Eye of Round - Looking For Suggestions

[Porthos]

Since I have been unemployed for the last 7 months (still am) my DW and I opted for 7 lbs of eye of round roast for the Family Christmas Dinner we host. It is a far cry from the standing rib roast from last year.

I am looking for suggestions for the best way to cook this. If you can make suggestions as to roast, braise, etc that will point me in the right direction to research recipes I would be most grateful.

Thanks.

p.s.

I have had such poor luck using the search tool that if you can provide viable links I will gladly look at those also.

Porthos

[Goatjunky]

I make salt roasted beef with an eye of the round. My husbands family has used the recipe for probably 40 years, tried and true. I can give you the recipe, the jist of it is a crust made of salt with black pepper, chili sauce, mustard, and cloves. The crust keeps the juices in and breaks away easily. Family favorite.

[Kerry Beal]

Got a nice eye of round in the fridge right now. Salted 1 tsp of kosher salt per pound, left to sit overnight in a bag. Sous vide for 24 hours at 55º C. Then browned in my BGE at high heat.

I'm not certain that you sous vide though.

[heidih]

A prior topic http://forums.egullet.org/topic/138756-eye-of-the-round-treatment/

[heidih]

And if you do sous vide - lots of discussion here http://forums.egullet.org/topic/142585-eye-of-round-roast-cooked-sous-vide/

[Plantes Vertes]

There's another thread about it here.

Pot roast or braising would normally be indicated for a lean cut like that, but I have also read about barding and seasoning the meat and roasting it at 500 for 7mins/lb, then turning the oven off and leaving for 2 1/2hrs. Something tells me that Kim Shook has used this method but perhaps I'm remembering that wrong....

[Porthos]

Thank you,, everyone. I am going with the CI recipe.

[Kerry Beal]

Good choice! That's the one I started with when coming up with the sous vide version.

[jayt90]

Cold smoking produced a wonderful eye of round for me. A simple Weber kettle will work, or any similar device. The results are like a combination of pastrami and prosciutto.

Slather the round with pink salt , sugar, and Romanian spices for 1 week, in a fruit cellar or fridge,

Slow smoke with mild chips, apple or hickory, for 5 hours or until the meat reaches 125 F. Rest 30 minutes.

Slice thinly against the grain and serve with vegetables and potatoes, including steamed cabbage.

[gfweb]

Cold smoking produced a wonderful eye of round for me. A simple Weber kettle will work, or any similar device. The results are like a combination of pastrami and prosciutto.

Slather the round with pink salt , sugar, and Romanian spices for 1 week, in a fruit cellar or fridge,

Slow smoke with mild chips, apple or hickory, for 5 hours or until the meat reaches 125 F. Rest 30 minutes.

Slice thinly against the grain and serve with vegetables and potatoes, including steamed cabbage.

By pink salt, you mean curing salt, right?

[jayt90]

Cold smoking produced a wonderful eye of round for me. A simple Weber kettle will work, or any similar device. The results are like a combination of pastrami and prosciutto.

Slather the round with pink salt , sugar, and Romanian spices for 1 week, in a fruit cellar or fridge,

Slow smoke with mild chips, apple or hickory, for 5 hours or until the meat reaches 125 F. Rest 30 minutes.

Slice thinly against the grain and serve with vegetables and potatoes, including steamed cabbage.

By pink salt, you mean curing salt, right?

Yes. I actually used Readycure, a white curing product made in Canada, which is a good strength (weak) for rubbing. Pink salt is hard to find in Ontario. The cured and slightly smoked eye of round is dense with a fairly intense flavor. Surprised me.

Edited December 19, 2013 by jayt90 (log)

[gfweb]

I have often made corned beef out of round. Cooked SV it is tender and tasty.

[rotuts]

SV for this cut ( at least initially ) if available is a key that guarantees success .

jayt90

BTW what do you mean by Romanian spices? where do you get them?

Edited December 19, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[weinoo]

There's another thread about it here.

Pot roast or braising would normally be indicated for a lean cut like that, but I have also read about barding and seasoning the meat and roasting it at 500 for 7mins/lb, then turning the oven off and leaving for 2 1/2hrs. Something tells me that Kim Shook has used this method but perhaps I'm remembering that wrong....

I always thought that pot roasting or braising was not indicated for lean cuts like eye of round. No fat, no collagen, no good.

[rotuts]

the Eye to me seems to have a lot of interstitial connective tissue, and true very little fat.

[weinoo]

I take it back...braise away.

[jayt90]

.

jayt90

BTW what do you mean by Romanian spices? where do you get them?

Just a literary short cut for Montreal Smoked Meat spices, which derive from Romanian Jewish immigrants recipes.

Edited December 20, 2013 by heidih
Fix quote tags (log)

[Mjx]

Since I have been unemployed for the last 7 months (still am) my DW and I opted for 7 lbs of eye of round roast for the Family Christmas Dinner we host. It is a far cry from the standing rib roast from last year.

I am looking for suggestions for the best way to cook this. If you can make suggestions as to roast, braise, etc that will point me in the right direction to research recipes I would be most grateful.

Thanks.

I'm a huge fan of braising for a number of reasons, but the payoff is not the least of them: Even when I cook for a group of people who barely notice what they're eating, braised meat (especially beef) elicits a lot of enthusiastic praise for its tenderness and flavour.

I brown the meat in a Dutch oven over medium high temperature while the oven is preheating to between 250 and 300F, add enough broth to come about halfway up the height of the meat, and braise for 2 to 5 hours (I'm giving ranges for time and temperature, since I don't always have 5 hours in which to cook the meat, and I don't always truss, so sometimes I'm working with a flat piece). Make sure the cover fits snugly.

When you're done, you should have savoury, moist, tender meat, and the makings of an excellent gravy. It won't be the prettiest thing, and will tend to fall to bits when you cut it unless you have a really sharp knife, but it will taste amazing (more so than many prettier dishes).

If I have the time, I salt the meat for 24 to 48 hours in advance (and use a low-sodium broth); I usually add lovage and a little nutmeg to the braising liquid, and sometimes a clove or two.

p.s.

I have had such poor luck using the search tool that if you can provide viable links I will gladly look at those also.

Porthos

PM me if you'd like a hand with the search tool. It's relatively straightforward, but not necessarily intuitive.

[Porthos]

I am very, very happy with the result of the CI recipe. You would never know what an inexpensive cut of meat it was. The best part - about 3 pounds of left-overs. Thank you all for you input.

[MaryIsobel]

Eye of round is on sale this week for 3.49/lb. I have never had much luck with it. I have done the Instapot recipe from Amy & Jacky, and it was fine for beef dip. Just wondering if there is a tried and true way to cook it. Sous vide? Hot and fast? Or just walk on by?

[Anna N]

You might want to wander through this topic. 
 

Click

[MaryIsobel]

3 minutes ago, Anna N said:

You might want to wander through this topic. 
 

Click

Thanks Anna. I did search before posting, don't know why I didn't see this.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

You might want to wander through this topic. 
 

Click

 

Or, my vote, you might want just to walk on by.

 

[MaryIsobel]

16 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Or, my vote, you might want just to walk on by.

 

@JoNorvelleWalkerYa, you're right. Lipstick on a pig? Just such affordable beef. We have eaten our fill of chicken, pork and pasta lately. 

[AlaMoi]

actually, , , eye round works fairly well for minute-steak style sandwiches - wet cook method, and sliced very thin, au jus. 

mechanical slicer recommended, hand slicing that requires (a) really sharp long knife and (b) some practice....