Smoked Rump Roast

Learn step by step how to make a smoked rump roast on ANY grill or smoker!

Whether you're smoking your rump roast on a Traeger or Pit Boss pellet grill, a Weber Kettle, or a Masterbuilt electric smoker, we've got you covered.

A rump roast is a simple, lean beef roast, sometimes labeled as a bottom round roast, although technically is a little different.

While both cuts come from the hindquarters of the steer, the rump experiences slightly less use than the round, and therefore has more intramuscular fat.

This makes the rump roast perfect for the smoking low and slow without as much risk of drying out, although we will still need to watch our temperatures closely!

Unlike our super fatty beef brisket and beef ribs, we are going to smoke and then reverse sear this rump roast more like a steak, or traditional beef roast to a perfect medium rare.

We are going to cover:

• How to prep your rump roast for the smoker
• How to set up different grills and smokers for a smoked rump roast
• What temperature to smoke your rump roast
• The best wood choices for a smoked rump roast
• How to know precisely when your smoked rump roast is finished
• How to rest, slice, and serve your perfectly smoked rump roast.

Wow, that's a lot...so let's get smokin'!

Jump to:

• Prepare the Rump Roast for the Smoker
• Top Seasonings for Beef Rump Roasts
• Best Smoking Wood Choices for Rump Roast
• Best Times and Temperatures for Smoking a Rump Roast
• Smoker Temperature
• Target Internal Temperature
• Cooking Time
• Reverse Searing Smoked Rump Roast
• Resting and Slicing a Rump Roast
• Serving Suggestions
• 📖 Recipe

Prepare the Rump Roast for the Smoker

Thankfully you won't need to do much of anything to your rump roast other than take it out of the package and season it before you smoke it.

There isn't usually too much exterior fat to trim off a rump roast, but if there is, you can certainly cut off the excess so that the seasoning penetrates the meat a little better.

Make sure to always use a good boning knife like this one from Mercer so you don't tear up your beautiful beef roast while trying to trim the fat.

Once the excess fat is trimmed, give it a rub down with a good high smoke point oil so that if you decide to sear it later, the oil doesn't burn.

We are big fans of flaxseed or avocado oil for searing beef roasts like smoked rump roast.

Top Seasonings for Beef Rump Roasts

When it comes to a smoked rump roast, or most beef roasts for that matter such as ribeye roast, you want to keep the seasonings simple and savory.

Save the sugary BBQ rubs for your ribs and pork butts, especially since we will be searing this roast later and you'll just end up burning all that sugar.

If you REALLY want to use a sugary BBQ rub like Blues Hog, one of our favorites for low and slow cooking, then skip the searing step at the end.

For our recipe below, we use a mixture of kosher salt, black pepper, paprika, onion powder, cayenne, and fresh minced garlic to form our exterior bark.

If you want a quick store bought rub with NO sugar, then try Bad Byron's Butt Rub.  If you read our recipes often, you will see we recommend this one often for sugar free seasoning.

We also really like Meat Church's Holy Cow Rub for rump roast. It contains no sugar as well.

We oil up and season the rump roast for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator, before placing it on the smoker.

This gives the salt loads of time to penetrate the meat and really flavor it all the way through.

Best Smoking Wood Choices for Rump Roast

For a big piece of beef like a smoked rump roast, go with something like hickory, alder, or pecan that will compliment the beef well.

If you want to keep it simple and straightforward, choose a lighter smoking wood like oak, apple, or peach.

Just know that these lighter fruitwoods may not impart as much smoky flavor into the beef as they might with chicken or fish.

When in doubt, you can always mix and match your choices together.

Make sure you are using hardwood pellets in a pellet grill, wood chips in an electric smoker, and wood chunks when smoking on a charcoal grill.

For added smoke flavor, we add a pellet smoker tube or small firebox with charcoal and wood chunks.

Best Times and Temperatures for Smoking a Rump Roast

You will need to watch both your cooking temperature and internal temperatures carefully when smoking the rump roast.

Smoker Temperature

We recommend setting up the grill or smoker to cook at 225-250°F INDIRECTLY.

