Chuck Roast

[jeffbarker2014]

Need ideas for a dry rub for a chuck roast. I dont marinade, inject or wrap anything. Thanks in advance. Smoke on folks.

 

[noboundaries]

I've smoked them unwrapped with SPOG and a Texas Chipotle Coffee rub I found online.  They were good but they just don't have the same satisfaction or flavor of a brisket.   

I tend to do chuck roasts like smoky pot roasts or prep them for pulling.  I've smoked many a chuck roast, one of my favorite cuts of meat to smoke, but I nowadays I always wrap at the stall with liquid and/or ingredients that give the roast a taste and character that takes the meat to another level. 

I can post favorite recipes here if interested.  If not, not a problem. 

 

[jeffbarker2014]

Thank for the reply. Worked out a simple one with salt black pepper garlic. May try to wrap this one at about 180 internal. Saw where it said you used a smokenator having trouble with spiking temps with mine or holding temp any ideas. Thanks.

 

[mossymo]

Here are a few chuck roast threads I have posted with seasoning, temp and method posted. Hopefully you find them useful!

- http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/157810/pulled-chuck-roast

- http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/158804/pulled-chuck-roast-again

- http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/162706/beef-chuck-tender-roast

 

[duffman]

I just use a basic paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, slat and pepper run on mine. I usually try to get them to 200 so they pull nice and easy.

 

[noboundaries]

Thank for the reply. Worked out a simple one with salt black pepper garlic. May try to wrap this one at about 180 internal. Saw where it said you used a smokenator having trouble with spiking temps with mine or holding temp any ideas. Thanks.

I have my Smokenator in a One-Touch Kettle.  I could get the temps to stabilize for about an hour to 90 mintues before I had to futz with it.  Here's what I did.

Get rid of the stock water pan in the Smokenator (SN).  The stock water pan with the SN is too small a heat sink and required refilling every 45-90 minutes.  You can either dry smoke or buy a larger water pan that fits on top of the SN.  I tried both and ended up just dry smoking. You can also put an aluminum pan filled with water on the charcoal grate right next to the SN but that only worked at higher temps (275F+), not 225F.    

Bottom vent full open.

Attach the Maverick chamber probe at the grill level below the top vent on the opposite side from the SN.  You feed both the chamber probe

and the food probe through one hole in the top vent.

Fill the SN with charcoal and wood chunks, leaving room for about 15 hot briquettes.

Evenly put the hot briquettes in the SN holes, moving them around with the poker that came with the SN.

Put the Kettle lid back on and watch the temp climb on the Maverick chamber probe until it is 40F below your target, then close the top vent down to about half open.

Continue to watch the temp climb on the chamber probe, taking note how fast it is climbing as it approaches your target temp.  If it stalls, open it up a little. If it is still climbing too fast, close it to 1/4 open.  With a little practice you can nail your desired temp. 

Make small 1/16"-1/8" top vent adjustments at this point to fine tune your temps.  Open to make temp climb or closed to make temp drop.  I got to where I could keep it in a 5-10F range.  Trust me, that's a waste of effort.  25F range is not a problem at all.

Let the smoke change from billowing white/grey to a point where you notice blue hints, then quickly load the meat. The chamber temp will recover quickly though you make need to make small adjustments.

The one thing about the SN equipped Kettle is that it requires some babysitting to keep temps in your desired range.  My patio goes from shade, sun, shade during the day and I could tell on my Maverick when the sun hit the black Kettle.  It would spike the temps 10F.  Still, the SN equipped Kettle will absolutely turn out great smoked BBQ and teach you valuable skills for smoking if you ever move on to a WSM or similar smoker.