# Eye of the round jerky try



## crazymoon (Dec 5, 2015)

I decided to try jerky out of eye of the round instead of the usual cheap steak as the eye was only 2.77 a pound.













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Here it is trimmed up and on the slicer and the finished sliced product













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Need ingredients for the brine













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Air drying before the smoker













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Took about 6 hrs with hickory and the usual bump in temps from 120 to 170, I ended up with 2.5 pounds of jerky from a 7.25 pound piece of round, goes great with a cold beverage !













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## lemans (Dec 5, 2015)

I am interested in making jerky could you tell me what you used and how long you marinated. Your finished product looked great


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## muralboy (Dec 5, 2015)

Nice looking jerky CM.  i just bought 4 lbs of london broil cut.  It works out nice because it forms strips once cut.  Not as cost effective though.  

i like the complex flavor profile of your marinade too.


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## tropics (Dec 5, 2015)

Looks good to me thanks for sharing

Richie


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## twoalpha (Dec 5, 2015)

CM

That jerky looks super.


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## pc farmer (Dec 5, 2015)

Tasty looking jerky.

Nice job


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## lemans (Dec 5, 2015)

Did you use like 1.25 tsp of cure#1 in your brine?


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## dukeburger (Dec 5, 2015)

Nice jerky, CM. Looks tasty!


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## dirtsailor2003 (Dec 5, 2015)

Tasty! Eye round makes good jerky!


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## WaterinHoleBrew (Dec 5, 2015)

Looks great CM !  I'd sure take a few pieces with a cold one or two !   Thumbs Up


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## crazymoon (Dec 5, 2015)

Lemans said:


> I am interested in making jerky could you tell me what you used and how long you marinated. Your finished product looked great


 Here is the recipe ,tweaked a bit from Eldon Cutlips recipe:

5 pound recipe:

2 T salt

1tsp cure #1

2tsp chili powder

1T black pepper

1T white pepper

1T garlic powder

1 cup soy sauce (I use lite to cut back on salt)

1 cup Worcestershire  sauce

3 cups cold water

1 small v8

1T onion powder

2 swirls of molasses

1T red pepper flakes

marinate for 2 days and mix/shake around once and awhile


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## lemans (Dec 5, 2015)

Thank you[emoji]128077[/emoji]


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## crazymoon (Dec 5, 2015)

Lemans said:


> Thank you[emoji]128077[/emoji]


You are most welcome sir !


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## b-one (Dec 6, 2015)

Nice looking jerky!


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## markperry (Jan 5, 2016)

sry double post


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## kjolly (Jan 5, 2016)

There you go making me hungry again.


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## markperry (Jan 5, 2016)

crazymoon,  just a quick question. I'm making jerky for the first time and your recipe sounds great. Except.....How much is 2 swirls of molasses? I have no clue how much a swirl is. I've used many measurements in my time but that is a new one on me. LOL


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## crazymoon (Jan 6, 2016)

MarkPerry said:


> crazymoon,  just a quick question. I'm making jerky for the first time and your recipe sounds great. Except.....How much is 2 swirls of molasses? I have no clue how much a swirl is. I've used many measurements in my time but that is a new one on me. LOL


MP, the molasses runs slow so i just tip the bottle until it starts to run out and make two circles in my mixing bowl. Just adds a bit of sweetness to the other spices,It's my go to recipe !


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## markperry (Jan 23, 2016)

Ok, just made my first batch. Had to use bottom round as believe it or not I could not find center round at any local market. LOL And I also learned that I should do the slicing myself. My butcher did a good job of slicing for me but failed to trim it as well as I would have for making jerky so having to trim all the small slices was a bit of a chore. I'll just have to break out the meat slicer and do it myself next time.

Got to say that the bottom round worked well but I think a leaner cut for the next round should work better. IMO. My family is also eager for me to try ground beef. Will have to see about that after I get this right. One thing at a time I say.

CM, thank you for the recipe, it is very good. After trying it my family all chimed in on what we liked and did not like. Since the 6 lbs of meat used I figure we got about 2 lbs of jerky and between the 4 of us it lasted all of about 12 hours so it was more like than dislike. LOL

For us I think we are going to cut back on the pepper a little. I have a couple of real spice wimps to contend with and this was just slightly too much pepper for them. I think next time I'll try 3/4 T of each the black and white. We left out the Red. I used ~2 tsp of molasses and that seemed just right. And I think we will try adding a little more of the worsch sauce.

