Do you smell that? Do you smell that?!?! That is the smell of delicious barbeque on your pellet grill. It’s been a while since I’ve come out with a new barbeque post. It’s not that I haven’t been smoking, I just haven’t been writing about it. Well, that’s about to change! Get ready for some mind blowing barbeque with this Smoked Eye of Round recipe!
The eye of round is part of the round primal cut. If you aren’t familiar with primal cuts, the round is above the hind legs of a cow. It includes cuts such as the knuckle, top round, bottom round, and of course the eye of round. These cuts are all on the tougher side. For that reason you rarely see steaks from this part of the cow. It also means that cooking at a lower temperature for a longer period of time will result in a very tender end product. Does low and slow sound familiar?
We typically think of low and slow beef barbeque in relation to the brisket. Well, this cut is a bit more lean and cheap as compared to the brisket, which is it’s own category of primal cuts. In other words, the eye of round is like brisket, but not brisket. I’m toying around with the idea of taking a bit of a tour of the cow and trying barbeque recipes from each of the primal cuts. Enough about that, read on to see how long to smoke your eye of round in an electric smoker!
How to Make Smoked Eye of Round
Start off by preparing your smoker. Get it fired up and around 250 degrees. While it’s heating up you can prepare the meat.
Prepping your smoked eye of round
Start off by trimming off any excess fat. Once it’s trimmed up, lather it up with yellow mustard. This acts as a binder, ensuring the seasonings you are about to put on stick to the meat. Once it’s on and evenly spread start seasoning. I was shooting for some Texas style barbeque, so I seasoned it with seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Feel free to dress it up however you wish. There are different options for binders, including mayonnaise, olive oil, avocado oil, or 3-ring (okay maybe not the last one). If you need some seasoning inspiration, you could try out PNWGrill and Sip’s very own Barbeque Seasoning Rub.
Cooking your smoked eye of round
Once your smoker is all set and rolling about 250 degrees and your roasts are seasoned to perfection place them on the smoker. Depending on how big your roasts are (I had two roasts that were about 2.5 pounds each), this smoke might take a while. When I’m smoking something that will be on a while I like to put temperature probes in right when the cook starts in order to reduce the number of times I have to open the smoker to check on it. Remember, if you’re looking, you ain’t cooking! I use the Inkbird WiFi thermometer, which allows me to use up to four probes to track the temperature of the meat as it cooks using an app on my smartphone.
How to get your smoked eye of round passed the stall
At this temperature and cook time you will encounter something called the stall. Again, it’s typically a phrase associated with smoking a brisket. What happens during the stall is probably better described by a food scientist. Essentially, the meat has shrunk and the internal juices are redistributing. While that happens the temperature stays constant or climbs very slowly. Don’t worry, everything will be alright. At this point, some people choose to wrap the meat in butcher paper or foil. It’s totally fine to do that if you wish. I chose not to because, well, it’s just more work. If I was smoking a brisket that was going to be on the smoker for 12 or more hours I would wrap, because believe it or not there is such a thing as too much smoke flavor.
When the internal temperature reaches 210 degrees pull the roasts off the smoker and allow to rest. Resting should take anywhere between 10-20 minutes. At that point you can slice or shred the roasts and serve!
If you try this recipe, please let us know what you think!
If you’re like me, you have a beautiful fiancé to help with the shredding and a horde of dogs waiting for a crumb!
Music Recommendation
Since this recipe is a Texas barbeque spin on a less frequently used cut of beef, I figure a music recommendation straight from Texas is the most appropriate. I bet you think that means country music! You would be wrong! To me, nothing pairs better with classic barbeque than classic rock, so give ZZ Top – La Grange a listen while you try to wrap your mouth around a mountain of shredded smoked eye of round in a bun!
Smoked Eye of Round
Ingredients
- 5 pounds beef eye of round I had two 2.5 pound roasts
- 3 tablespoons yellow mustard or other binder
- 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh cracked pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Start your smoker and bring the temperature up to 250 degrees
- While your smoker is heating up lather your roasts with mustard. Season all around with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder3 tablespoons yellow mustard, 1 tablespoon seasoned salt, 1 tablespoon fresh cracked pepper, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 5 pounds beef eye of round
- Place the roasts on the smoker and insert temperature probes into the thickest part of the meat
- Once the roasts reach an internal temperature of 210 degrees remove them from the smoker and allow them to rest 10-20 minutes
- After they have rested slice or shred the meat and serve
Nutrition
Cocktail pairings for your smoked eye of round
- The Dirty Shirley – a quick and easy crowd-pleaser.
- Peach Cilantro Mojito – perfect for any summer barbeque.
- Hurricane – only for the brave who plan on sticking around for a while or getting a ride home!
Side dishes for your smoked eye of round
- BBQ Asparagus – simple, sweet, and tangy side dish perfect for that late spring and early summer BBQ
- Spicy Smoked Veggies – they are hot, you’ve been warned!
- 5 Ingredient Smoked Carrots – the easiest BBQ side dish around!
Disclaimer: Some links in my posts may be affiliate links. I’m not being paid to advertise them to my readers, however, I may make a small commission if you purchase them. This blogging thing ain’t free, ya know? I wouldn’t share anything I don’t already own myself, or have on my wish list of items to buy.
One response to “Smoked Eye of Round”
I can smell it through the photos.