Smoked Chuck Roast: Brisket On A Budget

Smoked chuck roast is easy to cook, requires minimal ingredients, and, when done right, tastes similar to brisket.

Sometimes called the poor man’s brisket. It is affordable if you want that brisket taste but don’t want to shell out for a whole brisket.

When I smoke a chuck roast, I treat it like brisket, from seasoning to smoking, resting, and slicing. 

Smoked Chuck Roast

Chuck roasts are cut from the shoulder and are known for their beefy flavor and versatility.

Like brisket, chuck has a lot of connective tissue and intra-muscular fat, making it perfect for low and slow.

They typically range from 3-6 lbs and can be found readily in most grocery stores.

Ingredients you’ll need

• Chuck Roast – 3-4 pounds
• Olive oil – or binder of choice.
• Brisket rub – Use our recipe
• Beef tallow – or butter.

Equipment you’ll need

• Smoker
• Pellets – and wood chunks (optional) 
• Spray bottle
• Instant read thermometer 
• Butcher paper
• Slicing knife 

Why smoke a chuck roast? 

There are many reasons I like smoking chuck roast. Here are a few to consider: 

• It’s affordable: It may not be cheaper per pound anymore as it’s becoming more popular. However, buying a chuck roast is still cheaper than buying an entire brisket. 
• It’s similar to brisket – even though it’s leaner, it has the same rich beefy flavor that intensifies when smoked.
• It’s versatile: Shred it, cube it, slice it. You can cook and prepare chuck roast in many different ways. Great shredded for sandwiches, cubed up for Poor Man’s Burnt Ends, or smoked whole and sliced like I’m doing for this recipe. 

What kind of wood is best for smoking chuck roast? 

Because chuck roast is a beefy, robust cut of meat, it pairs well with hickory, oak, and pecan.

Since we are smoking this chuck roast like a brisket, any of the woods for smoking brisket will work great.

How to make Smoked Chuck Roast

1. Fire up the smoker

Set your smoker to 250°F. For this cook, I used my Camp Chef Woodwind.

2. Trim 

Typically a chuck roast doesn’t require any trimming, unlike brisket, where you can spend 30 minutes or more trimming away all the hard fat.

Sometimes there will be some excess fat around the edges you can trim, but for the most part, no trim work is needed. 

3. Season

Because chuck roast is a nice thick and dense piece of meat, you need to season it well.

For this recipe, I used my brisket rub. It’s a blend of Kosher salt, ground black pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, smoked paprika, and chili powder. 

I use olive oil as a binder and season the meat evenly on all sides, including the edges.

4. Smoke

The one thing you do need to keep an eye on is the internal temperature. This is where the instant read thermometer comes in real handy.

Remove the chuck roast too early from the smoker and, you’ll have a tough cut of meat, take it too far and, it will fall apart. 

So you want to smoke your chuck roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 175°F.

This gives the chuck roast time to develop a nice bark and absorb all of the smoke. 

Spritz with water after the first 3 hours, once an hour, or when the chuck roast appears dried out.

Don’t have a spritzer? Check out our Smoke Kitchen BBQ Sprayer.

5. Wrap

Once the chuck roast reaches an internal temperature of 175°F, it’s time to wrap.

You can wrap it in foil or butcher paper, but I prefer butcher paper. Sometimes wrapping in foil causes the meat to steam too much, which gives it a pot roast taste. 

Add some beef tallow to the chuck roast and then wrap tight in butcher paper.

Place it back onto the smoker to finish cooking.

You have about a 5-10 degree window (195-205°F) to get it right, so make sure you use a good internal meat thermometer and never rely on time alone. 

Once the chuck roast reaches 195-205 °F, it’s done.

Because every piece of meat varies, sometimes at 195°F, it feels tender enough, and other times you need to cook it a little more.

To check tenderness, probe it with your instant read thermometer. If it glides through easily without much resistance, you are good to go.

On this particular roast, it felt probe tender at 198°F, so that’s when I pulled it off the smoker. 

6. Rest

Rest the chuck roast in a cooler wrapped in a towel for an hour before slicing.

I recently found out my oven has a keep-warm feature which is super nice to rest smoked meats in.

After the chuck roast has rested properly, take a sharp slicing knife and cut 1/4″ slices across the grain. Serve with sides like creamy coleslaw or smoked baked beans for a great meal.

Looking to try more big meat recipes?

• Smoked Pellet Grill Brisket
• Smoked Beef Ribs
• Perfect Smoked Prime Rib
• Compeition Style Pork Butt
• Smoked Rack of Pork