Eye round usually has a reputation for being tough because it’s so lean. Most people seem to roast it hot or use it for deli style roast beef.
I tried treating it more like a smoked roast and slicing it thin. The flavor from the smoke was great, but it definitely feels like there’s a very small window between perfect and overcooked.
Now I’m curious how others approach this cut.
Do you usually smoke it, roast it hot, reverse sear it, or do something else?
by Intelligent-Let-2527
27 Comments
Dry brine, smoke to 115,let it rest while the gravity gets ripping hot then sear.let it cool, wrap tight in plastic, refrigerator for 24 hours then put it on the slicer. Makes great roast beef sandwhiches or just dip some in horseradish sauce.
It needs to be sliced so thin, you almost need a deli slicer to make it worth it
Ive oven roasted before and sliced it thin for sandwhichs. I figure smoking it would be just as good!
make a hell of a good sandwich — get some good french bread bagget and make slider sized sammies ……. And for some reason chimi churri is just screaming at me.
Sear it
I mostly made jerky out of it for backpacking. No marbling helped the jerky remain fresh without getting rancid if left unrefrigerated. I have tried smoking pork loin and found it’s easy to overcook it, like your experience with the eye of round.
There’s a reason some meats are slow smoked and some are not.
Jerky
Slice it thin, marinate overnight, make beef jerky.
I like this cut to sous vide.
Sous Vide allows you to keep tough meats rare while cooking them a long time which will relax and break town the proteins. Combined with an aggressive dry brine, you can get a nice, tender, flavorful, lean roast out of this. It won’t exactly be the juiciest cut, which is why you might serve it with a gravy, au jus, or sauce.
I tried to smoke a whole Eye the same process as my smoked prime rib. It tasted great but it wasn’t tender at all.
I’ve done it for roast beef. It works out pretty well if you can slice it thin. This is difficult to do without a deli slicer though, but I was able to with my sharpest knife.
I’ve also made jerky with it too and used my pellet smokers smoke function. Both ways are definitely feasible.
I sliced thin and fried on my blackstone to make French dips. Delicious. Made a wasabi mayo for them too.
I use eye of round for jerky. If you want am underrated smoked cut, use chuck roasts.
I was thinking about curing one and doing pastrami with it.
Underrated. People act like you can’t smoke lean meats. Reverse seared and smoked pork loin comes out perfectly every single time I do it. Cooking slow gets that delicious smoke flavor and its easier to nail the internal temp and get a perfect cook.
I cut eye round into steaks and sous vide them for about 12 hours then toss them in the freezer. When im ready for a steak I thaw one and sear it and they come out very tender. Obviously not the #1 choice, but for the price they’re pretty good. I havent smoked one though.
If it’s lean then why would you want to smoke it? What about Italian beef?
Reverse sear quick smoke like anything else with no fat content
Google biltong
It’s super lean, that’s why it’s great jerky meat
Looks like a great idea!
I’d personally cold smoke it for little bit then sous vide it for a 12 hours, then throw it out.
Smoke. Put on bun. Eat like hotdog.
I cook them to rare and put it on the meat slicer thin for beef on weck.
I only do EOR smoked low (~145) for a couple hours followed by a sous vide bath for ~24 more. Chill, deli slice thinly.
Seared it on Blackstone then threw it on the pellet smoker and sliced thin with a knife last weekend. Plenty tender for French dips. Delicious meal for the cost. Next time will reverse sear though instead
Yea you’re either making “roast beef” and slicing it crazy thin or break it down to small strips, smoke it longer, and make jerky.