Smoking a Chuck?

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CoachJ2013

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 16, 2018
20
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Has anyone ever smoked a chuck? I was thinking about it last night and I figured that it tastes delicious as a pot roast, why not smoke it! It may be my next smoke. Does anyone have any tips?
 
The very first thing I smoked on my Lang was a chuck roast. Treated it just like brisket and it came out phenomenal. Not sure why I haven’t done another.
 
I did a couple 4 pounders a couple months ago. Turned out wonderful. I injected with beef broth and put a nice coating of SPOG on it. Smoked at 225-250 whole time. Foiled at the stall with some Worcestershire, beef broth, and melted irish butter. Moist with great flavor. Made pulled chucky sliders with smoked cheddar and a little homemade bbq sauce on top.
Chuck8.jpg
 
Follow the instructions on the links that have been posted.

My best piece of advice after that is to buy a quality piece of meat. The first 2 I made were with a lesser quality cut and they were tough and didn't shred very well. Bought a better cut at a different store and it shredded much better as well as being a lot more tender too.
 
In the store we have some nice Prime cuts, so I will probably get that. I am definitely interested in some of the recipes I saw after searching for chuck. I typically get prime cuts from Costco- the packers, new yorks, and ribeyes I get are all prime there. Every now and again I will pick up Choice tri-tip but tri tips always turn out good on my open pit.

Zwiller- I will search that right now! Always love a new recipe!
 
Coach you won't go wrong with a chuck. I love sitting outside with my pooch smoking a couple chuckies for faux burnt ends and pulled chuck sammies. It's really relaxing especially when you know what the outcome will be.

Chris
 
I did my first 2 chucks over the past 2 weekends. First one I wrapped at 160, pulled off the smoker at 203, rested for 90 mins and sliced. Hard to slice as it more fell apart. Was good that night but was alot better 2 days later sliced cold then nuked with some drippings (tasted alot like good brisket). Second one I didnt wrap, smoke for the entire 8 hours, wrapped for the 90 min rest and sliced. Still tender but I seem to have over smoked it.

Both smokes were at 225.

This weekend I will smoke a 3.5 lb chuck at 225, wrap at 160 and take off the smoker at 190 before a 2 hour rest. I hope it will slice better and be still just as tender as if I removed it at 203.
 
I did my first 2 chucks over the past 2 weekends. First one I wrapped at 160, pulled off the smoker at 203, rested for 90 mins and sliced. Hard to slice as it more fell apart. Was good that night but was alot better 2 days later sliced cold then nuked with some drippings (tasted alot like good brisket). Second one I didnt wrap, smoke for the entire 8 hours, wrapped for the 90 min rest and sliced. Still tender but I seem to have over smoked it.

Both smokes were at 225.

This weekend I will smoke a 3.5 lb chuck at 225, wrap at 160 and take off the smoker at 190 before a 2 hour rest. I hope it will slice better and be still just as tender as if I removed it at 203.



It is so hard for me to get my temp down to 225. I can keep it at 275 (stick burner) pretty well, but it is a lot of work. My pit likes 300 so I have to play with the fire a lot to get it down, but sometimes getting it lower (reducing O2) makes for a bad smoke so i let the O2 back in and the temp rises but its clean. My second to last brisket I actually smoked the whole time (7 hours) and wasn't expecting it to be done, but it was! I was getting ready to feel and wrap when I felt it and it was already coming apart. Because of the size (13#) I ended up putting a little foil shield in at the 5 hour mark. It helped save the bark from being too crunchy. Was delicious though!
 
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Most of us are hot and fast these days. I did my last chuck at 275F and it was great. Last few I foiled at 165F but plan to try one without. We dig bark...

For barbacoa, I do not pull but rest overnight. Next day I chop roast into 2. One gets vac sealed for later and the other I cut into chunks. We don't like the full length strands of beef on tacos. Chunks go into a crock with a small amount of chicken stock, lime juice, accent, and season with more rub to taste.
 
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