Craving brisket flavor without committing to a whole packer or an all-day cook? This recipe shows how to smoke a chuck roast low and slow until it develops a rich bark, deep smoke ring, and tender slices.

That’s why it’s called poor man’s brisket — all the brisket technique, but with a smaller cut.

Why smoke a chuck roast like a brisket?

I get that the name “poor man’s brisket’ can be infuriating. A chuck roast can actually cost more per pound than brisket.

But here’s the thing.

Buying and smoking a whole packer brisket is a serious investment in money and time. A 3–4 lb chuck roast is smaller, easier to manage, and still gives you that brisket-style experience without the commitment.

• It’s affordable – Smoking a chuck roast like brisket lets you enjoy that classic bark, smoke ring, and sliced brisket texture without the cost or commitment of a full packer brisket.
• It’s similar to brisket – Even though it’s leaner, it has the same rich beefy flavor that intensifies when smoked.
• It’s faster: This method shaves hours off a typical brisket cook.

Ingredients you’ll need

• Chuck roast – Look for a well-marbled 3–4 lb roast. The extra intramuscular fat helps mimic brisket’s tenderness and richness.
• Olive oil – Acts as a binder to help the rub adhere. You can also use mustard or beef tallow if preferred.
• Brisket rub – Use your favorite beef rub with a salt, pepper, and garlic-forward profile.
• Beef tallow – Adds richness and helps keep the meat juicy during the wrap. If you don’t have tallow, a few pats of butter will do the trick.

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.

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 it tightly 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. If you prefer pulled beef, then try my smoked chuck roast for pulled beef recipe.

Serve with sides like creamy coleslaw or smoked baked beans for a perfect BBQ spread.

More recipes featuring Chuck roast

• Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast
• Poor Man’s Burnt Ends
• Smoked Beef Birria Tacos
  

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Poor Man’s Brisket — Smoked Chuck Roast That Slices Like Brisket

This poor man’s brisket recipe smokes a chuck roast low and slow until it’s tender, juicy, and slices just like brisket.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 7 hours hours

Resting Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 8 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6 people

Author Jordan Hanger

Ingredients

• 4 lb chuck roast look for chuck with the most marbling to get that brisket-like texture.
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp brisket rub
• 2 tbsp beef tallow or butter

Instructions

• Fire up the smoker to 250°F.
• Coat chuck roast with olive oil as a binder and season with brisket rub. Let sit for 30 minutes to absorb the seasoning.
• Smoke the chuck roast until an internal temperature of 175°F is reached. Spritz with water after the first 3 hours, once an hour or when chuck roast appears dried out.
• Remove the beef from the smoker, place it on the butcher paper, top with beef tallow, and wrap it up.
• Place wrapped chuck roast back on the smoker until it reaches an internal temperature of 195-205°F or when it is probe tender.
• Rest butcher paper-wrapped chuck roast in a cooler wrapped in a towel or in an oven with the warming feature for an hour.
• Remove chuck roast from butcher paper, slice ¼ inch slices across the grain, and serve.

Video

Notes

What type of wood to use – chuck roast is a beefy robust cut of meat and is great with hickory, oak, and pecan.

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