I have been wanting to do some dry beef for quite a while and if successful, venison dry beef. I figured I would begin with beef since it's a little easier to replace than my venison if I screw it up. Most of the dry beef I buy from farmers in my area (PA Dutch Country) is brined, very dry, and sliced paper thin. This is a bit different than Bearcarver's but, since it was a little different, I wanted to try it out and see if I could duplicate his results. Frankly, it worked out pretty good. I had less meat and smaller pieces so, until I reached 160 some of the smaller pieces were really dry. No problem; I like it dry for casseroles, eggs, and other goodies. I feel the flavor is more concentrated.
On to the Q-view if we still call it that........The beginnings were slightly less than 4# of top round.
Added the cure and brown sugar and packed them up in ziplock bags.
I cured them a bit longer than Bearcarver simply due to my schedule. I flipped them everyday for 19 days. On day 20 they came out of the fridge, rinsed, and seasoned for tomorrow's smoke.
Seasoned
In my electric smoker at 5:30. AMNS started at 5:15.
Pulled from the smoker at 8:30 PM - between 158 and 160.
I cooled them down to room temp and then to the fridge. Next morning to the freezer for about 3 hours and on to slicing. This is about half of the batch.
Final thoughts.......
Good stuff. It's dry enough to use for a variety of dishes as well as sandwiches. My only concern was a somewhat gold color on the ends of the meat when I removed it from the fridge after 19 days. I was assured by a friend who is a chef that the rainbow can be seen in fresh meat as well and nothing to worry about. The meat smelled fine with no odd odors. After cutting the largest piece in half it appeared to be red/dark pink so I figured the cure made it's way through. I had some for breakfast this morning with my eggs so I guess as of this writing at 6:00 PM I will most likely survive.
Thanks for reading guys - now, on to a brine recipe for dry beef.
Thank you Bearcarver (nearly a neighbor) for your post and step x step.
On to the Q-view if we still call it that........The beginnings were slightly less than 4# of top round.
Added the cure and brown sugar and packed them up in ziplock bags.
I cured them a bit longer than Bearcarver simply due to my schedule. I flipped them everyday for 19 days. On day 20 they came out of the fridge, rinsed, and seasoned for tomorrow's smoke.
Seasoned
In my electric smoker at 5:30. AMNS started at 5:15.
Pulled from the smoker at 8:30 PM - between 158 and 160.
I cooled them down to room temp and then to the fridge. Next morning to the freezer for about 3 hours and on to slicing. This is about half of the batch.
Final thoughts.......
Good stuff. It's dry enough to use for a variety of dishes as well as sandwiches. My only concern was a somewhat gold color on the ends of the meat when I removed it from the fridge after 19 days. I was assured by a friend who is a chef that the rainbow can be seen in fresh meat as well and nothing to worry about. The meat smelled fine with no odd odors. After cutting the largest piece in half it appeared to be red/dark pink so I figured the cure made it's way through. I had some for breakfast this morning with my eggs so I guess as of this writing at 6:00 PM I will most likely survive.
Thanks for reading guys - now, on to a brine recipe for dry beef.
Thank you Bearcarver (nearly a neighbor) for your post and step x step.
