I get the occasional question about less expensive beef roasts on the rotisserie: “That prime rib roast looks great, but what about something cheaper, like a rump roast? Or a round roast?”
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The problem is, cheaper roasts are tougher. They come from harder working muscles in the cow, and have more connective tissue. But, we can work around that. Cook the roast to no more than medium and slice it as thin as possible, and you have the makings of great sandwiches. Sure, it’s not a ribeye, but it *is* big, beefy flavor for a lot less money.
My local grocery store has a sale on Certified Angus Beef eye of round roasts - $2.49 a pound, but I have to buy the entire 7.5 pound roast - so it is time to try it on the rotisserie.
This recipe is inspired by Baltimore pit beef sandwiches. 4 Thin sliced beef, piled high on a bun, and topped with sliced onions and prepared horseradish sauce. I cook it with a reverse sear, starting the roast out low and slow, then finishing with high heat to brown the outside. Enjoy!
Recipe: Rotisserie Eye of Round Roast, Baltimore Pit Beef Style
Equipment
- Grill (I love my jumbo Weber Summit gas grill)
- A drip pan to catch the drippings (I used an 11- x 13-inch aluminum foil pan)
- Instant Read thermometer (I love my Thermapen)
Rotisserie Eye of Round Roast, Baltimore Pit Beef Style
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: Lots and lots of roast beef
Description
Rotisserie Eye of Round Roast recipe, Baltimore Pit Beef Style. Thin sliced rotisserie beef roast, perfect for sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 7 pound eye of round roast
- 1 ½ tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon fine sea salt)
- 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
- 2 cups smoking wood chips (gas grill) or 2 fist-sized chunks wood (charcoal) - I used a mix of oak and hickory chips
Accompaniments (optional)
- Kaiser rolls
- Thin-sliced onions
- Prepared horseradish (or horseradish sauce)
Instructions
- Dry brine the roast: The night before cooking, season the roast with the salt and pepper. Put the roast in a baking dish, using the bones as a rack to lift it off the bottom of the dish, and refrigerate overnight. One hour before cooking, remove the roast from the refrigerator. (Or, salt and pepper the roast right before trussing and spitting, below.)
- Set the grill for indirect medium-low heat: Set the grill up for rotisserie cooking at medium-low heat (300°F). For my Weber Summit, this means removing the grates, turning the two outer burners (burners 1 and burner 6 or the smoker burner) to medium, and leaving the infrared rotisserie burner off. Then I put my drip pan in the middle, over the unlit burners, and let the grill preheat for ten to fifteen minutes.
- Spit the roast: While the grill is preheating, truss and spit the roast. Tie a truss around the roast every two inches, pulling it into into a tight cylinder. Run the spit through the center of the roast, and secure the roast to the spit with the spit forks.
- Start the smoking wood: If you don’t have a smoker box, on your grill, wrap the wood chips in an envelope of aluminum foil and poke a few holes in it for the smoke to escape. Put the wood chips in the smoker box (or put the foil envelope under the grill grate, directly on the burner cover over a lit burner.)
- Slow cook the roast: Put the spit on the rotisserie and start it spinning. We’re cooking the roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 120°F for medium. (Cook to 100°F for rare, 110°F for medium-rare. I prefer my round roasts cooked to medium, pink all the way through.) This will take about 1 hour, but the time will vary - go by temperature, not by time. Check the temperature of the roast after 45 minutes of cooking (it should be about 90°F). At that point, start checking every five to ten minutes - you want to get as close to 120°F as you can without going over (I quit at 116°F - close enough). As soon as the roast reaches 120°F, turn the grill to indirect high heat. On my Summit, I turn the outer burners up to high, then light the infrared rotisserie burner and set it to high. Sear the roast on high heat until it is well browned on the outside, 10 to 15 minutes. The internal temperature should measure 130°F for medium. (115°F for rare, 120°F for medium-rare).
- Rest, carve and serve: Remove the spit from the grill. Be careful - the spit is rocket hot. Immediately remove the roast from the spit, transfer to a platter, and remove the twine. Cover the roast with foil and rest the roast for 15 minutes, then slice the roast as paper-thin as possible and serve.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Category: Rotisserie
- Cuisine: American
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Rotisserie Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish-Mustard Crust
Rotisserie Boneless Ribeye Roast with Garlic Crust
Rotisserie Pork Shoulder with South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce
My other Rotisserie Recipes
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Larese says
Hi Mike. Thank you for sharing your experience and recipes! I tried this recipe yesterday on my Char-Broil with the Rotisserie kit, and it was fabulous. I let it go to 140F, and used the spice recipe for your Beef Barbacoa plus some Maple Sugar (because none of us like Horseradish). It pleased everyone in the family, both of the Well-Done’s (they ate the end pieces) and both of the Medium-Well’s. We treated it as (very tender!) thinly sliced steak (16th”). I will be having some as a sandwich today - I’ll have to give careful thought to the condiments! I’ve been looking to your blog for about a decade now, ever since I found your Pork Loin Rotisserie Roast with Maple Syrup (which I used maple sugar for, and which finally gave me a recipe using fennel and coriander where we actually liked those herbs). Your BBQ rub mix also has a permanent home on my spice shelves, for pork ribs.
★★★★★
Mark says
I’ve been doing eye of the round on the spit for years. I agree it’s a great roast for sandwiches but I also serve it as any roast. I use a dry rub of, paprika, mustard powder, and garlic salt. I also put slices of garlic under the fat. The best advice on using this cut is slice it thin on a 30 degree angle. It’s always a crowd pleaser.
Mark
Mike says
Hi there - This is great and I am curious if you think a Rump Roast could be cooked the same way?
★★★★★
Mike Vrobel says
It would work, but (in my opinion) rump roast is not built for roasting, but for wet cooking in a pot roast or braise.
Mark T. O'Leary says
What benefit is trussing an eye of the round to the spit?
Mike Vrobel says
It keeps it from flopping around and pulling loose from the spit.
John Tonge says
This pit beef recipe makes me want to go out and buy the rotisserie setup for my grill. Sounds like a good plan for the next time we have a crowd to feed.I may be tempted to add a few more spices like garlic and onion powder to the rub.