Eye of Round smoked meat or pastrami (with photos)

[Smokeville]

Hi folks;

Eye of Round was on sale this week for $2/lb so I couldn't resist buying 2 and curing them for montreal smoked meat or pastrami. Not my first choice of beef but the price was right.

Here's the question: when we use brisket, we aim for a final internal temperature of about 190F or so. What would you suggest for eye of the round? It is quite lean and I really don't want to dry it out and make it tough...

Thoughts?

Thanks, Rich

[tailfeathers]

Wow, thats a great price for eye of round. I've cured it and made dried beef out of it because you want NO fat for that. It is also my cut of choice for jerky for the same reason. Never made pastrami out of it, I'm thinking you need some fat for pastrami. And I've never made Montreal smoked meat period so I can't say about that. If it was me it'd be jerky or dried beef.

[Habanero Smoker]

As the price of brisket still rises, I have tried several cuts as a substitute; but I haven't found a cut that give me the beefy flavor I am looking for that brisket does.

I have use the eye of round cut, and now try to stick to the cuts from the shoulder. Depending on how the butcher cut the meat, I will try to shape it to a more rectangular cut, and use the scrape for stir fry (just my preference but it also cooks more evenly). I take it to 145°F - 150°F, no FTC, just tent and allow it to rest. You may want to try tightly foiling with some low sodium beef broth, while it is resting on the counter. As with any meat slice against the grain, and keep your slices thin.

For brisket I only take my brisket to 165°F, when making pastrami, and again slice the meat thinly against the grain. 

[Smokeville]

Thanks!

It will be cured by next Sunday so I will post photos when I smoke on Monday. We were given a "real" meat slicer so I hope to get it real thin when it is ready.

Rich

[OldHickory]

I made smoked pastrami from eye of the round corned beef.  It was lean and dry, but delicious.  It was dry because I over cooked it.  Next time when the IT is 145* - 150* it's coming off and FTC.  Even an old dog still has things to learn.

[rajzer]

Pastrami is made from brisket.  Made from any other cut it's not pastrami, and never will taste like pastrami.  If you cure and smoke an eye of round, then that's what you will have.  In some European countries, cured and smoked meat from the hind leg is referred to as beef ham.

[Smokeville]

Pastrami is made from brisket.  Made from any other cut it's not pastrami, and never will taste like pastrami.  If you cure and smoke an eye of round, then that's what you will have.  In some European countries, cured and smoked meat from the hind leg is referred to as beef ham.

Rajzer, if you were smoking a cured eye of the round, what IT would you take it to for best results?

Regards, Rich

[squirtthecat]

140° and rest tented...

[Smokeville]

The next question is how long it should be cured for.

These roasts were about 6lb each and I trimed off the sliver skin, etc., and cut them in half. They are about 5 inches in diameter and about 7 inches long.

The cure was 2tbl of pink salt to 1 gallon of water.

Rich

[Habanero Smoker]

An internal temperature of 140°F, would be better. The time I made pastrami out of an eye of round was a little on the dry side.

Wet curing (brining) works faster than dry curing (brining), so the curing times will be reduced when using a wet cure method; as compared to a dry cure. The cure time is dependent on the amount of salt you have, not the sodium nitrite, and whether you inject or not. Two tablespoon of cure #1 per gallon is about 1.1 oz. It is an amount that will safely cure your meat, but for pastrami I like to go to 1.5 oz. per gallon.

[Smokeville]

Thanks, HS...

The recipe was for 1 1/4 cups of kosher salt. I used Mortons. I didn't inject.

Rich

According to the full original recipe, which was for 5lbs of brisket, the cure time was 7 days.

[Habanero Smoker]

You have about 14 oz of salt (counting the salt from cure #1). If this is your first time curing that size eye of round, stick with the recipe. I would probably cure it 4 - 5 days, but since I've never wet cured one of that thickness, it's best to stick with the authors recipe.

[Smokeville]

I put it in the cure on Sunday, so I think I will take it out on Saturday, wash and dry it off and rub it down and then smoke on Sunday and eat (on Monday).

I think to get the meat to about 140F shouldn't take more than 4 hours. Or am I dreaming.....

We shall see.

Rich

[Habanero Smoker]

I couldn't give you a time. I just don't monitor the times anymore since I've had my Stoker. I need to start keeping a log.

I would guess between 4 - 6 hours, at 225°F.

[Smokeville]

Well, folks, with all your input the result was a success. My wife and I were quite happy with the results.

Here are the eye of the rounds with their rub....



I pre-heated the Bradley to 190F as I wanted to get 4 hours of maple smoke on them without worrying they would go past 140F. When I took them out, the internal temperature was 113F. I was really aiming to make Montreal Smoked Meat, which is steamed, so I put them on  a rack in the roasting pan with some water....



It took 1 hour to get them up to 140F... I took one out of the pan before I took this shot....



And, here is the result....



We made some nice sandwiches -- but we ate them before I got a photo. The meat was somewhat tougher than brisket, and of course the flavour was different too, but all in all it was worth doing for $2/lb! This afternoon I plan to slice them all up (we were given a professional meat slicer) and vac seal.

Rich