Smoked Sirloin Tip Roast

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

We season, smoke, then sear this popular beef roast to a perfect medium rare.   

Whether you've got a Traeger or Pit Boss pellet grill, a Weber Kettle, or a Masterbuilt electric smoker, we've got you covered.

A smoked sirloin tip roast, sometimes called a round tip roast, is cut from the hindquarters of the steer and is a more affordable beef roast than the similarly named but adjacently located sirloin roast.

And much more affordable than prime rib, beef tenderloin, and even beef brisket.

Much like a chuck roast or eye of round, this tougher cut of beef benefits from low and slow smoking like we are doing today.

Much like we dressed up our smoked bottom round beef roast, we are going to take this smoked sirloin tip roast up a notch by adding some great BBQ flavors, wood smoke, and getting the temperature to a perfect medium rare.

Jump to:

• Trimming
• Best Seasonings for Beef Roasts
• Best Smoking Woods and Pellets
• Grill or Smoker Temperature
• Target Internal Temperature
• Cooking Time
• Reverse Searing
• Resting the Meat
• Slicing the Meat
• Serving Suggestions
• 📖 Recipe

Trimming

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

There isn't usually too much fat to trim off a roast from the round section of the steer such as the sirloin tip.

But if there is, you can certainly cut off the excess so that the seasoning penetrates the meat better.

Make sure to always use a good boning knife like this one from imarku 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 sirloin tip.

Best Seasonings for Beef Roasts

When it comes to a smoked sirloin tip beef roast, or most beef roasts for that matter including 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 smoked sirloin tip 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 quite a bit for sugar free seasoning.

Meat Church's Holy Cow is another no sugar BBQ rub that is great on beef.

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

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

Best Smoking Woods and Pellets

For a big piece of beef like a smoked sirloin tip beef 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 smokey flavor into beef as they will with chicken or fish.

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

Grill or Smoker Temperature

You will need to watch both your cooking temperature and internal temperature carefully when smoking the sirloin tip beef roast.

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

The sirloin tip roast is very lean 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 sirloin tip beef 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, and the current internal temperature.

It's like a GPS for your meat!

We are going to slowly bring the internal temperature up to about 120°F, then sear it as hot as we can for about 2 minutes on every side until the internal temperature hits about 125-130°F and then remove it from the grill or smoker.

While the roast rests it will rise another 5°F internally at least...putting us right near a perfect medium rare of 135°F internally.

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

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 sirloin tip beef 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 sirloin tip roast to rest.

Reverse Searing

"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 sirloin tip roast reaches about 120°F, you are going to move it with some tongs to the hot part of the grill, some Grill Grates on a pellet grill, or even just a hot cast iron skillet.

You will need to keep turning the smoked sirloin tip to get each side seared evenly.

Use a good pair of long handled BBQ tongs to keep the smoked sirloin tip continuously rotating and searing on every edge, about 2 minutes per side.

Now, there are several ways to do this depending on what type of grill or smoker you are using.

Gas or Charcoal Grills

These are the easiest grills to reverse sear the sirloin tip roast on.

When the roast is up to 120°F, simply move it over to the hot side of the grill over the charcoal or the hot burners and crank the heat.

Then rotate every two minutes on all sides, watch your temperature, and remove when the internal temperature is between 125°F and 130°F.

Electric and Propane Smokers

If you are stuck with a vertical electric or propane smoker that only goes up to say 325°F, you may want to heat up a gas grill burner, a cast iron skillet, or even a flat top grill.

Anything to get a nice searing hot surface to move your smoked sirloin tip roast to when it's ready.

Pellet Grills

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, 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 used an infrared thermometer to demonstrate just how hot they get.

We love them for finishing smoked pork chops, steaks, and hamburgers on a pellet grill.

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

Resting the Meat

You will then remove the smoked sirloin tip 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 meat rest or it will continue to steam and over cook!

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

Slicing the Meat

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

You know we particularly like this meat slicing knife from Mairico.

Want to review our 5 FAVORITE Meat Cutting knives of the past year? Check out this Complete List HERE!

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

Or, if you are serving your smoked sirloin tip roast as a dinner, go ahead and slice thicker ¼" slices to serve with a jus, horseradish, or maybe a 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 sirloin tip roast beef.

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

Hope you enjoy!

📖 Recipe