"beaver tail"? aka flank steak

cueinco · Mar 1, 2014

A friend brought back some "beaver tail" from Minnesota. It was a flank steak that appeared to be marinated, lightly smoked, and perhaps dehydrated. The flavor and texture was great. Kind of like jerky but much much more moist.

I see notes for real beaver tail, but obviously that's not what I'm looking for. Has anyone ever made, or even heard of, this cut and process? I really liked it and I'd love to know how to make it.

venture · Mar 1, 2014

Can't wait to hear from others to weigh in on this subject.

All I have found is a pastry or recipes for actual beaver tail.

Seems to be a Canadian thing?

In Minnesota it might be an actual beaver tail?

Waiting?

Good luck and good smoking.

cueinco · Mar 2, 2014

I updated the title to add Flank Steak to make the question a bit clearer.

cueinco · Jan 10, 2015

A bit more information. The "beaver tail" that I had was from Miltona Meats in Miltona MN. I checked the web site, but I don't see smoked flank steak on the list. I'll have to give them a call but some of the varieties of snack sticks, jerky, bacon, and summer sausage sound pretty interesting.

Anyone from the Miltona area? I'm wondering if it's a common recipe in those parts? My friends that brought it down to Colorado said that everyone in those parts just calls it beaver tail. I'd love to get a recipe for it and give it a shot at home.

b-one · Jan 10, 2015

I'm going to choke on the next flank steak we eat! Thanks[emoji]128046[/emoji]

welshrarebit · Jan 11, 2015

CueInCO said:
A friend brought back some "beaver tail" from Minnesota. It was a flank steak that appeared to be marinated, lightly smoked, and perhaps dehydrated. The flavor and texture was great. Kind of like jerky but much much more moist.

I see notes for real beaver tail, but obviously that's not what I'm looking for. Has anyone ever made, or even heard of, this cut and process? I really liked it and I'd love to know how to make it.

That sounds like what we call pipikaula! I don't have a recipe for it but it's basically soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chilli pepper flakes and cure #1. You could google it and find recipes...

If you're interesred I can take a pic of some at work tomorrow if I remember! ;)

welshrarebit · Jan 11, 2015

Here's our version...

image.jpg

welshrarebit
Jan 11, 2015

image.jpg

welshrarebit
Jan 11, 2015

cueinco · Jan 12, 2015

Thanks very much for the pictures. That does look like it. I don't recall it being as red when sliced, but it was a year ago that I had it.

I'll have to do some research on pipikaula. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

welshrarebit · Jan 12, 2015

CueInCO said:
Thanks very much for the pictures. That does look like it. I don't recall it being as red when sliced, but it was a year ago that I had it.

I'll have to do some research on pipikaula. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

This is the commercially made variety and has cure in it. That's why it has a red tint.

dingo007 · Jan 15, 2015

Welshrarebit said:
That sounds like what we call pipikaula! I don't have a recipe for it but it's basically soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chilli pepper flakes and cure #1. You could google it and find recipes...

If you're interesred I can take a pic of some at work tomorrow if I remember! ;)

Hmm..that looks interesting....I assume it is cooked/hot smoked? Any guess on what IT to shoot for?

Going to pull a flank out of the freezer right now!

cueinco · Jan 15, 2015

This is the recipe I was going to try: http://www.ilovehawaiianfoodrecipes.com/recipes/pipi-kaula/

I was going to merge that recipe with the process defined here: http://www.polynesia.com/pipi-kaula.html#.VLgIqsZIjas

The beaver tail that I had, while tasting of some smoke, really seemed like it had been dried more than smoked. It also was well cooked. It was more jerky-isn than a medium-rare flank steak.

What I planned on doing was cold smoking using the MES/AMZTS combo for about an hour. I was then going to put it into a low 170 degree oven for the recommended 7 hours or so. I was also going to leave the flank steaks whole. That's why they call it beaver tail. Most of the pipikaula recipes I saw had you slicing the flank steak prior to marinating. I'd also guess that it was pounded out to flatten it to a more uniform thickness. My guess is that that the I.T. would be up around 165 or so by the time you were done.

I haven't used cure on any of my cooks, but I was thinking about using some of the Morton's Tender Quick cure as well. I'm guessing that the folks in MN used cure in the commercially sold version that I had.

