Smoked London Broil on a Pellet Grill {Traeger, Pit Boss, Z Grills}

One of the cheapest cuts of beef available is the Top Round Roast.  When you cut the Top Round Roast into thick steaks you get the flavorful London Broil which is incredibly easy to cook on your smoker.

Let me show you how to make a smoked London Broil on a pellet grill so you can cook this beauty on your pit tonight!

Let’s get started!

Prepare the London Broil for the Smoker

I got a a two-pack of these steaks at Costco for $5.89 a pound.  There were two steaks that weighed almost two pounds each.  I smoked one of them and used the other for a Sous Vide London Broil.

When you look at the steak you can see that it is comprised of two different muscles and there is very little fat, gristle or connective tissue.  As a result you really do not have to do any trimming to the meat before it is seasoned.

Season with a Rub or Marinade

Some folks like to add a flavor layer by marinating the steak for a few hours.  Marinating the steak is an excellent idea but I did not plan ahead so I skipped this step.

If you want to use a marinade then this one that I use on flank steak would be great.

Like I said though, I skipped the marinade and went with a pretty bold dry rub.

Start by applying a thin coat of yellow mustard to the beef to help the dry rub adhere.  A general rule is to use a tablespoon of mustard per pound of meat.

Since this roast weighed in at just under 2 pounds I ended up using a little under 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard.  Don’t sweat this step.  Just squirt some mustard on and spread it all over the meat.  It isn’t an exact science!

Some people prefer to use other binders instead of mustard.  Popular alternative binder choices include:

• Olive oil
• Worcestershire sauce
• Soy Sauce

Once the mustard has been applied you can season it with the dry rub.  You can use our Award Winning Beef Rub or use the coffee based dry rub that I used given below:

• 2 tbls ground coffee
• 1 tbls salt
• 1 tbls smoked paprika
• 1 tbls chili powder
• 1 tbls black pepper
• 1 tbls brown sugar
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1 tsp granulated onion

Let the rub sit on the meat for at least 30 minutes at room temperature so it can start to melt and penetrate the beef.  If you want to keep things real simple then just season the meat with salt and pepper like I did for this Grilled London Broil.

Turn Your Pellet Grill to 225F

When I smoke an eye of round or sirloin tip roast I like to go with a low temperature setting for an hour and then finish it up at a higher temperature. Today I felt like switching things up and did the entire cook on my Z Grills pellet grill set at 225F.  This recipe will work just fine on your Traeger or Pit Boss.

You want to use low temperatures when smoking a London Broil for two reasons:

• Tenderness
• Smoke Flavor

London Broil will get TOUGH if you try grilling them over high heat.  The trick to keeping it tender is to cook it at low temperatures so the meat doesn’t “tense up”.

A 2 pound top round steak will finish smoking in under two hours which, in the world of smoked meats, is pretty fast.  Combine the short cook time with the fact that pellet grills do not naturally put out a lot of smoke flavor and you could end up with little smoke flavor if you are cooking at higher temps.

I was cooking with Royal Oak charcoal pellets.  If you want even more smoke flavor then you can use hickory pellets or add a smoke tube to the cooking chamber.

Cook to an Internal Temperature of 135F

I put the steak on the pellet smoker and let it smoke until it reached an internal temperature of 135F.

This cook was a re-learning experience for me.  I figured that since I was dealing with a piece of meat that weighed about two pounds then it would take about two hours for it to cook.

What I had forgotten is that how long a piece of meat is determined by how thick it is, not how much it weighs.  As a result this two pound steak, which was about an inch thick, reached 135F in about 90 minutes.

Slicing the Beef

You want to slice the London Broil as thin as possible to achieve the greatest tenderness.  I like to let the meat chill in the refrigerator for an hour or two before slicing as I can get thinner cuts from cold meat.

If you slice the steak straight “up and down” you will be cutting with the grain.  While the meat will still be tender, this will result in the toughest bites.  I prefer to slice London Broil on a slight bias to shorten up the meat fibers.

The combination of the deep beef flavor from this working muscle, the bold earthiness of the coffee rub and the kiss of smoke from the pellet grill came out pretty spectacular.

Serve these slices of smoked beef with a horseradish cream sauce on a toasted roll and you will be a happy camper!