Traeger Smoked Eye of Round Roast {Easy Three Hour Recipe}
The eye of round roast has a reputation for being a tough cut of meat but that is only the case when it is overcooked. In fact, if you take the time to slow cook this cut to Medium Rare it comes out incredibly flavorful, juicy and, when sliced then, quite tender.
Let’s take a loot at how to smoke an eye of round on a Traeger pellet grill and one of my favorite ways of serving the final product.
Season the Eye of Round with Traeger’s Garlic Chili Pepper Rub
When I am smoking beef I like to use Traeger’s Garlic Chili Pepper dry rub as it has a nice balance of salt, savory, sweet and heat. If you don’t have this rub on hand then here is the ingredient list so you can whip up a batch of something similar:
Traeger Garlic and Chili Pepper Rub Ingredients
- Salt
- Cane Sugar
- “Spices (Including Basil)”
- Brown Sugar
- Paprika
- Chili Pepper
- Sunflower Oil
- Cane Molasses
This is the same rub I use for smoked tri tip, Poor Man’s burnt ends and smoked chuck roasts.
I like to paint a thin coat of Worcestershire sauce onto the meat before adding the rub to help it adhere better. The use of a binder isn’t really needed but it gives me something to do and makes me feel like I know what I am doing.
How much rub you need is going to depend on the size of your roast and you should plan on about 1.5 tablespoons per pound. This roast was a little over two pounds so I used about three tablespoons of seasoning.
Once the rub is on the meat let it rest for at least 30 minutes so it really binds to the meat and starts to soak in.
Set Your Traeger to 225F for Smoking
Turn on your Traeger, set the temperature to 225F and let the grill preheat for 15 minutes.
I wanted a mild smoke profile and was burning a mix of maple and cherry pellets. If you want a stronger smoke flavor then you could:
- Use SuperSmoke Mode (if available on your grill)
- Burn hickory pellets
- Add a small smoke tube with extra smoldering pellets to the cooking chamber.
Place the seasoned eye of round on the grill, close the lid and walk away for two hours.
By the way, this technique will also work great for a top round roast.
Baste the Meat with Traeger’s Texas Spicy BBQ Sauce
After the meat has smoked for two hours it will have an internal temperature of around 120F (it’s not done yet) and will look dry on the surface.
Open the lid and baste the roast with Traeger’s Texas Spicy BBQ Sauce. This sauce will give the meat some beautiful color and adds a nice layer of flavor.
If you do not have this particular sauce on hand then any sauce with some heat will work fine. I can recommend Head Country Hot as a great alternative. Stay away from anything sticky sweet like Sweet Baby Ray’s.
After the meat has been basted close the lid and let the roast smoke another 20 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 130F.
Rest, Slice and Serve the Smoked Eye of Round
Once the roast reaches an internal temperature of 130F remove it from the smoker, place in a shallow dish and cover with aluminum foil.
Let the meat rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
It is tempting to dig into the meat as fast as possible but you will be rewarded the longer you are able to wait. The meat becomes much easier to thinly slice as it cools and I will often stick the covered roast in the refrigerator for a couple hours to make slicing even easier.
I use a 15 inch granton edged slicer to get super thin cuts and if you don’t have one then consider this an excuse to buy one today.
There are all sorts of ways you could serve the sliced beef. This makes for some amazing roast beef sandwiches and is even better on a toasted bagel with a fried egg and melted cheese.
One of my favorite ways of serving the beef is as an appetizer. I will slice the slices into strips, add them to some bread rounds and top them with a dab of steak sauce. I promise that if you a platter of these things out at a party then they will disappear in a heartbeat!
Traeger Smoked Eye of Round Roast
Equipment
- Traeger Pellet Grill
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs Eye of Round Roast
- 3 tbsp Traeger Garlic Chili Pepper Rub
- 3 tbsp Traeger Texas Spicy BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Coat the meat with the dry rub and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Set your Traeger grill to 225F.
- Put the eye of round roast on the grill and smoke for two hours.
- Baste the meat with Traeger Texas Spicy BBQ sauce.
- Smoke the roast for another20 minutes or until an internal temperature of 130F is reached.
- Remove the roast from the grill, tent with aluminum foil and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Slice the meat thinly across the grain and serve.
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