Smoked Beef Round Roast with Zip Sauce

 

Round roasts come from well-exercised muscles in the cow. While big on taste, they contain little or no marbling. So you have to be careful cooking these cuts, for they become very tough and chewy if overcooked. You can use any of the three beef rounds: Top Round, Eye of Round or Bottom Round. While all are delicious and relatively inexpensive, I prefer Top Round as it is the most tender.

After applying olive oil and seasoning to the roast, you are going to set it directly on the grates after your smoker is heated to 225º. The rule of thumb here is roughly 30 minutes per pound. But I would encourage you to use a meat probe during your entire cook. That way you will hit the perfect temp and never have to open the smoker during your cook. Insert the probe into the thickest part of the meat and then pull your roast at 120º. After resting and searing, your roast will be at 125º....a perfect medium rare.

Zip Sauce is a regional specialty. It was first used in the 1940's by Lelli's Inn, an Italian restaurant in Detroit. It's a simple, butter-based sauce that takes inexpensive cuts of beef to a whole new level. Splash some on your smoked top round roast and you and your guests are in for a total drool fest! Pass the bibs, please.

INGREDIENTS

For the Roast

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 pound Top Round beef roast

For the Zip Sauce

8 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine first 5 ingredients to create a rub. Mix thoroughly.
2. Rub roast with olive oil, then massage rub into the roast.
3. Let roast sit at room temperature for 1 hour. 
4. Preheat smoker to 225º. Insert probe into thickest part of roast and place roast on smoker grates*.
5. Cook roast for approximately 2 hours, until the probe shows a temperature of 120º.
6. While the roast is cooking, combine all Zip Sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a bare simmer, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm until ready to serve.
7. Pull roast from smoker, tent with foil and let roast rest for 10 minutes. While it's resting, heat a cast iron pan on your stovetop over medium high heat. Then unwrap roast and sear on all sides until browned, about 4 minutes.
8. Cut roast into thin slices and serve with Zip Sauce.

*I use a pellet smoker and prefer a mix of pellets that contain both hickory and oak. Feel free to choose whichever wood you prefer for smoking beef.

Wine pairing: Cabernet Sauvignon