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Guys, I just realized - I don’t have a rotisserie Sirloin Roast post!
I love a big roast for the holidays, and in my humble1 opinion, a sirloin roast is the best value. It is more tender than an inexpensive eye of round roast, can be cut into thick slabs, and is not as expensive as a rib roast. Also, it is boneless - easy to carve into beautiful, thick slices of juicy beef.
My favorite cut of sirloin is the center cut top sirloin roast. It weighs about 6 pounds and comes from a large muscle in the middle of the top sirloin. It is an evenly shaped roast, about a foot long and 6 inches wide, easy to truss and cook on the rotisserie. I ask for it at my grocery store meat counter; they usually have smaller roasts in the case, but I want the whole center cut top sirloin roast for this recipe. (That said, there are a lot of different cuts of sirloin, and almost any of them will work with this technique.)
Keys to a fantastic holiday roast:
Rotisserie! The roast self-bastes in its juices as it spins, and giving it a beautiful, browned crust. Nothing looks like a rotisserie roast. (And that crust…)
Cook to temperature, not time! (And add in carry-over cooking.) I aim for 120°F, measured in the thickest part of the roast, for medium-rare. A large roast holds a lot of heat; it will continue to cook after it comes off the grill, and the final temperature winds up in the low 130’s, right where I want it for medium-rare. (Cook to 110°F to 115°F for rare, 125°F to 130°F for medium…and beyond that, I don’t want to know.)
Also, cooking times are an estimate. (Not just my cooking times - all recipe cooking times. But that’s a rant for another day.) If you care about doneness, you need a good instant-read thermometer. (Or a great one.) Cooking times have too many variables when you’re aiming for medium-rare. If the roast is straight out of the refrigerator, or a little thicker, or today is cold and windy, or the grill runs hot… All sorts of things can affect the time. So, take temperatures early and often.
Salt early! (If you can) If you have time, salt (and pepper) the roast the night before. Refrigerate it overnight, uncovered, on a rack over a rimmed baking sheet (or in a baking dish). Salting early seasons the roast more thoroughly, because the salt has time to penetrate deep into the roast. Also, the refrigerator acts as a dehumidifier, drying the outside of the roast - a dry roast browns better.
Video: Rotisserie Sirloin Roast (5:35)
Video: Rotisserie Sirloin Roast [YouTube.com]
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Rotisserie Sirloin Roast
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 12-16 servings 1x
Description
Rotisserie Sirloin Roast - a spit-roasted center cut top sirloin makes an awesome (and affordable) main course for a holiday meal.
Ingredients
- 6 Pound Center Cut Top Sirloin Roast
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper
Instructions
- Truss, season, and spit the roast: Truss the roast into a tight cylinder with butcher’s twine, tying it about every inch and a half. Mix the salt and pepper and sprinkle them evenly over the roast. (If you have the time, truss and season this the night before cooking. Rest the seasoned roast in the refrigerator, uncovered. Salting early dry brines the roast, seasoning it more thoroughly.) Put the first spit fork on the roast, run the spit through the center of the roast, and secure the roast to the spit with the second spit fork. Let the roast rest at room temperature until the grill is ready.
- Set the grill for rotisserie cooking with indirect medium-high heat (425°F): For my Weber Summit, this means removing the grates, turning the two outer burners (burners 1 and 6) to high, and turning the infrared burner to high. Then I put my drip pan in the middle, over the unlit burners, and let the grill preheat for ten to fifteen minutes. (For a kettle grill, I light a Weber charcoal chimney ¾ full of charcoal, and divide it into two piles on the sides of the grill.)
- Rotisserie the roast: Put the spit on the rotisserie and start it spinning. (Close the lid and cook with the lid closed as much as possible.) After 30 minutes, check the roast - it should be browning well - and cut the heat back to medium-low, about 300°F. (On my Summit, I turn off my infrared rotisserie burner - the two outer burners on high give me about 300°F. On a charcoal kettle, don’t do anything - let charcoal burn-down take care of dropping the heat.) Continue to cook on medium-low with the lid closed, checking the temperature of the roast every 15 minutes. The roast is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 120°F for medium-rare, about 60 minutes of total cooking time. (Cook to 110°F to 115°F for rare, 125°F to 135°F for medium. If you want to go higher than that, don’t tell me; I don’t want to know.)
