Smoked Beef Roast – Easy Recipe
While not the most common option people think of when it comes to smoked meat, a beef roast is a perfect choice for anyone wanting a delicious and easy smoked meat dish. Both beginner friendly and extremely tasty, you can't go wrong with smoked beef. There are many beef recipes online, but we're going to cover one of the easiest and most delicious. How do you make it? How long do you smoke a beef roast? What's the trick to doing it right? Let's go over what you'll need for this recipe to find out and make the perfect roast beef.
List of Materials For Smoking Beef Roast
In order to properly smoke a beef roast, you'll need to assemble a few supplies first. Luckily, there aren't too many things you'll need, making this a fairly easy recipe to follow.
- 6 lb beef roast.
- Kosher salt.
- Freshly ground pepper.
- Steak rub (optional).
- Aluminum foil.
- Plastic wrap.
- Instant read thermometer.
- Charcoal smoker.
- Chunk charcoal.
- Wood chunks/chips of choice.
When preparing for this recipe, consider whether you've bought a lean or fatty roast, usually described as "round or sirloin" roasts or "chuck" roasts. Fattier roasts can and should be cooked for longer to render out more fat, while leaner roasts will become overcooked if left on the heat for too long.
Lean meats taste best when cooked to medium rare temperatures around 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Fatty roasts, on the other hand, can afford to go longer to render more of their fat, cooking to around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep these things in mind when selecting your meat so as not to overcook your beef roast. Either way, the total time of cooking is not that bad.
Smoking the Beef Roast
With your materials gathered, you can finally begin the cooking process with this roast recipe.. The prep time was pretty short, so now let the fun begin!
Step 1: Season the Meat
To begin, first season your meat thoroughly with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, mixed together in a small bowl. Make sure to press the seasoning into the meat on all sides. Alternatively, you can use a store bought beef rub made for steaks rather than simple salt and pepper, or make your own Texas beef rub.
Whichever you choose, though, you'll then need to wrap the meat in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour, if not overnight, to help the flavors penetrate into the beef.
Step 2: Prep the Smoker
About half an hour before you intend to start cooking, take your roast from the fridge and let it sit out at room temperature. Letting the meat warm slightly before cooking can help it retain moisture and cook more evenly.
As the meat warms, you can start to prep the smoker. While this recipe is made using a charcoal smoker specifically, other types of cooking equipment, such as charcoal or propane grills, can be modified slightly to work just as well.
Simply fill the smoker with charcoal and light, closing the lid and allowing the heat and smoke to build up. If you're using wood chips, soak them in hot water as you do this. What kind of wood you choose is up to you, though a thicker smoking wood like hickory or mesquite or oak wood works well with beef.
Once the smoker has warmed to a temperature of around 195 degrees Fahrenheit for lean meat or 205 degree Fahrenheit for fatty meat, place your wood chips or chunks into the smoker, fill the water pan, and close the lid once again as you prepare to cook.
Step 3: Smoking the Beef Roast
A few minutes after you placed in the wood and added the water to your smoker, open the lid and lay your beef roast onto the grates. Close the lid and allow it to smoke slowly over several hours.
While smoking beef roast will require very little effort on your part beyond this point, it's still important to monitor both your meat and the smoker during the cooking process to avoid burnt ends. Add more wood, charcoal, and water as necessary and check the internal temperature of the meat every few hours with your instant-read meat thermometer. Additionally, if your meat seems to be cooking too quickly or you fear the outside may burn, adjust the temperature accordingly.
Step 4: Foiling (for Chuck Beef)
This step is only for beef roasts with higher fat content. As chuck beef will be cooking for longer time periods to gain the necessary internal heat, you'll want to eventually wrap the meat in aluminum foil to avoid burning the outside.
This is best done around 160 degrees Fahrenheit internally, as that gives the meat plenty of time to develop a hearty crust. Once the meat is wrapped, simply place it back on the heat and continue cooking until it's finished.
Step 5: Resting the Beef Roast
The time at which you remove your meat is critical for getting a deliciously tender and moist piece of beef. Lean cuts of meat should be taken off the smoker around 130 degrees Fahrenheit, while fatty beef should be removed according to how you wish to serve it - 185 degrees for thinly sliced, 195 for pulled apart.
