Smoked Chuck Roast

When you need an easy yet crowd-pleasing meal for your next backyard cook-out, everyone will love this tender, juicy smoked chuck roast! This chuck roast is covered with a simple, flavorful dry rub and then cooked low and slow on the trusty smoker until it turns into one seriously succulent piece of meat. One bite will leave everyone's mouth watering for more.

Course Main Dishes

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 8

Resting Time 1

Total Time 9 5

Servings people

Calories 551kcal

Author Amanda McGrory-Dixon

Equipment

Smoker
Wood pellets or soaked wood chips mesquite, hickory or oak recommended
Food-grade peach butcher paper can substitute aluminum foil
Leave-in meat thermometer
Towel and cooler

Ingredients

2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
4 pound chuck roast
Favorite BBQ sauce optional, for serving

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix together the salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. Rub the spice mixture on both sides of the chuck roast. Now let the chuck roast sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes or cover with plastic wrap, place it in the refrigerator and allow the meat to dry brine overnight. If dry brining, let the meat sit at room temperature as directed above before smoking.
Heat the smoker to 225 degrees F. Place the chuck roast directly on greased grill grates with a water pan. If desired, place a drip pan underneath the chuck roast. Insert a leave-in meat thermometer in the center of the meat. If there's a bone, make sure the thermometer doesn't touch the bone. Close the lid and smoke until the chuck roast reaches 160-165 degrees F, about three and a half to four hours. At this point, you'll notice the internal temperature will begin to stall.
Remove the chuck roast from the smoker. Place it on top of a sheet of peach butcher paper and wrap it like a present. With the folded side facing down, place the chuck roast back in the smoker and insert the leave-in meat thermometer again. Close the lid and smoke until the chuck roast reaches 195 degrees F.
Remove the chuck roast from the smoker, leaving it in the butcher paper. Wrap the roast with a towel and place it in a cooler with no ice for one hour. After resting, slice the chuck roast against the grain. If desired, serve with your favorite BBQ sauce. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

The general rule of thumb is for smoking a chuck roast is two hours per pound, but smoking time isn't an exact science, so it could take more or less time. I recommend starting early because the cooler can keep it warm for up to three or four hours.
If the stall takes too long, you can increase the temperature to 250 degrees F, but try not to go higher than that. It's still low, but that extra heat does help move the meat past the stall.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days or the freezer for up to six months.
For extra moisture, you can spritz the chuck roast with apple juice, apple cider or beef stock every hour before wrapping.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Nutrition