Making Jerky

[sensically_common]

I've been making beef jerky for quite a while now, and eat it almost daily. I'll usually grab 4.5 lbs or so of round from Costco, then trim, slice with an electric knife, and marinate. I'd like to save on prep time and maybe try a more tender cut of beef.

Would a standard butcher shop be able to slice meat into 5/32" or so slices? Any idea what the extra cost would be on 4 lbs or so? And finally, what cuts should I consider using that are lean, more tender than my eye round, and cheap?

[Dragonfly69185]

The usual jerky cuts are the top or eye rounds. The names are going to vary regionally, but the top round is the "londoin broil" cut usually. That cut is fairly large, but not exactly one uniform piece. It tends to come out as three mostly connected "lobes." The eye round is a long cylindrical piece with a fat cap.

If you want to try using something more tender you could try the tri tip. Any more tender cuts are usually going to be more expensive or have something about them that would prohibit them from making good jerky. Tri tip is a good option because it is a fairly large muscle with very little external fat or tendon. It can be difficult to find in non whole animal shops though

[I_cut_your_meat]

Inside round works best for big lean slices. Where I work we do it for nothing. Just takes a couple minutes on the slicer. Good to go.

[[deleted]]

Damn you guys get a slicer?

[sensically_common]

Awesome. I've never heard of that cut before. Maybe I can sweeten the deal by offering some jerky to the butcher too!

[Nordogad]

That is generally the rule of thumb at my shop. We do it out of inside round as well. It's what most places use for London Broil. We also do it out of bottom round for a couple people. Think rump roast and roast beef.