Video Smoked Pulled Beef Using Chuck Roast

You won’t find a dry chuck roast here! Smoked chuck roast is the best alternative to the big boy (beef brisket) for smoked pulled beef. It’s smaller, generally much more affordable per pound, and it takes significantly less time to cook.

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Smoked Chuck Roast: Guide To Delicious Pulled Beef

Tacos, sandwiches, or just a fork. It really doesn’t matter what you use to transfer the food to your mouth, this pulled beef tastes incredible. The process is pretty straightforward but there are some simple steps below to make sure that you’re not disappointed the next time you fire it up.

Reading: Best roast for pulled beef

Perfect Pulled Beef

This guide is going to show you how to take chuck roast and make the most flavorful smoked pulled beef. Sometimes I’ll use a chuck roast as a replacement for sliced brisket because I’m feeling lazy. That guide is here: Smoked Chuck Roast, Poor Man’s Brisket.

Smoking a chuck roast low and slow will help break down the tough connective tissue through the beef. This is a similar process to brisket, beef ribs, and other tough cuts. Patience pays off, you will have incredibly tender and moist shredded beef.

How to Trim a Chuck Roast for Smoking

One of the best parts of working with chuck roast is the lack of preparation. Most of the time you can simply remove the chuck roast from the wrapped package, pat it dry, and it’s ready to go. Sometimes there could be some silverskin or intermuscular fat on the outside that requires a little trimming.

The intermuscular fat is the thick band of fat running through the center of the chuck roast. This type of fat does not render down completely and tends to end up slightly chewy if you try to eat it. Chuck roast is comprised of a few different muscles, and this fat holds everything together.

Don’t worry about cutting it out or trimming it down. It’s the glue that binds everything together for the cooking phase, and it’s very simple to remove when shredding. At the end of smoking the chuck roast, you’ll focus on shredding the different pieces of meat on the outside and can simply discard the thick band of intermuscular fat.

Seasoning Choices for Chuck Roast

There are so many opportunities in the process to customize the flavor profile of your chuck roast. The seasoning, the spray, and the braise. Play with combinations that you feel could be a hit! I like to mix it up and spray it with coffee for a darker, bolder flavor. Try adding warm spices, or smashed garlic into the broth for additional aromatics.

Classic Salt & Pepper: If you’re not sure. Texas definitely knows its flavors when it comes to BBQ beef. Stick with the basics and it will absolutely work well.
Smoky Southwest Dry Rub: This is for a deeper, earthy flavor built off of dried chiles and aromatics. It creates a really nice bark as well.
Espresso Steak Rub: Leaning more towards the classic salt and pepper, with a dark tone from the coffee. Use this if you’re planning on a rich dish, like pulled beef sandwiches with melty cheese.

Think about how it would feel to stick the thermometer into a jar of peanut butter – the feeling should be the same when checking to see if the chuck roast is ready.
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