Baltimore Pit Beef Recipe (and Tiger Sauce)

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Make tender and delicious Baltimore Pit Beef at home in an hour! Then use the beef for the most amazing roast beef sandwiches with an authentic-style Tiger sauce. With this Baltimore pit beef recipe you can cook the pit beef on a pellet grill with flame or a charcoal grill.

If you love roast beef, then you will love this sandwich! The flavor is a blend of smoky char, tender beef, a tangy punch from the horseradish sauce, and an oniony flavor from the onions. All of this is piled on top of a kaiser roll for the maximum flavor.

Unlike southern BBQ, the beef is not smoked for a long period of time. But, even with a short cook time, you still get the smoky flavors from the charcoal. The high heat and charcoal creates a nice crust on the outside of the roast while still maintaining the tender rare interior.

Pit beef uses round roast, which is an inexpensive cut of beef that you can typically find on sale at your local grocery store. I found the roast for $4.89 per pound, which is a hefty cut from the much higher price of deli meat at the deli counter.

This recipe is as close as you will get to a homemade version of the real thing. It’s about as easy as you can cook beef and packs plenty of flavor into every single bite.

If you’re looking for a delicious side dish to serve with these sandwiches, try Smoked Potato Salad or Smoked Baked Beans.

*For another fantastic roast beef sandwich, try our smoked eye of round roast recipe here!

What is Baltimore Pit Beef?

Pit beef is a popular sandwich from Baltimore, Maryland. It’s made with thinly sliced roast beef that is cooked over a charcoal fire until it’s nicely charred on the outside, but rare on the inside. The sliced beef is served on a toasted bun with a “Tiger Sauce” and onions. The tiger sauce is made from horseradish, mayo, and various spices.

The signature characteristic of Baltimore pit beef is the slightly charred crusty exterior and tender, juicy interior. It’s a type of barbecue, but rather than slow cooking or smoking the beef, it cooks hot and fast over a charcoal grill.

The exact origins of this meat sandwich may be debated, but it popped up along many roadside stands and joints along the Pulaski Highway in the east side of Baltimore throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Today, you can still find pit beef throughout the Baltimore area.

After cooking the beef over hot heat, it’s thinly sliced and piled on top of a toasted kaiser bun with “Tiger Sauce” and onion slices. 

While the creators of the pit beef sandwich don’t share their recipe secrets, this homemade version is as close as you’ll get. It’s still beefy with the nice char flavor. And we made our own version of the tiger sauce.

If you try making it at home, you won’t be disappointed!

Cooking Method and Heat Source

Traditional pit beef, like you might find on the roadside in Baltimore, is cooked over an open charcoal heat source. These flat, open grills have grates directly over the coals, mimicking a “pit” style.

You cook the beef over direct heat, so no smoking or slow roasting is needed. Since the temperature is very hot, the beef gets a nice char and delicious crusty exterior.

For home cooking, I recommend using a pellet grill with a flame and searing capabilities or a charcoal grill. The charcoal is more authentic and helps to create that crispier exterior of the beef. You want that deep crust from the char.

If you use the pellet smoker it has more of a woodsy style and will taste more smoked. While the results may be similar, the two cooking methods will yield a different flavor profile.

Ingredients You Need

A full list of ingredients and measurements are included in the recipe card below.

• Whole Bottom Round Roast: I use a whole bottom round roast, but you can also use a top round roast (London Broil), if desired. Depending on the size of your roast, you may need to cut it into smaller pieces (about 5 to 7 pounds each.)
• Seasonings: You will make a simple dry rub made with all-purpose seasoning (I use Shake That Seasoning), dried thyme, chili powder, onion powder, mustard powder, and smoked paprika. Avoid using sugar in your spice blend, as it will burn on the hot grill.
• Tiger Sauce: You will need mayonnaise, sour cream, and horseradish. You can also add black pepper to taste. If you don’t like horseradish, plain mayonnaise works well on the sandwich. And if you don’t like mayo, then you can add BBQ sauce, but keep in mind that BBQ sauce is not traditional for Baltimore pit beef sandwiches.
• Onions: Sliced white or yellow onions work great.
• Buns: Pit beef sandwiches are traditionally served on Kaiser rolls. However, you can use your favorite type of bread such as french rolls, rye bread, or white bread. I also like to serve my pit beef sandwiches on Martin’s potato rolls.

