smoking a round roast

[Riders]

Hi everyone from the parkland of Saskatchewan. Need some advice today on how to do a 17lb  outside round roast for a friends surprise 65 th birthday party on saturday. Concerned the rack may not hold it so should i cut it in two. Am also concerned about it drying out. I plan on wrapping it as it gets out of the stall. I want it to be done roughly medium and be able to slice it not get it to pulled beef. Again my biggest concern is it drying out. It is from costco and has some marbling to it about as much as this cut can have. How long would it take roughly and would it be less if i cut it in two

I  have a bradley 6 rack digital with 2 500 watt heating tubes and an Auburn PID. Thanks.

[ghosttown]

I did a 18lbs pork shoulder one piece with no issues. They say hr and a half for every lb but you should always go by the Internal temp. I also modded mine with a 900watt and a PID controller. That method was accurate because my shoulder was done in 26hrs.

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[Habanero Smoker]

If you are worry about the rack holding 17 lbs. the rails I believe will hold up to 30 lbs. The rack may bow towards the middle. When that happens I just use two racks instead of one for extra strength.

I can't give you a time frame, but if you are only going to medium rare, the 1.5 hour/lb may be too long for a cut like this. I would smoke/roast it at 225°F. I smoke/roast top loin at that temperature to medium rare (130°F - 135°F), and if a top loin would dry out, I don't believe your round roast will.  Cooking at 225°F will give the roast a uniform doness; from bark to center. I generally will stop about 5°F before my target temperature, then reverse sear - either on the grill or in a 450°F preheated oven.

[Riders]

Thanks for the valuable info.  How long would you reverse sear at 450?. I am thinking of starting on this roast late Friday night and watching my internal temp and then trying the reverse sear. If the roast  is done earlier how long could i hold it  before i sear and how soon after the sear could i serve it. Again thanks.

[Habanero Smoker]

When do you plan to serve the roast? Depending on it's thickness, if you are only cooking to medium rare, I'm roughly guessing this roast may be finished in 6 -  12 hours. Round roast it a fairly tough cut, so when you slice, slice across the grain and keep the slices less than 1/4-inch thick.

There are a couple of different techniques to reverse sear in the oven, you should google "reverse sear a roast". Most sources use 500°F - 550°F; but I feel more comfortable using 450°F - less chance of burning, but using 500°F will sear and faster and better. This can take 5 - 15 minutes. During this time don't get distracted. You are looking for a dark brown and crispy crust. It can go from seared to burnt in a matter of several seconds.

I like to rest the roast for awhile prior to searing. A 17lb. roast cooked at 225°F I would loosely tent it with foil, and let it rest anywhere from .5 to 1.5 hours; then into a preheated 500°F oven, for the reverse sear. Doing it this way you can serve the roast immediately when it comes out of the oven. The other reverse sear method is to raise the oven temperature to 450° - 550°F, when the roast reaches your ideal internal temperature. Then monitor it closely until you get the proper sear. Doing it this way you need to allow the roast to rest .5 - 1.5 hours prior to slicing.

[Riders]

I was actually going for a medium doneness not medium rare.The roast is about 6 inches at the thickest part. The meal will be served at 6pm tommorow night.. I will start at midnight tonight and go from there gives me i think enough time to do it right. Thanks for all the help will let everyone know how it goes. Either way it will be a meal to remember for sure. Thanks again.

[Riders]

Just to let you know it was a very valuable learning experience this weekend. It turned out quite well. Roast was a little more than medium done more towards well but quite moist and juicy.
Here is what i did I put the roast in at 10 pm at 225 with enough hickory pucks for 5 hours and went to bed expecting it to be half done in morning. To my surprise at 7 am it was at 155 internal temp so i FTC'd it and to my amazement it was still 140 at 3pm at 5pm i set oven at 270 and left it in for25 minutes and internal temp back to 155. Served at 6pm like i said a little too done for me but everyone loved it. Never underestimate the power of the mighty little bradley

[Habanero Smoker]

Glad your cook went well. I see you didn't reverse sear.

The reason the roast only took around 9 hours to get to 155°F, was because you were not cooking a very tough cut of meat that required a lot of collagen to be broken down. Cooking to an internal temperature of 155°F, you didn't have to bring the meat through what is commonly called the "stall" or the "plateau". The stall occurs around 160°F, and will stay at around that temperature for hours before you will see the temperature begin to rise. Pork shoulder and briskets are the types of meat you want to use the 1.5 hours per pound as a guideline.