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From America's Test Kitchen
Trying to grill an uneven piece of meat usually results in a fibrous, chewy, and woefully dry roast. We wanted to turn an inexpensive cut of meat into a juicy, evenly cooked roast with a substantial, well-seasoned garlic-rosemary crust.
After extensively testing five “cheap” roast beef options and subjecting each to a 24-hour salt rub, we settled on top sirloin, a beefy, relatively tender cut from the back half of the cow. To grill our roast, we set up a fire in which the coals cover one-third of the grill. In effect, this created hot zones for searing and cooler zones for gentler, indirect cooking. To prevent the meat from cooking too quickly, we placed the roast inside a disposable aluminum pan on the cooler side of the grill after searing it. Poking a few escape channels in the bottom of the aluminum allowed any liquid to drain away, preserving the meat’s sear. We also found that cutting the roast into thin slices made the meat taste even more tender.
Serves 6 to 8
A pair of kitchen shears works well for punching the holes in the aluminum pan. We prefer a top sirloin roast; see “Best Cheap Roasts for Grilling,” below, for other roasts that can be used with this technique. Start this recipe the day before you plan to grill so the salt rub has time to flavor and tenderize the meat.
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