Eye Round Again

[j biesinger]

I decided to further the eye round meme by trying one out and seeing what it was all about. After 3 trips to the butcher (no joke) in 24 hrs the truck carrying my eye round arrived and I got my roast. I was surprised by how few places carry eye round, but I needed to know who they were, since I'm going to need one if I ever get going on my bresaola project. I trimmed most of the fat and silver skin off and squared it up some, since I didn't need the whole thing and figured the tips will be my first try at bresaola. I rubbed it with my brisket rub once the night before and once again before putting it on the wsm.

I woke up on the morning and was completely surprised to see we had gotten about 10" of snow overnight. I wasn't aware that were supposed to get snow. I quick snow blow of the driveway and I wasn't even behind schedule. I guess that's the great part about eye round, it doesn't take much time.

here's the roast ready to go. Got to love the smoke pic! I used my old school roast thermometer since all my digital probes are defunct, and who knows what ever happened to my replacement probe order.

after about 1:45 at 320's (hickory, apple, oak) the roast therm was reading near 130* so I dropped it into a zip lock and wrapped it in a towel and left in on a counter for about an hour. I put in the fridge for at least an hour more before slicing it up.

I was really impressed by how uniform it cooked. I'm thinking it was partly due to the fact that I pulled it rare and let carry over heat finish it off. With its small size and uniform shape, its really fun to cook.

The taste was really great, beefy, smokey, spicy. We enjoyed eating it straight. I served it on garlic bread with Jim Minion's recipe for horseradish sauce that I found somewhere in this forum and had the foresight to write down for this very application. The flavors got a bit lost on the bread, but it sure was good on its own.

The pic stinks but I figure some shot is better than nothing.

 

[Tony C.]

looks great. the only thing i've used eye of round for is beef jerky. i might have to try this method one day to use for romain leaf rollups. i usually use deli roast beef, but i bet this would be better!!!

 

[LarryR]

Looks great! Which slicer do you use? Damn that's a lot of snow!

 

[Larry Wolfe]

That's nice.........real real nice!!! I'll take a sandwich or 5, but you can keep the snow!

 

[j biesinger]

Looks great! Which slicer do you use? Damn that's a lot of snow!

we had about 24" before christmas that had all melted we were green for a couple of days, thats why it was a bit of a shock to wake up to white.

more on my slicer (look for my post with pic):
http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8850071165/m/6360052385/p/1
can't say enough about this beast, its opened up some new doors, like slicing roast beef for sandwiches.

I bought a whole coppa secca and had the pleasure of slowwly slicing it away over a week or so, finding just about every cooking use I could for it.

btw, I cooked this roast over lump, and there's barely a smoke ring. I wonder why briquettes make that pretty ring and lump doesn't?

 

[D. L. Whitehead]

J.

Great looking eye of the round! I seem to be TVWBB's biggest fan of this cut--it's a long-time favorite of ours. I probably wouldn't do them without a slicer though.

Just think about some nice thin-sliced pastrami too!

###

 

[Bill Hays]

That looks GREAT, jb! Too bad about the last pic .. That could have been the money shot!

BTW, Sam's here in Niagara Falls has been putting them in the meat display case lately.

Bill

 

[j biesinger]

Bill, what's the price? I think sloan had it for 2.39 for a whole 5-7 lb roast (well I shouldn't overlook the fact that I had to drive there 3 times). They wanted 2.79 cut to size.

D. L., have you brined eyes? or do you just do a garlic, coriander rub for pastrami?

I like the cut for neatness sake. It seems easy to cook up nice with uniform done-ness. It also easy to slice against the grain.

There's a local "hickory pit" restaurant that serves beef sandwiches that I love and always assumed they were brisket. About two trips ago I peeled back the bun and saw little round slices, that when I realized the power of the eye. After cooking one myself I know now why a restaurant would serve it, its fast, far less troublesome than brisket, and has a similar flavor.

 

[Bill Hays]

Originally posted by j biesinger:
Bill, what's the price?

Honestly, I can't remember. I usually take pics of the labels on the cooks I document but I didn't on mine for some unknown reason. 3-something comes to mind butt... I'm heading over there again on either Saturday or early next week so I'll let you know. Also, just to add, on my cook, I didn't have to trim at all (well, maybe just some edges).

Bill

 

[j biesinger]

Honestly, I can't remember. I usually take pics of the labels on the cooks I document but I didn't on mine for some unknown reason. 3-something comes to mind butt... I'm heading over there again on either Saturday or early next week so I'll let you know. Also, just to add, on my cook, I didn't have to trim at all (well, maybe just some edges).

I did lose a couple of ounces in trimming but nothing major. the silver skin was a bit annoying since it was fairly thin and I kept cutting through it. I guess you'd be paying for labor, if they are nice and clean. It might be good to know, since the eye needs to be clean if I'm going to cure and dry it.

Ruhlman's bresaola recipe calls for organic or grass fed eye. If I ever get good at making it, I probably will be looking for a local source. who knows, I gotta get these tips under my belt before I start thinking big. and I just looked at the recipe and it calls for dextrose! (which I don't have) Looks like I'll start will plain old sugar.

 

[Bill Hays]

Originally posted by j biesinger:... and I just looked at the recipe and it calls for dextrose! (which I don't have) Looks like I'll start will plain old sugar.

Sausagemaker carries it.

Their prices are really high (on pretty much everything), but they did give me my start.

BTW, on your dry curing quest, I came up with the same site you did and it's very informative. I did, however, come across one from the Sausagemaker

just to add to your info.

Bill

 

[Bryan S]

Originally posted by Bill Hays:
BTW, Sam's here in Niagara Falls has been putting them in the meat display case lately.

