I keep hearing use lean cuts of meat but can anyone tell me what the best cuts are to use to make jerky? There is a sale on inside round roasts this week and didn't know if that would work.
Honestly i buy the one that is the leanest.
Fat is not your friend when making Jerky at least from my experience.
I also like buying meat that is already sliced thin ..I can see if there is fat on it. However from time to time I will buy a nice roast and try that out.
Start with Flank steak and go from there
I keep hearing use lean cuts of meat but can anyone tell me what the best cuts are to use to make jerky? There is a sale on inside round roasts this week and didn't know if that would work.
We use eye of the round when it's on special...we buy maybe 15 lbs or so...jerky half of it and freeze the rest to jerky later. We have a small dehydrator so it takes us a while to process it.
Cut thin and with the grain so that it doesn't disintegrate on you after it's dried...it holds up better to storage to when cut with the grain in our experience and that of our long time jerky making friends.
I'm the lady you're stuck behind in the grocery store with the over loaded cart filled with cases of tuna, peanut butter, huge bags of rice and the weary looking husband
Thank you for the advice. Going to pick up one of the roasts and maybe a flank steak if I can afford them.
I have found that ANY lean meat makes good jerky. As I posted in another thread Venison jerky is fantastic. I don't find that it has to be an expensive cut. If you are going to slice the meat yourself it is a good idea to put it in the freezer for a couple of hours beforehand. This really makes preparing thin slices much easier.
I've made my own jerky for years. You want to avoid the fat becuase it is the first part of the meat to go bad as well as making everything else greasy. You have to consider that the meat shrinks to 1/3 the size whereas the fat content does not. The longer and wider your pieces are the better it makes for handling, especially if you are going to smoke it, little pieces of meat are tedious to handle and work with. I use a good quality meat slicer to cut lengthwise with the grain, and cut the slices 1/4 to 3/8 inches thick. If you plan to freeze it, thicker pieces are better and do not totally dry them out as they will tend to dry additionally while in the freezer. A dehydrator works really well whether smoked or not.