 190 degrees . Enjoy
This is just my tweak on the recipe – I’m smoking smaller cuts 2-1/2 to 3 lb range – to finish them off I’ve taken the meat from the smoker after 5 hours and the an additional 1-1/2 hours wrapped in foil to a crock pot for about two hours to finish things off rather than an oven. In my mind I’ve already got enough smoke on the meat – this step is to get to the pulled pork type tenderness. I’ve also done this with country style ribs with great results.
Any recommendations for a pork belly ? If one buys a large pork belly does one salt cure it first in the fridge then smoke it later or just smoke it and skip the salt cure ? thanx
Tried this on Sunday.. It was very good.. I was surprised at the 190F but also how quick I got to 180F and then the stall happened. Also what do you suggest to get more flavor inside the roast as the middle was somewhat bland and needed the bbq sauce???
Temp set at 235 degrees!!
We have a hard time getting large cuts of meat here in South Carolina. I bought 3 2.5 lb. chuck roasts, tied them together ( stacked them) and put my rub on. Not sure about how long it would be in smoker I started the smoker (Smokin Tex 1400 ) at 10:00pm temp set to 135 degrees. I got up at 5:00 and internal temp was 178 degrees. At 6:30 It was at 195 degrees. It never stalled! I wrapped it in towels for 2 hours. The result: Prime time pulled It is very tender, moist and flavorful. Total time in smoker:8.5 hours!! Beef!!
Been using you stuff for three years now and not a single glitch. This weekend is your Chuck roast recipie. Caint whait!! Jamie.
Hi Jeff
Question on smoked chuck roast, the temp of 195 seems very high compared to other sites, in fact I followed your instructions and couldn’t get it above 160.. I finally took it out and let it set wrapped for an hour, it was done but dry.
Love your Rub..