Smoked Italian Beef Sandwich Recipe | Chicago Johnnys Italian Beef

Make Smoked Italian Beef At Home!

For those of you outside the Chicago area, or without ties to the Chicago area, Italian beef is a round roast sliced thin & seasoned with oregano, garlic, salt, & whatever other spices depending on where you get it. I use Chicago Johnny's Italian Beef Gravy Seasoning & Chicago Johnny's Italian Beef Rub when I make my beef sandwiches. 

But today, today we smoke an Italian beef!

Chicago Johnny's Smoked Italian Beef

What you will need:

• Smoker

• Applewood (I use fresh cut)

• Water (for the smoker)

• Charcoal

• Water (for the gravy)

• Round Roast (I use eye of round because I can find                 them in smaller sizes than top or bottom round)

• Chicago Johnny's Italian Beef Gravy Seasoning

• French Roll

• Chicago Johnny's Hot Giardiniera

• Smoked Provolone or Mozzarella (optional)

So I grew up using torpedo smokers (as shown from Amazon below) so that is what I decided to use as an adult. Set up your smoker with hot charcoal at the base & add in your smoking wood (you can use your preferred wood, mine is applewood!). For a torpedo smoker add your water pan & then your racks. 

To prep your roast is so friggin' easy! Just rub your roast with Chicago Johnny's Italian Beef Gravy Seasoning & let it sit to absorb some of the flavor for about 8-10 minutes. Then rub with another heavily layered rub of the beef gravy seasoning. You can now add it to the smoker!

On the top rack (there are 2 in my style of smoker) is where I put the roasts. I put the roasts on top because I feel like the smoke is more rich up there. You can put the roasts on the rack directly above the water pan if it is something you want tender & that won't dry out (so i use that mostly for jerky).

Smoking My Italian Beef Roast

Your roast will take about 3 hours to smoke if it's about 3 lbs. I bought a 5.5 lb eye of round roast & cut it in half leaving the thin layer of fat on the roast, face up. Keep a steady amount of smoke by adding more wood, or chips, when you see the smoke thin out (you will see the smoke billow out of the lid at first, then it will slow down as the wood burns down). 

When your roasts reach about 15-160 degrees, it's ready to pull out. Wrap it in foil & let it rest about 15 minutes (or chill overnight if you are using it later). Slice incredibly thin.

To reheat your sliced meat if you aren't using it right away, simply make gravy stovetop by adding 2 tbls of Chicago Johnny's Italian Beef Gravy Seasoning to 1 cup of water. Get your gravy to a low simmer & reheat your thinly sliced, smoked Italian beef!

Make a sandwich on a toasted French roll, thin sliced beef, Chicago Johnny's Hot Giardiniera, & smoked provolone or mozzarella if you choose! Enjoy wit' some friends over a nice chilled Old Style.

Thank you to my smoking friends over at Old Style.

Order products at www.ChicagoJohnnys.com or from Amazon below.