If anyone has other thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them.

dingo007 · Jan 15, 2015

CueInCO said:
This is the recipe I was going to try: http://www.ilovehawaiianfoodrecipes.com/recipes/pipi-kaula/

I was going to merge that recipe with the process defined here: http://www.polynesia.com/pipi-kaula.html#.VLgIqsZIjas

The beaver tail that I had, while tasting of some smoke, really seemed like it had been dried more than smoked. It also was well cooked. It was more jerky-isn than a medium-rare flank steak.

What I planned on doing was cold smoking using the MES/AMZTS combo for about an hour. I was then going to put it into a low 170 degree oven for the recommended 7 hours or so. I was also going to leave the flank steaks whole. That's why they call it beaver tail. Most of the pipikaula recipes I saw had you slicing the flank steak prior to marinating. I'd also guess that it was pounded out to flatten it to a more uniform thickness. My guess is that that the I.T. would be up around 165 or so by the time you were done.

I haven't used cure on any of my cooks, but I was thinking about using some of the Morton's Tender Quick cure as well. I'm guessing that the folks in MN used cure in the commercially sold version that I had.

If anyone has other thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them.

That's pretty much the conclusion/method I have arrived at. I'm going to put the cure in the marinade and leave it for 48hrs, then brief cold smoke (1-2 hrs) then low heat. I'm going to monitor the IT, but probably not use it in the decision to stop, rather a combination of IT and feel. I'll be using cure#1. FWIW..this is similar to Biltong, just cooked rather than air dried. I'm also gonna leave the flank whole, as i liked the look of Welshrarebit's pic. Flank defrosting in the sink as we speak.

bluewhisper · Jan 15, 2015

Proper preparation is essential.

beaver.jpg

bluewhisper
Jan 15, 2015

cueinco · Jan 15, 2015

You're right, the biltong recipe I saw does seem similar. The recipe mentions bill being Dutch for buttock and tong being Dutch for strip. Given that this seems like it is an Africaner recipe, I'm wondering if the origins are Dutch or German. The reason I ask is that the part of Minnesota where beaver tail is popular, was settled by lots of folks from Germany. Any idea if there's a German dish that is similar? I've bounced around looking on Google, but haven't come across any dried/smoked flank steak recipes that appear to be German in origin.

red dog · Jan 15, 2015

BlueWhisper said:
Proper preparation is essential.

beaver.jpg

bluewhisper

Jan 15, 2015

dingo007 · Jan 15, 2015

CueInCO said:
You're right, the biltong recipe I saw does seem similar. The recipe mentions bill being Dutch for buttock and tong being Dutch for strip. Given that this seems like it is an Africaner recipe, I'm wondering if the origins are Dutch or German. The reason I ask is that the part of Minnesota where beaver tail is popular, was settled by lots of folks from Germany. Any idea if there's a German dish that is similar? I've bounced around looking on Google, but haven't come across any dried/smoked flank steak recipes that appear to be German in origin.

Interesting.....I have some German family and some friends in South Africa....I'll send a shout out and see what I can learn.

welshrarebit · Jan 15, 2015

CueInCO said:
This is the recipe I was going to try: http://www.ilovehawaiianfoodrecipes.com/recipes/pipi-kaula/

I was going to merge that recipe with the process defined here: http://www.polynesia.com/pipi-kaula.html#.VLgIqsZIjas

The beaver tail that I had, while tasting of some smoke, really seemed like it had been dried more than smoked. It also was well cooked. It was more jerky-isn than a medium-rare flank steak.

What I planned on doing was cold smoking using the MES/AMZTS combo for about an hour. I was then going to put it into a low 170 degree oven for the recommended 7 hours or so. I was also going to leave the flank steaks whole. That's why they call it beaver tail. Most of the pipikaula recipes I saw had you slicing the flank steak prior to marinating. I'd also guess that it was pounded out to flatten it to a more uniform thickness. My guess is that that the I.T. would be up around 165 or so by the time you were done.

I haven't used cure on any of my cooks, but I was thinking about using some of the Morton's Tender Quick cure as well. I'm guessing that the folks in MN used cure in the commercially sold version that I had.

If anyone has other thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them.

You might want to look up Bear's dried beef thread as if I were doing this that is how I would do it!

"beaver tail"? aka flank steak

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