Top Round Steak
The Kitchen Bucket List wants you to have a cost-effective BBQ dinner tonight with top round steak. The reverse sear with the magic of dry brining & marinating is the answer.
Equipment
- BBQ
- Smoking wood, cherry wood chips
- Remote thermometer
- Large plate/tray
- Whisk
- Bowl
- Freezer-safe Ziploc bag (1 gallon)
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ pounds top round steak
Dry brine
- 2 teaspoons lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked Paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
Umami Marinade
- ½ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
Instructions
Dry Brine
- In a bowl combine the lemon pepper, salt, smoked Paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder to make the dry rub.
- Unpack the top round steak and place it on a plate/tray. Dry off the steak with a paper towel and apply the dry rub. Don't be shy to rub it in.
- Place the steak in the refrigerator uncovered to dry brine for 4 hours.
Umami Marinade
- Before the 4-hour dry drine is done make the umami marinade. The olive oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, yellow mustard, honey, and minced garlic come together easily in a bowl with a whisk.
- Once the marinade is done and the steak has finished dry brining open a 1-gallon freezer-safe Ziploc bag and roll the opening down. This will make placing the steak in the bag easier to marinate.
- Place about a ¼ cup of marinade in the bag and lay the top round on top of it. Then pour the rest of the marinade over the steak, remove as much air as possible from the bag, and seal. Ensure the marinade completely covers the top round steak.
- Place the steak back in the refrigerator for 4 hours. I use a plate or tray under the steak in case there is a leak in the bag.
Reverse Sear & Enjoy
- The dry brine and marinade are done. So head out to set the BBQ up for indirect cooking at 225 degrees F., add your smoking wood, then place the top round steak on the grill grates to do the low and slow smoke for just under an hour.
- Once you reach your level of doneness pull the steak. It was 45 minutes for our steak. This was for medium rare.NOTE: The top round will continue to rise in temperature by around 10 degrees F. once pulled.
- Nap time...whoops I mean rest time. It is just 10 minutes.
- While the top round steak rests, change the BBQ back to direct cooking and increase it to 450 degrees F.
- Searing time. Bring the steak back out and sear for 2 minutes on each side.
- Time to enjoy the top round steak. You can bring it right in and serve immediately.
Notes
Doneness. Our preferred doneness is medium rare between 125 – 135 degrees F. If this is not the doneness (internal temperature) of your liking simply adjust it. Remember the top round will continue to rise by around 10 degrees F. while resting. For this recipe, I pulled the top round steak at 115 degrees F. to rest. After searing it was between 130 - 132 degrees F. before serving.
