How to do a top sirloin roast?

I have a newly broken in 18.5 inch WSM with sand in the water pan.

I (meaning my family) have porked out on ribs and pork roasts and have found pig to be very forgiving. I love how easy it is to control the temperature compared to my previous smoker. I now want to move on to beef. I use a Chefalarm thermometer with probe.

Last year I "learned" to smoke on a heavily modified Brinkmann “ECB” smoker. Again, pork was easy but the three times I attempted beef it was disastrous. The results, at best, can be compared to dried out smoked shoe leather.

I would appreciate pointers. I will be smoking a 6-8 pound top sirloin roast next weekend. Should I brine it and inject it or just use a rub? Mop? Should I foil the roast late into the smoke? What wood will compliment the beef? What heat should I aim for and for how long?

Cheers,

Bill

Oak or hickory would go nicely with beef. Since the cut is top sirloin, I'd take it to mid rare or medium at most. Basically, view it as a really thick steak. You might want to do a reverse sear on it to get a nice crust. If so, pull the meat about 10 degrees sooner and then roll it around an insanely hot grill. For seasoning, I'd go with SPOG (kosher salt, coarse ground pepper, onion and garlic powder.) You could also slather the meat with Lea and Perrins Thick (steak sauce) or some A1 if that is your fancy.

Not much fat in it (ie: nothing to "render out") so I would smoke at a higher temp (300-325o) and a "beef" rub as Dave suggested. Again, no higher internal than med rare 140o when it comes out of the smoker (letting it rise to 145o when it's setting)

Top Sirloin roast is a real treat and I like to smoke it in the 250- 270 range till 125, ( hold it tented) then break down the WSM, preheat the grate and do a quick sear. Like Dave I do a slather with L&P with Webers Chicago Steak seasoning or Montreal.
I wouldn't brine it, but injecting works with a garlic herb mix. I like oak on beef> esp Red, but a mix of cherry/ hickory/pecan sounds good.

Tim

Am I right in my thinking that if I smoke a six-seven pound roast at 250F'ish to reach an internal meat temperature of 135F that the time in the smoker should last roughly 2 hours??? After that sear it then let it rest before slicing.

William E. said:

Am I right in my thinking that if I smoke a six-seven pound roast at 250F'ish to reach an internal meat temperature of 135F that the time in the smoker should last roughly 2 hours??? After that sear it then let it rest before slicing.

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Cook time is based on thickness of the roast, not it's weight per se. A 6lb roast that is short, narrow and 4 inches thick will take much longer than a 6lb roast that is long, wide and only 2 inches thick. I'd ballpark about 1 hour per inch of thickness and that is a very rough guesstimate.