Now I used my Masterbuilt 30" for this and I dont know if it is because of the fat content, high humidity, or what but it took nearly 11 hours to get done. I started at 130 degrees and increased 10 degrees each hour until I hit 160. At 6 hours it was more like a well done steak. In fact my brother actually prefered that to the jerky saying it was more like the steak strips they he likes from 7-11.  At 8 hours it was getting better and I probably should have pulled it out at 10 hours. I didnt realize that the jerky was softer when warm than after it cools. I should have known that but it never dawned on me so I thought it still needed more drying. Now I rather like crunchy jerky but everyone else would have preferred I pulled it out about an hour earlier. But hey, thats what doing something for the first time is for, right? Learn what to do to make it better for the next time. LOL

One question tho. What kind of wood smoke do most of you use. I find Mesquite to be too strong but I do like the flavor. I used cherry this time and the mild flavor was much better but something just felt slightly off. I'm thinking of trying apple next time. Does anyone else use anything else with a more mild flavor instead of the strong Mesquite or Hickory? Or do you simply use a little liquid smoke and just use the smoker as a dehydrator?  That was the suggestion of my family. Use a little liquid smoke for flavor and leave the chips out next time.

I just wanted to send out a heart felt thanks to this entire board for all the great info that made the first dive into jerky making a successful one.


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## crazymoon (Jan 24, 2016)

MP,I generally use hickory but you will tweak the recipes and chips/no chips to your personal preferences. You could always cut back on smoking times also. Make sure you write down your recipe/cooking times when you get it to your liking for future batches.


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## ryan y (Jan 24, 2016)

Good looking jerky there! Can't beat the price of that round around here, I pay nearly that much for stringly shoulder roast


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## disco (Jan 26, 2016)

Great jerky, CM! I have had to use less quality cuts but this looks great.

Disco


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## mummel (Jan 27, 2016)

Fantastic!


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## crazymoon (Jan 27, 2016)

I just took another one of the cheapo price rounds out of the freezer for another batch of jerky to be made this weekend.


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## tropics (Jan 27, 2016)

I hope mine don't get lost in the mail this time

Richie


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## crazymoon (Jan 28, 2016)

tropics said:


> I hope mine don't get lost in the mail this time
> 
> Richie


Richie,I think the mailman ate yours !


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## Zachary L Betts (Jan 4, 2018)

first attempt at jerky following recipe above with 5lbs of bottom round cut thin 1/4 fat trimmed. put in to fridge to marinate. Will put on smoker tomorrow afternoon. Hoping it comes out good.


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## crazymoon (Jan 5, 2018)

Zachary L Betts said:


> first attempt at jerky following recipe above with 5lbs of bottom round cut thin 1/4 fat trimmed. put in to fridge to marinate. Will put on smoker tomorrow afternoon. Hoping it comes out good.


ZB, Hopefully you will like it ,it is my favorite for jerky.


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## SonnyE (Jan 7, 2018)

crazymoon said:


> MP, the molasses runs slow so i just tip the bottle until it starts to run out and make two circles in my mixing bowl. Just adds a bit of sweetness to the other spices,It's my go to recipe !



Especially in January... LOL!
(You left the door wide open for that one...)

(I tend to "Season by Sight" as well. When it's finger lickin good, it's good. 
But not cure. That stuffs nasty!)


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## Zachary L Betts (Feb 3, 2018)

I season by site also. My first batch of jerky was a little.over cooked ans salty. I replace Worcester sauce wit mr yos sweet and savory sauce and that batch was great. I have done chickens and several pork roast all have come.out great. Today o got brave and did a prime rib , 3 rib roast. My resident food critics loved it. I have twin 18 year old boys that think they are master chefs. This place has been a big help thanks to you all


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## crazymoon (Feb 7, 2018)

ZB, Good looking rib roast !


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## zerowin (Feb 8, 2018)

Great looking moo chew crazymoon!  I usually only lose half my weight to finished product, so that makes me scratch my head a bit.




markperry said:


> Ok, just made my first batch. Had to use bottom round as believe it or not I could not find center round at any local market. LOL And I also learned that I should do the slicing myself. My butcher did a good job of slicing for me but failed to trim it as well as I would have for making jerky so having to trim all the small slices was a bit of a chore. I'll just have to break out the meat slicer and do it myself next time.
> 
> Got to say that the bottom round worked well but I think a leaner cut for the next round should work better. IMO. My family is also eager for me to try ground beef. Will have to see about that after I get this right. One thing at a time I say.
> 
> ...



I usually go by the bend test for jerky (not to be confused with ribs), from my reading here and elsewhere.  It's dry enough when you can bend it in half and the fiber of the meat begins to separate, but it doesn't snap or break in half.  I pull a piece and let it cool for a few minutes to check it, and do so every half hour when it starts to look close to done.  I've done quite a few batches now, I have some coworkers that are happy to pay for the meat if I split the batch with them.  I like hickory and apple for jerky, but I'd like to suggest some pit boss competition blend pellets if you can burn them.  They are relatively cheap at walmart, and it's reportedly 50% maple, 25% cherry and 25% hickory.  I like it for jerky, but it's too mild for most else for my taste, and I really only taste the maple, which I'd usually only prefer on pork.  It might be just right for you.


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## redheelerdog (Feb 8, 2018)

I'm lovin the jerky CM, the meat you started with looks really great.  Like


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## Zachary L Betts (Feb 10, 2018)

crazymoon said:


> ZB, Good looking rib roast !


Came out better than I thought for first try. Boys loved it the Broad loved it ready to try it on guest now.


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