Whether you are following a low-carb or paleo diet, or you just like the salty and savory flavor, beef jerky is a tasty snack. Once a natural method of preserving meat before the invention of refrigeration, jerky has become a popular and convenient treat nowadays. As a premier beef jerky company, Bulk Beef Jerky uses several cuts of top-quality beef to get the best taste and texture.
The Best Ingredients
To produce the best-tasting jerky, you need to start with the best ingredients. Lean cuts of beef and top-quality spices come together to create this low-carb, keto-friendly treat. The meat is sliced into thin strips, which are then marinated in a mixture of sugar, salt and spices to give each variety of jerky its special character. The meat is then dried or smoked to concentrate the flavor. Jerky can be made from whole cuts of beef, such as brisket beef jerky, or from ground beef, as in kippered beef jerky.
Toughness and Heat
The cut of meat and the way it is handled affect the toughness of the jerky. Meat is muscle, and muscle fibers run the length of a cut of meat, forming what is known as grain. When you slice the meat against the grain, it makes it more tender, while slicing with the grain makes the jerky tougher.
Some people like their jerky tender and others like to give their mouth a workout, so our beef jerky company lets you choose your own level of toughness, from Super Soft to Rip 'n Chew. Choose your level of heat, too, with varieties ranging from the mild and sweet flavor of Honey BBQ to the extremely spicy, "smoke coming out of your ears" Devil's Kiss.
All-Around Round
The most popular cuts of beef for making jerky come from the beef round. This is a large bundle of muscles at the top of the hind leg. Round makes excellent jerky because it is lean, long and economical. Leanness is important because too much fat in the meat can make the jerky fall apart instead of hold together in a strip. Round has very little interior fat — also called marbling — so it is a good choice for jerky. Also, the round is a large cut of meat and that makes it easier to slice thinly, which is important in the jerky-making process. Finally, meat from this section of the cow is less expensive than some other parts.
Cuts of Round
There are four cuts in the round, and each has its advantages for making top-quality jerky:
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Eye of round – This is the long muscle inside the back leg. It is lean and has very little marbling. Because it is the longest of the muscles in the round, it easy to slice with or against the grain of the meat. Eye of round is one of the least expensive and more economical of the cuts in this section.
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Bottom round – The bottom round is the outer muscle of the hind leg. It is still considered lean but has more interior marbling than the eye.
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Top round – The top round is opposite the bottom round on the inside of the leg. Its qualities are similar to bottom round.
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Sirloin tip – The sirloin tip can be used for jerky, but it is less tender than the other parts of the round. Because it is more often used in roasts or steaks, it is more expensive than the other cuts.
Tender and Flavorful Brisket
Although round is more popular for jerky, brisket makes for some very tasty products, too. The brisket is located in the chest area of the cow below the chuck and above the shank. Brisket is a very fatty cut of meat with a lot of interior marbling, so it needs special handling. You should remove all of the exterior fat from the brisket before slicing it. The interior fat makes for a very tender, easy-to-chew jerky that is full of flavor.
Ground Beef
You can use ground beef to make jerky, too. Ground meat is used for kippered beef jerky, which is made with a jerky gun, a piece of equipment that compresses and extrudes the meat and spice mixture into flat, uniform pieces, which are then smoked to give them that special jerky flavor. Jerky made from ground beef is easier to chew than the strips cut from larger pieces of meat.
Top-Quality Jerky
Whether you choose one of the lean and spicy varieties made with round, a tender and tasty brisket beef jerky or a kippered jerky made from ground beef, you can count on Bulk Beef Jerky for a delicious experience. Choose from seven different flavors made from cuts of round or one of three from brisket. Can't make up your mind? Try a sample pack of all of Bulk Beef Jerky's delectable offerings and find out which is your favorite.