Dried Beef or Smoked Round?

Smoking In Paris · July 2012

My wife is from Iowa and on a recent visit to her sister, she just had to go to the local Fairway store and get some "Dried Beef" (what she and her family called it when she was growing up). However, at the grocery store it was referred to as "Smoked Round". It was in the meet department and the butcher thin sliced it on a meet slicer from a rather large hunk of beef. The beef was very lean, and had a very low moisture content, very intense beef flavor and had just the right amount of seasoning on the outside. It was much, much better than that stuff they call dried beef that comes in those little glass jars.

So my question is, does anyone know how to make a perfect Smoked? Dried? Beef Round. I'm assuming that this is something that may even need to be done with "cold smoke", but maybe not. Any suggestions as to time, temp, and method would be welcome.

stike · July 2012

bresaola is essentially the same thing. cured air-dried beef, only not smoked.

it's fantastic.

i'm sure your version is a regional thing (think: difference between country ham and prosciutto, which are virtually the same thing, yet entirely different in the end).

i'm betting it is cold smoked, like a country ham might be in a large smoke house.

check "charcuterie" by micheal ruhlman and brian polcyn.
here's the bresaola.

start with an eye of the round or other lean beef (tenderloin, etc.)

trim it entirely of fat and silver skin, etc.

cure it: intense herbs, salt, and some nitrate (#2 cure). the nitrate is per ruhlman. in reality, with a solid chunk of meat, you can probably get away with salt alone (as with a prosciutto). but the nitrate DOES tweak the meat a bit (as in: color, flavor)

after a two week cure (half the cure for a week. then drain off, rinse, and add the second half of the cure for another week), you tie and hang. and hang. and hang. preferably in your basement-slash-library

coupla few weeks will do it. you can go longer.

i double the herb amount frankly. and i don't know what regional flavors you might have had in yours, or how it was smoked. i'd assume cold smoking, but may have been hot smoked if it felt 'cooked'. if it is silky smooth and pliable, still hydrated, but not 'dry', then probably it was probably not cooked. it is amazingly intense in flavor, very dense, ruby red.

good stuff

Smoking In Paris · July 2012

The finished bresaola in your post looks VERY MUCH like what we had in Iowa. I'm guessing what we had must have been cured and maybe cold smoked, since they called it "Smoked Round". Thanks so much for your reply and post it was very informative and helpful.

Shiff · July 2012

That looks really good. It looks very much like what the Amish call Friz Beef around here which is usually smoked with Apple Wood - don't know the details. It is sold in our farmer's markets for about $7.50/pound.

Dried Beef or Smoked Round?

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