How to Smoke a Chuck Roast on a Pellet Grill {Traeger, Pit Boss, Z Grills}

If you want some amazing smoked beef but don’t have the time to deal with a brisket then a smoked chuck roast is the perfect solution for you!  You can some a chuck in six hours or less, it tastes amazing and is pretty affordable.  What is not to love?

Let me show you how I smoke chuck roasts on my Z Grills L600E pellet grill!

Trim and Season the Chuck Roast

A chuck roast has a ton of marbling in addition to internal fat pockets.  There is enough fat on a chuck that you should take the time to trim away any large pieces of hard fat on the edges of the meat.

After the meat has been trimmed season it liberally with a bold beef rub.  I used Meat Mitch Steer Season on this chuck and loved it.  If you need a recipe to make you own rub then this award winning brisket rub should work just fine.

Let the roast rest at room temperature for an hour before putting it on the smoker so the rub has time to work its way into the meat.

Smoke the Chuck Roast

For this cook I had plenty of time, was enjoying being outside and took the opportunity to do a two temperature cook. My approach was:

• Smoke in “Smoke Mode” (~150F) for 2 hours to get a bunch of smoke flavor.
• Smoke at 275F for two hours to set the rub and increase the rate of cooking.
• Wrap the chuck tightly in aluminum foil and cook at 275F for 90 more minutes until done.

While this approach was a lot of fun, if you want a simpler approach then set your Z Grills to 250F and let the chuck smoke four hours before wrapping and cooking until done.

You want to wrap the chuck when the rub has set and juices are pooling on top of the meat.  Here is what this chuck looked like right before it went into the foil.

I wrapped the meat tightly in foil and placed it inside a disposable foil pan just in case there was a puncture in the wrap.  You absolutely want to save the juices that will collect.

The chuck is done when it hits a temperature of 205-210 and is probe tender.

Give the meat at least 30 minutes to cool and then shred while mixing with the juices that collected in the foil.

Smoked Chuck Roast on a Pellet Grill

A 3.5 pound chuck roast is seasoned with a beef rub and smoked with hickory until the bark has set and juices are pooling. The chuck is then wrapped tightly in aluminum foil until finished cooking at an internal temperature of 205-210F.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 6 hours hrs

Total Time 6 hours hrs

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Calories 450 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 3 Tbls Beef Rub
• 3.5 lbs chuck roast

Instructions

 

• Season the chuck roast on all sides with the beef rub.
• Allow the chuck to rest at room temperature (covered) for an hour to let the rub work into the meat.
• Smoke the chuck at 250F, using hickory pellets for smoke, until the rub has set and juices are pooling.
• Wrap the chuck tightly in aluminum foil, place inside a secondary foil pan, and smoke for another 1.5-2 hours until the meat is at least 205F and probe tender.
• Let the meat rest for an hour, then shred and mix with the rendered juices in the foil.

Notes

This chuck was wrapped tightly in aluminum foil when it went back on the pit but there are other approaches you can use.

Some people like to put the chuck into a foil pan with a cup of beef broth, a pack of onion soup mix and a little butter. The foil pan then gets tightly sealed with foil and put back on the smoker.

If you go the route of using a foil pan with broth, etc then you will have an amazing gravy to use for French Dip sandwiches.

Keyword Smoked Chuck Roast on Pellet Grill

About the Z Grills L600E Pellet Grill

The L600E is a PID controlled pellet grill that ran like a champ for this cook!  The grill responded nicely to my desired temperature changes, held steady temperatures and gave a great smoke flavor.

I have a variety of barbecue pits on my deck and I am delighted that this Z Grills is one of them.  She is fun to cook on and is the perfect size for feeding a small crowd.