David Lohrentz
TVWBB Pro
I decided to try smoking a chuck, then finishing it inside a dutch oven as a pot roast. I used my kettle for both the smoke portion as well as the dutch oven phase. The dutch oven I used is a 12” Lodge deep camp oven. A dutch oven without the legs would work as well or better for this, but I only have this one dutch oven.
I started with a fairly lean, 2 pound chuck roast. I sprinkled kosher salt on the roast and went out to set up the grill. I used charcoal baskets on both sides piled fairly high with Kingsford briquettes. I placed a fire brick beside each of the charcoal baskets as a heat sink (and in this case, as a stand for my dutch oven). I lit about 8 briquettes inside a can in my chimney and went back inside. After about 10 minutes I applied a light brush of Worcestershire sauce to the chuck, then dusted with Kevin Kruger's coffee-based rub . I set the roast in the middle between the charcoal baskets and smoked it indirect for 90 minutes with one chunk of apple and another chunk of hickory. I Minioned the start with 4-5 lit coals on each side with a wood chunk on top. The temp came up slowly, reaching 300 at the lid after about 30 minutes and then holding steady as I adjusted the vent on the way up.
Smoking the chuck
After 90 minutes, I put the dutch oven on the stove top on medium-low heat to warm up with 3/8 cup of pinot noir wine that I had left over, then added enough chicken broth to make 4 cups total liquid. I didn’t want to put the cold dutch oven in the hot grill for fear that it might damage the dutch oven, and I also didn’t want to use my BTUs to heat up that much cold mass. I cut up 1 onion, 3 potatoes, and 2 large carrots into big chunks and seasoned them with kosher salt, black and green pepper, and dried thyme. When the liquid was about at the boil, I put the roast in the pot and added the veggies and a bay leaf, garlic and about a half a cup of dried, frozen tomatoes from last year’s garden. I put the lid on and placed the DO in the grill, which had plenty of heat left.
I didn’t want to place the loaded dutch oven on the center of the cooking grate because of all the weight, so I removed the cooking grate and set the DO on the fire bricks. There was just enough room for my 12” dutch oven. It was a somewhat precarious set up which could have tipped the dutch oven if it got bumped. I thought about using the WSM, and placing the DO on top of my flower pot base, but that could also fall if it got bumped.
Dutch oven on the grill
The coals got stoked while I was setting up the DO, so the temp was at 350 for a couple hours even with the bottom vent fully closed. After three hours in the dutch oven, the chuck was fork tender and the veggies were clearly done, but not mushy. The coals were about spent and the last 30 minutes the temp was down to about 250. I took the pot inside to make a gravy. (I took it inside to do this since I didn’t want to risk tipping it.) I removed some of the liquid and whisked in about one and a half Tablespoons of flour, then returned to the pot and stirred it gently over low heat for a few minutes. I tasted for seasoning and left it as it was.
Finished pot roast
The beef was extremely tender and had a very nice flavor, with just the right amount of smoke. There was a lot less liquid than I started with, so there really wasn’t enough gravy, even though I added a little chicken broth at the end. (I’m sure that the dried tomatoes soaked up some of the liquid.) This was really an awesome pot roast and it was a lot more fun than doing it in the oven.
There might be other ways to set this up inside a kettle or WSM, but the way I did it, I had just enough fuel to go from start to finish without adding any charcoal, and with baskets on each side, the heat was evenly distributed. I could have also done this with a foil pan covered with HD foil, but I think you get better flavor with the cast iron dutch oven.
I started with a fairly lean, 2 pound chuck roast. I sprinkled kosher salt on the roast and went out to set up the grill. I used charcoal baskets on both sides piled fairly high with Kingsford briquettes. I placed a fire brick beside each of the charcoal baskets as a heat sink (and in this case, as a stand for my dutch oven). I lit about 8 briquettes inside a can in my chimney and went back inside. After about 10 minutes I applied a light brush of Worcestershire sauce to the chuck, then dusted with Kevin Kruger's coffee-based rub . I set the roast in the middle between the charcoal baskets and smoked it indirect for 90 minutes with one chunk of apple and another chunk of hickory. I Minioned the start with 4-5 lit coals on each side with a wood chunk on top. The temp came up slowly, reaching 300 at the lid after about 30 minutes and then holding steady as I adjusted the vent on the way up.
Smoking the chuck
After 90 minutes, I put the dutch oven on the stove top on medium-low heat to warm up with 3/8 cup of pinot noir wine that I had left over, then added enough chicken broth to make 4 cups total liquid. I didn’t want to put the cold dutch oven in the hot grill for fear that it might damage the dutch oven, and I also didn’t want to use my BTUs to heat up that much cold mass. I cut up 1 onion, 3 potatoes, and 2 large carrots into big chunks and seasoned them with kosher salt, black and green pepper, and dried thyme. When the liquid was about at the boil, I put the roast in the pot and added the veggies and a bay leaf, garlic and about a half a cup of dried, frozen tomatoes from last year’s garden. I put the lid on and placed the DO in the grill, which had plenty of heat left.
I didn’t want to place the loaded dutch oven on the center of the cooking grate because of all the weight, so I removed the cooking grate and set the DO on the fire bricks. There was just enough room for my 12” dutch oven. It was a somewhat precarious set up which could have tipped the dutch oven if it got bumped. I thought about using the WSM, and placing the DO on top of my flower pot base, but that could also fall if it got bumped.
Dutch oven on the grill
The coals got stoked while I was setting up the DO, so the temp was at 350 for a couple hours even with the bottom vent fully closed. After three hours in the dutch oven, the chuck was fork tender and the veggies were clearly done, but not mushy. The coals were about spent and the last 30 minutes the temp was down to about 250. I took the pot inside to make a gravy. (I took it inside to do this since I didn’t want to risk tipping it.) I removed some of the liquid and whisked in about one and a half Tablespoons of flour, then returned to the pot and stirred it gently over low heat for a few minutes. I tasted for seasoning and left it as it was.
Finished pot roast
The beef was extremely tender and had a very nice flavor, with just the right amount of smoke. There was a lot less liquid than I started with, so there really wasn’t enough gravy, even though I added a little chicken broth at the end. (I’m sure that the dried tomatoes soaked up some of the liquid.) This was really an awesome pot roast and it was a lot more fun than doing it in the oven.
There might be other ways to set this up inside a kettle or WSM, but the way I did it, I had just enough fuel to go from start to finish without adding any charcoal, and with baskets on each side, the heat was evenly distributed. I could have also done this with a foil pan covered with HD foil, but I think you get better flavor with the cast iron dutch oven.