Bill

FYI, BJ's here always has them out in the case. They've been $1.99lb for as long as I can remeber.

Eye looks good j. I love doing the EOR. Fast easy cook, that turns out good beef.

 

[Phil Perrin]

Looking good man! Got one in the ice box. Gonna save it for the Panthers win next weekend!

 

[j biesinger]

Thanks everybody.

Bill, I wonder how I missed that link from the sausage maker? but it looks like some great info. Funny thing is, I was just talking to my uncle and he knows all about the sausagemaker and had talked to Rytek multiple times when he was alive and running the business on the west side.


It looks like I might be able to get another fridge to add to my collection. Now I just have to decide which one to kill.

I keep going back and forth with whether I actually need a fridge. I have a darkroom with a sink, in my basement that I've converted into a kitchen/pantry. It's averaging 57* and 50% RH. I'm thinking I just need a cabinet that I can keep humid and temps wont be much of a prob (in the winter that is).

What stage are you at Bill? If we ever both get going maybe we could start a salumi club? I'd bet Niagara Traditions Home Brew could host us and provide us with something to drink while we try to not kill ourselves sampling each others potentially lethal meat.

It sounds far fetched but a friend of mine actually met some older buffalonians with some wild stories about making their own prosciutto and converting their garages into smoke houses. My friend is trying to hook me up with these guys but our social circles don't quite overlap.

 

[Bill Hays]

Originally posted by j biesinger:
Thanks everybody.

Bill, I wonder how I missed that link from the sausage maker? but it looks like some great info. Funny thing is, I was just talking to my uncle and he knows all about the sausagemaker and had talked to Rytek multiple times when he was alive and running the business on the west side.


It looks like I might be able to get another fridge to add to my collection. Now I just have to decide which one to kill.

I keep going back and forth with whether I actually need a fridge. I have a darkroom with a sink, in my basement that I've converted into a kitchen/pantry. It's averaging 57* and 50% RH. I'm thinking I just need a cabinet that I can keep humid and temps wont be much of a prob (in the winter that is).

What stage are you at Bill? If we ever both get going maybe we could start a salumi club? I'd bet Niagara Traditions Home Brew could host us and provide us with something to drink while we try to not kill ourselves sampling each others potentially lethal meat.

It sounds far fetched but a friend of mine actually met some older buffalonians with some wild stories about making their own prosciutto and converting their garages into smoke houses. My friend is trying to hook me up with these guys but our social circles don't quite overlap.

I'm in the "I'm just thinking about it" stage. LOL And gathering information when I see it. My basement gets kind of damp in the summer so we use dehumidifiers down there. Temp gets to around 73-75º during the summer and will get into the mid to upper 50's during the Winter but it stay's relatively dry then. It's 60 down there right now but the dehumidifiers, which stay plugged in, haven't turned on in months and they're set to around 50% RH. I currently have 2 freezers (1 is a smaller chest) and a fridge down there and everything gets use. I really don't have the room for another right now so until I do, I don't see myself doing any dry curing. This subject piques my interest, though, which is why I follow these threads, gathering more info.

Bill

 

[Scooter B]

Looks fantastic!!

I love roast beef in the WSM. You really do get a great EVEN cook due to the convection and even heat distribution. I have done a couple prime ribs that were AMAZING. My wife hates the fat in prime rib, but I refuse to cook it any other way! haha

As for the smoke ring... honestly it looks like you have a decent 1/4 inch which isn't that bad for a High Heat cook. If the science is correct, and at 140 the meat stops forming "ring", then it stands to reason that cooking at higher temps should lead to smaller ring, as the meat will spend less time under 140.

 

[Shawn W]

looks great!

you should be able to get dextrose from a local wine/beer making supply place

 

[j biesinger]

you should be able to get dextrose from a local wine/beer making supply place

good tip. The home brew store is waaay closer to me than the sausage store. And while I'm there I could see if they're interested in starting a salumi club for me.

. I suppose I should just ask the sausage place if they have clubs but then there wouldn't be homebrewed beer to drink.

Bill, I also saved a couple pieces of butt for making coppa. between that and these eye chunks I'll have a nice baseline to see how it all goes. btw- I recommend the chorizo recipe in Charcuterie. I made a pound as an ingredient for queso fundito, so I didn't stuff it, but it was very good. I got a bit in the freezer that I plan on turning into tacos.

Scooter, good point on the heat. Its amazing how much info is around here, 90% of it I forget and I still feel smarter than most. for a brief time I figured that number into my cooking but all this high heat stuff got me going in other directions and I must have forgot about it. I guess that must have been my logic for getting HH briskets on early and going for a slow ramp up in temp, which is my typical m.o. With temps near freezing, I wanted the eye on with a warm smoker to prevent smoke condensation, therefore less time under 140.

 

[Alan D]

Holy Smokes jb, another great burn, that meat looks awesome!

Always good to see your pics!

What's all that white stuff though? I guess you need to wear socks back in your neck of the woods unless you want your feet to freeze! brrrrrrrr.....

I bet it feels good to run back inside and get a piece of nicely smoked meat though...nestled around the fireplace with the eye of round, splashed with the horseradish sauce, a glass of vino!

At this rate, I'm gonna be running out to get an hunk of meat...*lol*

I have 2 pieces of lamb round (very lean) I got last night at Whole Foods, my wife doesn't care for lamb too much and complains it's too fatty/greasy. A friend cooked some lamb racks and brought for our new year's party...sorry, didn't get pics, he makes some type of cheese sauce, they are so good...marinated in wine...this is the first year he's brought them in a few years...I have some wings and that lamb I'm gonna do up tonight...

Beautiful pics! Always love your pressie, we eat with our eyes first!