After taking off the lean beef, wrap it loosely in foil and allow it to rest for ten minutes before cutting to achieve the rich beef flavor. For fatty beef, loosen the foil covering applied earlier in the cooking process and do the same. Resting your meat before you serve it allows the meat fibers to relax and reabsorb some of their juices, as well as let the residual heat distribute throughout the entire cut of beef (this usually raises the temperature another 5 degrees or so).
Step 6: Serving the Beef Roast
Once your meat has properly rested, it's time to eat. Mentioned previously, the way in which you intend to serve the meat, as well as what kind of meat it is, influenced the cooking process. Sirloin and round beef, for example, work great sliced thick served with an au jus sauce. Or you can use bbq sauce. Either way, your main dish will blow the minds of your guests.
Chuck beef makes great sandwiches, with the lower temperature cooked meat being optimized for thin slicing while the higher temperature cooked meat can be pulled apart and served similar to a pulled beef sandwich. Pair it with a glass of red wine and you're all set.
Ultimately, it's up to you, as your smoked beef roast will be delicious no matter how you eat it.
If you want to learn more ways of cooking beef, make sure to watch this video on How to Cook the Best Beef Tenderloin on you own Outdoor Grill:
Conclusion
With this simple beef roast recipe, you too can smoke an absolutely amazing beef roast to perfection just like a professional chef. Despite being commonly overlooked in terms of smoking meats, you'll soon learn just how great beef can be when you take a chance and cook it in an unconventional way. Here is another great and easy recipe if you're a fan of beef!
How'd you like this recipe? Any tips on smoking beef? Tell us about it in the comments and remember to share this page with a friend. Also don't forget to check our other smoker recipes on the blog like Smoked Chuck Roast, Beef RIbs, Smoked Beef Brisket or Smoked Beef Tenderloin!
Smoked Beef Roast
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6
lb
Beef roast - Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- Steak rub
Instructions
- To begin, first season your meat thoroughly with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, mixed together in a small bowl.
- Make sure to press the seasoning into the meat on all sides.
- Alternatively, you can use a store bought beef rub made for steaks rather than simple salt and pepper, or make your own Texas beef rub.
- Whichever you choose, though, you'll then need to wrap the meat in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour, if not overnight, to help the flavors penetrate into the beef.
- About half an hour before you intend to start cooking, take your roast from the fridge and let it sit out at room temperature.
- Letting the meat warm slightly before cooking can help it retain moisture and cook more evenly.
- While this recipe is made using a charcoal smoker specifically, other types of cooking equipment, such as charcoal or propane grills, can be modified slightly to work just as well.
- Simply fill the smoker with charcoal and light, closing the lid and allowing the heat and smoke to build up.
- If you're using wood chips, soak them in hot water as you do this.
- What kind of wood you choose is up to you, though a thicker smoking wood like hickory or mesquite or oak wood works well with beef.
- Once the smoker has warmed to a temperature of around 195 degrees Fahrenheit for lean meat or 205 degree Fahrenheit for fatty meat, place your wood chips or chunks into the smoker, fill the water pan, and close the lid once again as you prepare to cook.
- A few minutes after you placed in the wood and added the water to your smoker, open the lid and lay your beef roast onto the grates.
- Close the lid and allow it to smoke slowly over several hours.
- While smoking beef roast will require very little effort on your part beyond this point, it's still important to monitor both your meat and the smoker during the cooking process to avoid burnt ends.
- Add more wood, charcoal, and water as necessary and check the internal temperature of the meat every few hours with your instant-read meat thermometer.
- Additionally, if your meat seems to be cooking too quickly or you fear the outside may burn, adjust the temperature accordingly.
- As chuck beef will be cooking for longer time periods to gain the necessary internal heat, you'll want to eventually wrap the meat in aluminum foil to avoid burning the outside.
- This is best done around 160 degrees Fahrenheit internally, as that gives the meat plenty of time to develop a hearty crust.
- Once the meat is wrapped, simply place it back on the heat and continue cooking until it's finished.
- The time at which you remove your meat is critical for getting a deliciously tender and moist piece of beef.
- Lean cuts of meat should be taken off the smoker around 130 degrees Fahrenheit, while fatty beef should be removed according to how you wish to serve it - 185 degrees for thinly sliced, 195 for pulled apart.
- After taking off the lean beef, wrap it loosely in foil and allow it to rest for ten minutes before cutting to achieve the rich beef flavor.
- For fatty beef, loosen the foil covering applied earlier in the cooking process and do the same.
- Once your meat has properly rested, it's time to eat.
Nutrition
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