The rump roast is still somewhat lean compared to a lot of traditional BBQ meats, and will cook relatively quickly compared to a big fatty brisket or Boston butt for pulled pork.

So we are keeping the temperature low to not only keep the meat moist but to also impart as much smoke flavor in the brief time it takes to cook as we can.

Target Internal Temperature

You HAVE to use a good instant read meat thermometer to know where the internal temperature is of your smoked rump roast.

Ideally you want a good leave in probe thermometer like the ThermoPro as well as a second instant read to spot check different depths and areas on the roast.

While we have used and recommended ThermoPro for years, lately we have also become big fans of the MEATER leave in thermometer.

It is extremely accurate and has an incredible 165 foot Bluetooth range and works right with your smartphone so you don't need to carry a separate controller around with you like many other remote thermometers require.

It's got a great free app that is constantly being updated and even has an algorithm to predict how much longer your type of meat will take to cook based on cooking temperature, target temperature, current internal temperature.

It's like a GPS for your meat!

We are going to slowly bring the internal temperature up to about 125°F, then sear it as hot as we can for about 2 minutes on every side until the internal temperature hits about 131°F and then remove it from the grill or smoker.

You can't do all this without accurate thermometers.  There is very little room for error when smoking a beef roast like a rump roast.

For spot checking throughout the cook, we are particular fans of this one from ThermoPro because of its durability and affordable price.

Everyone from beginner smokers to competition cooks need to use instant thermometers to consistently make great food.

So keep them handy and use them often.

Cooking Time

A general guide is that most beef roasts take about 25-30 minutes per pound to smoke at 225°F.

So plan on a 5 lb rump roast to take about 2 to 2.5 hours to cook to medium rare.

Then add in your searing time and about 30 minutes to let it rest after cooking it before slicing.

Unless you want all those delicious juices running all over your cutting board instead of staying in the meat where you want them, you need to set aside time for the smoked rump roast to rest.

Reverse Searing Smoked Rump Roast

"Reverse Searing" is just a fancy term for searing your meat at the very end, once it is pretty much all the way cooked through, in order to get a nice crispy exterior crust that you sometimes just can't get from low and slow smoking alone.

Once the internal temperature of the smoked rump roast reaches about 125°F, you are going to move it with a good pair of long handled BBQ tongs to the hot part of the grill, some Grill Grates on a pellet grill, or even just a hot cast iron skillet or griddle.

You will need to keep turning the smoked rump roast to get each side seared evenly.

The hands down BEST way to sear meat on a pellet grill, especially an older model that may not have a built in searing feature like the newest Pit Boss Pro Series and Traeger Ironwood Series, is to use a Grill Grate.

These handy aftermarket pellet grill accessories use the ambient heat of a pellet grill to create a searing hot surface on which to finish your meat hot and fast.

We love them for finishing smoked pork chops, steaks, and hamburgers on a pellet grill such as a Pit Boss, a Traeger, or a Camp Chef.

Make sure to measure and choose the right size for your specific pellet grill.

Resting and Slicing a Rump Roast

You will then remove the smoked rump roast from the hot grill, Grill Grate, or skillet and let it rest on a cutting board.

Do not cover, wrap, or tent with foil when you let medium rare beef rest or it will continue to steam and over cook!

Let the smoked rump roast rest for about 20-30 minutes before slicing.

Make sure to use a good meat slicing knife if you want those ultra thin deli style slices for the best roast beef ever.

We particularly like this meat slicing knife from Mairico.

The outside slices will be more done than the very center if you have people in your house who prefer various levels of doneness to their beef.

If you are serving your smoked rump roast as a dinner, go ahead and slice thicker ¼" slices to serve with a jus, horseradish, or maybe a rosemary cream sauce.

Make sure to only slice what you plan to eat immediately in order to keep the beef roast as moist as possible.

Serving Suggestions

You can't go wrong with a flavorful jus to make a smoked French dip or a traditional horseradish cream to cut through the richness of the smoked rump roast beef.

For sides, we especially like asparagus, our yummy smoked carrots, or sticky smoked sweet potatoes.

Hope you enjoy!

📖 Recipe