- Rest, carve, and serve: Remove the spit from the grill. Be careful – the spit is branding-iron hot. Remove the roast from the spit and immediately remove the trussing twine. Cover the roast with aluminum foil and let it rest for 15 to 30 minutes. Carve the roast, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
- Smaller roast: the whole center cut top sirloin roast weighs 4 to 7 pounds. Cooking time depends on how thick the roast is, and they’re all about the same thickness, so the cooking time doesn’t change much for a smaller roast. My 6-pound test roasts took about 60 minutes total cooking time. On the low end, a 4-pound roast will take roughly 50 minutes. On the high end, a 7-pound roast will go for about 70 minutes. But these are just estimates…
- Please, please, please cook to internal temperature, not by cooking time. When you’re aiming for a medium-rare roast, an instant read thermometer is your best friend.
- High-low cooking: I start at med-high heat, then cut back to med-low heat to even out the cooking. Starting at high heat gets the roast browning, and finishing with low heat cooks the roast evenly. If your grill doesn’t brown as well as my infrared burner does, you may have to stay at medium-high for the whole cooking time to get a good crust. That’s OK - the crust is the best part of rotisserie - but start checking the temperature earlier, because it will cook faster. (How much faster? It depends. See “cook to internal temperature” above.)
Tools
- Grill with rotisserie attachment (I love my jumbo Weber Summit with its infrared rotisserie burner)
- 13 by 9 inch drip pan
- Instant Read Thermometer (I love my Thermapen, and the ThermoPop is a good, less expensive model)
- Grilling gloves to protect your hands (I use welding gloves)
- Butchers Twine to tie the roast
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Rotisserie
- Cuisine: American
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
- Rotisserie Ribeye Roast with Herb Crust
- Rotisserie Eye of Round
- Rotisserie Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Mustard Crust
- My other Rotisserie Recipes
- My Rotisserie Cookbooks
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- Not so humble ↩
Mark M. says
Hi Mike, I’m new to roasting on the BBQ so forgive me if this seems like a silly question. Should I trim the fat off before I twine the roast?
Thanks
Mark
Mike Vrobel says
It’s a personal decision, but I leave the fat to baste the roast. You can trim the fat off if you want; I usually leave ½ inch of fat if it is thicker than that.
michael soper says
Looks good that want im gona cook for Xmas cheers mate
★★★★★
E Forrest Munford says
I have enjoyed your rotisserie recipe's and advice. I have owned my grill for about 15+ years and never used the rotisserie capability and I came across your blog and decided I needed to give it a try! I have now cooked chickens, top sirloin roast, and ribs...all per you instructions and on my Weber Summit grill. Somehow I seem to be over cooking. for all three events. Is it possible that I should just back off the cooking time? Also, something I learned from you was the overnight seasoning trick...I like it.
★★★★★
Mike Vrobel says
I use choice; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a prime grade sirloin. I usually cook Certified Angus Beef choice, because it is the best value, quality to cost. (It usually is the top end of the "choice" grading range). I’d cook prime more…if I could afford it. 😀
★★★★★
JohnT says
Mike, I tried the sirloin roast for a dinner party and it came out very well. Maybe it is a regional thing, but I could not find a cut larger than 4.25 lbs for either Prime or Choice so I chose Prime. And while everyone thought the roast was fabulous (and cooked to perfection if I say so myself), I wonder whether Choice would have been better. What grade do you use for such a lean cut?
Debra Flagle says
Made the whole chickens on the rotisserie, they were awesome! Thank you!
Mike Vrobel says
You’re welcome!
Chris Lukowski says
ETA: I see you already answered question 1 in your "High-low cooking" note on the post. Serves me right for just watching the video instead of RTFM. 😀
Mike Vrobel says
1. I'm glad *someone* is reading!
2. Reverse sear is tough to time on a rotisserie. I can't just leave a probe thermometer in the roast and wait for it to come up to temperature - I have to keep opening the lid and checking the temperature. If I want to reverse sear, I do it on the grill without the rotisserie.
(Also, I can get a better crust on the roast with high-low, and the whole point of rotisserie for me is the crust.)
3. That's a Teakhaus carving board...that they don't seem to make any more. This is the closest one I can find: Teakhaus 514 cutting board
Grant Gillett says
Might I suggest a Bluetooth grill thermometer for that revers sear.. I was introduced to it via Sous Vidi cooking.
Chris Lukowski says
That looks delicious Mike! I just have a few questions.
1) How would I adjust the instructions if my gas grill does not have an IR burner?
2) What made you decide to cook it High-Low instead of reverse sear Low-High? Is it easier to hit a specific target temperature on a roast doing it that way vs a steak?
3) Where did you get that SWEET cutting board with the drippings basin?
Thanks!