Smoked Beef Top Round Roast – Recipe and Tips

I was planning on smoking a chuck roast but my local butcher did not have any.

We talked and he said why don’t you try a top round roast. It is a little leaner cut of meat but still has some nice marbling.

I decided to go for it and found a 2.5 pound roast. Here you can read my smoked top round roast recipe.

Smoked Top Round Roast Recipe

I decided to use my UDS, but you can use this recipe on any type of smoker. From off-set smoker to pellet smoker or even an electric smoker.

Seasoning

I kept it fairly simple and used one of my seasonings I use for beef

I prefer my seasonings for smoking to sit overnight, so I did this the night before.

• 2 Tbsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Black Pepper
• 1 Tbsp Garlic powder
• 1/2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 Tsp Cayenne pepper (Use 1 if you like a little more kick)
• 2 Tsp Cumin
• 1 Tsp Ground Mustard

Pre-Heat Smoker

As I mentioned before I used my UDS and one thing I do with any smoker is pre-heating it and let it keep this the 225 °F (107°C) for about 30 minutes to make sure the temparature is stable.

Placing The Top Round Roast On The Smoker

Insert a digital meat thermometer in the thickest part of the roast and use another thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature in the smoker.

Tip: Don’t place the thermometer for the smoker temperature to close to the meat. The colder meat will have an affect on the reading. I learned this the hard way.

Keep a sharp eye on the internal temperature of the roast and pull it when it reaches 135 °F (57 °C) for medium.

I checked several part with my handheld digital thermometer to make sure.

Now let it rest for about 10 – 15 minutes wrapped loosely in aluminum foil. Remember that resting will raise the temperature a few degrees.

After this it is time to get out a sharp knife and slice the top round roast in thin slices.

The reason for this is that if you cut it to thick it will be a little more tougher.

Smoked Top Round Roast – My Experience

Since this was the first time for me to smoke a leaner cut I had to focus on the internal temperature not getting to high.

I was surprised by the tenderness of the meat. I tried a little thicker slice but this made it in my opinion a little tougher than I prefer.

I am having some left overs and am thinking about how to use them. Maybe I will give it a quick sear on the grill or maybe I even try to make a French Dip with it.

I’ll let you know.

if you have never tried a smoked top round roast I can recommend you to give it a try and see how good it taste.

If you like to try something else you can have a look at all my smoker recipes and pick one of them.

Eddie van Aken

Eddie van Aken has years of experience in running his full-service restaurant and with this came working with using and dealing with all types of kitchen equipment. With his experience, he can find all the pros and cons of grills and add them to the grill reviews and the outdoor cooking tips he is writing about. You can read more on the About page for Eddie van Aken