How to Make Baltimore Pit Beef

This is the easiest way to cook beef.

Step 1: Prep the beef.

Remove any excess fat or silverskin. Leave the fat cap on the roast, as the fat will drip down and cause the grill to flame up which creates that nice crusty seared outside.

Step 2: Season the beef.

In a small bowl, mix together the all-purpose seasoning, chili powder, dried thyme, onion powder, mustard powder, and smoked paprika.

Season the beef all over with the rub.

Step 3: Prepare for grilling.

Prepare your grill for cooking at high heat (about 500°F). Set it up so the hot coals are on one side, in case you need to move the beef to the other side.

You can cook with the grill open but be very careful with the flame as the fat from the beef will throw flames.

Step 4: Sear the beef.

Add the beef to the grill and allow it to cook on the first side for about 5-7 minutes to develop a nice char. Then flip to the second side and cook an additional 5-7 minutes. Continue to roll the beef carefully every 5 minutes or so for it to evenly charred on all sides, or until the internal temperature reaches about 70°F. For me, this took about 30 minutes, but cooking times will vary based on the temperature of your grill and the size of your beef roast.

Once it’s seared on all sides, remove the beef from the grill and cut off the fat cap. This is also a great time to close your grill lid to cut off the oxygen and manage the flames, if needed.

Cutting off the fat cap may seem sacrilege (fat is flavor!), but in this pit beef recipe, it’s necessary to ensure the beef’s texture is uniform for slicing. Also, the fat is incredibly charred and not pleasant to eat.

Step 5: Finish cooking the pit beef.

Add the beef back to the grill. No need to re-season the beef after removing the fat cap.

Cook the beef until it reaches an internal temperature of 110-112°F on an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the beef (after about 1 hour). Remove from the grill and let it rest for 20 minutes.

NOTE: The total cooking time will depend on the size of your roast.

Step 6: Slice the beef.

Use a meat slicer or a sharp knife to thinly slice the beef into deli-style slices. If you cooked a larger roast, you can cut the beef into 2 to 3 pieces to make slicing easier. Always cut against the grain.

Step 7: Make the sandwiches.

Toast the buns. You can do this directly on the grill grates, using the residual heat from the grill.

Spread the tiger sauce on the top buns. Place a generous serving of sliced beef on top of the bottom buns, then layer with sliced onions and the top of the buns.

Recipe Tips

• Use charcoal: If you want to get as close to the authentic flavor as possible, then I highly suggest using charcoal. This will create that nice crusty exterior and subtle char flavor. It will still have that slightly smoky flavor.
• Grill hot and fast: The key to this recipe is to grill hot and fast. The entire recipe is ready in about 1 hour.
• Keep an eye on the grill: Safety is extremely important here! Always keep an eye on the grill for the open flame. The fat will help the fire flame up to create that nice charred exterior, but it’s a grease fire, so you want to watch it closely.
• Cooking temperature: I cook the beef until it registers 110°F on an instant-read thermometer for Medium Rare or about 90°F for Rare. The beef will continue to cook as it rests. *You can also slice a few slices, and if the beef is too rare for you, put it back on the grill… this is how they do it in Baltimore!
• Slice against the grain: For the best sliced pit beef, slice against the grain into very thin slices. Like the thinnest slices you can possibly make.

Storage Instructions

Store the sliced beef in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Instead of slicing, you can keep the cooked beef whole and store it in a sealed container or Ziploc bag. This helps retain the moisture for slicing later.

Store any leftover tiger sauce in a separate sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Reheating

If you want to reheat the pit beef, you can bring the beef to room temperature. Wrap the slices in foil, then heat in the oven (wrapped in the foil) until warmed through. You can also reheat the slices in a skillet on the stove top.

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