By Sam Sifton
- Total Time
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- Rating
- 4(449)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The recipe for the beef is based on a simple and not terribly expensive roast of beef, crusted in a sort of dry rub that is rather more tropical than what you find in most parts of New England, save those inhabited by the great John (Doc) Willoughby, who was the executive editor of Gourmet until that magazine’s demise. Willoughby has championed the intersection of American winter and Caribbean spices for years. This Willoughby-ish mixture — salt and pepper, coriander and cumin, brown sugar and paprika — is wonderful on fire-cooked beef, of course, but it’s still excellent when used in an oven until it goes tight and deepest brown over the meat.
Featured in: The Cheat: The Roast With the Most
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 2teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2tablespoons kosher salt
- 1tablespoon sweet Spanish paprika
- 1tablespoon brown sugar
- 1½teaspoons ground cumin
- 1½teaspoons ground coriander
- Red pepper flakes to taste
- 1sirloin tip roast, approximately 3 pounds
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (or light a charcoal fire on one side of a large kettle grill, using a small pillow’s worth of briquettes). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Step
2
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Place the roast in the bowl and rub the spices all over the meat, pressing down so they adhere.
Step
3
Place the roast on the baking sheet and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, until the meat registers an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees for medium-rare. Remove from the oven and let sit, loosely tented under foil, for 15 minutes before slicing. (Alternately, when the coals are covered with a fine ash, place the roast on the side of the grill opposite the fire. Cover, cracking the vent open a little, and cook for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the meat has reached an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees for medium-rare. Remove from the fire and let sit, loosely tented under foil, for 15 minutes before slicing.)
Ratings
4
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449
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Cooking Notes
Thomas Greisen
Next time I do this will a garlic slivers into the meat. Also I think that 130-135 is to much. I will stop at 12o degs.
Otherwise just plain great.
Mary
After reading the other notes, I cut back on the salt and infused the roast with some fresh garlic cloves. Roasted to 125 degrees and let set for the 15 minutes before carving. Will definitely make this again and certainly for a good old fashioned family Sunday dinner.
Alexis
I've made this a few times since this recipe was published in 2010. I added about a tsp of hot Spanish paprika & a few arbol pepper flakes. Although the rub tastes very salty & a bit spicy, it's only on the outside of the roast so you don't get a lot on any one slice, so it works. Also good when cold. I used the oven method. Have made this before & will make it again!
phyllis good
Cook only until 120 degrees rather than 130-135.
Susan Sater
Nice idea for a cut that can be a challenge. Had a smaller roast (2 lb) so cooked at 20 minutes/lb at 375--a touch higher heat so I could get nice surface color with shorter cooking time. Used a cast iron pan which would take a bit of time to warm up if I used it cold when putting the roast into the oven so just heated the pan with the oven. Excellent!
Linda Dietrich
Have made this a few times and it is perfect as written.
Leslie Gotfrit
Took about 80 minutes for a rare 3.25 sirloin tip roast, barely 115. Might have still been slightly frozen inside. Tender but just not that interesting. I reduced salt by 25%, reduce next time by 50%. Added 1 tsp Aleppo pepper, would add 2 tsp next time. It was greatly helped by gravy. Roasted it on a bed of root veg, cut into 3/4" chunks: turnip, yam, carrot, onion, beet and they were delicious. Then made gravy in the cast iron pan I roasted the beef and veg in while the roast rested.
joyhumanist
I cooked a three pound top sirloin for one hour exactly, nestling small potatoes cut in half around the beef, to 125 degrees. Put halved Brussels sprouts on the lower rack after 45 minutes, giving them 30 minutes to cook, first along with the beef and then while the beef rested. On the rare side of medium rare, and delicious. Will definitely do this again!
Bill Schroeder
What is a pillow’s worth of briquettes?
Emily
I had extra spice rub so I tossed cauliflower, parsnips, and onions in oil with the spices. I think I will try the rub with 1/2 the salt next time.
Katie
I just cooked this for dinner tonight. Fabulous. I cut the salt in half and added 1 1/2 teaspoons of smoked paprika to the rub.
Thomas
Definitely don’t cook this as long as it says unless you want tough meat! It looked pretty though and the spices were great
Jeanne
Meh. I was eager to try this since this it's a relatively inexpensive cut of beef but was completely underwhelmed. I followed the recipe exactly and figured I'd add my own tweaks if I made it again...I won't be making it again. The meat was perfectly rare to medium-rare (as we like it) but too chewy for our taste with not much flavor. There's just not enough fat in this cut of beef to make this recipe a keeper.
Rae
In error I got a small sirloin tip roast on sale. It was just over a pound. I used this recipe for the rub. I preheated a cast iron fry pan in a 375F oven. I put a splash of canola oil in the hot pan and the meat in the pan. I cooked it for 20 minutes until the internal temperature reached 122F. I tented it with foil and let it rest for 20 minutes. Thinly sliced across the grain, it was perfectly rare. Tasty and tender! Served with sour cream horseradish sauce.
Immanuel Kant
I really enjoyed this. It was fast and easy and a good way to turn a fairly dull cut of beef into something more interesting.
Stacy
Salted a day ahead. Scale back the cumin. Otherwise perfect.
Susan Sater
Nice idea for a cut that can be a challenge. Had a smaller roast (2 lb) so cooked at 20 minutes/lb at 375--a touch higher heat so I could get nice surface color with shorter cooking time. Used a cast iron pan which would take a bit of time to warm up if I used it cold when putting the roast into the oven so just heated the pan with the oven. Excellent!
Anne
Made this exactly as written and the meat turned out perfectly. Cooked in a roasting pan over carrots, celery and onions. Veggies were great too. Super easy!
Joan Mary Weber
I put this on a rack in my roasting pan with raw carrots, sprinkled with evoo, under the rack. I cooked the roast for 45 minutes to 120* for medium rare. Carrots was delish. Served with sautéed garlic, peppers, onions and mushrooms. It was perfect.
Nancy Coleman
I heeded previous advice and took it out of the oven at 120º but it was a bit too rare for me. Next time I'll try 125º. Really delicious, though. Roast with flavah! I also cut the salt and the pepper in half, and reduced the cumin and coriander to 1 ¼ tsp. I'll stick with those proportions.Definitely a keeper.
Sofia
This is really good! Really easy and just as described in the recipy!
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