Beef tenderloin is a large, lean cut of meat perfect for grilling. From round roasts to tender steaks, find out how to cook and cook this delicious prime beef steak.
Beef Round is a prime cut of beef and is another name for fillet of beef. It comes from the “round” region of a cow’s body, another name for her hind legs. Depending on how it is cut, it may or may not include the leg bone(the femur). However, the round cut is increasingly being cut on the upper, lower and eye rounds.
Let’s take a look at what makes round beef and its various cuts perfect for grilling and other slow roasting methods.
What is round beef?
The cut of beef is one of the best performing and most economical cuts of beef. It’s cut into 1-inch boneless steaks, making it the perfect supper for heavy weight watchers, as the round meat is very low in fat. This lean beef can also be cut into strips or cubes in other recipes.
Because it has little to no fat and is all muscle, it has a very smooth and consistent texture. This texture makes it ideal for all types of recipes.
There is little or no marbling in round meat. While a thin layer of fat covers the muscle, your butcher WILL remove it before the portion of your store shelves. If you check the shelves of your name store, you can tell the difference between other beef steaks and round beef by the lack of marbling in the round beef.
However, sometimes a thin white streak or two of white fat is visible on top of the purplish-red hue of the muscle, but this is rare. Most often, you’ll find round beef steaks as sheer muscle cuts the size of your palm.
However, since there is quickly no fat in a fillet of beef, cooking it can be a little tricky. In the case of cuts of beef with heavy marbling, ie fat between the muscles, the fat dissolvers during cooking and makes the cut juicy and moist.
But in all-muscle cut, like beef tenderloin, there’s no fat, so when it’s cooked it’s moist and meaning it can get dry, tough and tough with a cook at times. Because it’s often the preferred cut for low-fat recipes, cooked meat tends to be dry since low-fat recipes use little or no oil or fat.
Where does the round meat of the cow come from?
Round meat is one of the eight prime cuts of beef and comes from the hindquarters of the steer and consists primarily of muscles around the hind legs and rump of the cow. It is divided into three subsections: top round, bottom round and eye round.
Small round
The top round piece of meat comes from the inside of both legs of the cow. It is sometimes called the inner round as it comes from within. Although it comprises two distinct muscles, it’s still very little fat or connective tissue.
While still inexpensive, the top round cut can be slightly more expensive than other round cuts because it’s more tender and easier to cook.
Round bottom
The bottom round piece of meat comes from the outside of the cow’s legs. It is also known as the outer round and sometimes the rump roast as it is typically used for roasting. This round cut of beef can be sold boned or boneless, while the other two cuts are always sold boneless.
If you buy a whole piece of round bottom with bone in, you can separate the bone and muscle and use the bone in the broth. Since the femur is a large bone, you can easily make a large pot of broth out of it. You can then use this broth in a number of stews and soups.
Boom(of) round
The round eye or round eye is cut between the top and bottom rounds. The round eye cut is the leanest part of the round beef. When he sees WILL separate from the other two cuts, the muscle cut around the eye looks like the cleanest cut of meat possible. It is only covered with a thin layer of fat that is easily removed.
However, they also choose to leave the layer of fat around the eye. The round eye is the most difficult round cut of beef to cook, and the layer of fat can help make it juicy. But don’t do it unless you don’t mind the extra calories!
How to buy round beef
Round cuts of meat can be sold under different names. However, most cuts labeled “Round Steak from Beef” or “Round Steak” refer to the eye cut of the beef round. A whole piece of round eye is sometimes referred to as “round beef” or “round”.
Bottom round cuts may also be sold as “boneless round roast” or “bone-in round roast”, depending on whether they come boned or boneless. Whole cuts of the top round are labeled “rump roast”, while smaller cuts are labeled “beef” or even “rump”. They can be found alongside other cuts of beef suitable for grilling.
However, if you want to buy meat as fresh as possible, you may prefer to buy it from a local butcher rather than a store where you can never be sure of the freshness of the meat. When you go to butchers, you can often buy your meat in bulk, and you can even ask the butcher to prepare the cuts of meat according to the recipes you want to follow.
How to cut round meat
If you get a whole piece of round meat, you need to remove the bone first. Since this can be difficult, we recommend that YOU strip off the layer of fat covering them fairly well so you can later separate their subsections into individual pieces. The layer of fat can be easily removed with a sharp, fine knife. If there is excess fat on the sides of the meat, you can trim that off as well.
Once you’ve removed all of the fat around the muscle, you can see the gap between the top and bottom and the eye between the two. Below are separated by fat pocket sections. These love handles are easily distinguished from the other subsections because there is hardly any fat on the muscle.
Once YOU have separated the top, and the eye by removing the love handles mentioned above, YOU can begin slicing the meat. All of the different cuts of beef can be used as inexpensive steak options. If you want steaks, simply cut 1 inch thick portions from the top and eye. You can also cut up a large portion for use in BBQ recipes or dice beef for use in casseroles.
The bottom round is best reserved for strips of meat. All cuts can be ground up to make ground beef or hamburger patties. However, don’t forget to add some of the fat you trimmed from the round ground beef to keep the ground beef or burgers flavorful.
When cutting steaks, cubes or strips of beef, always cut against the grain. Slicing along the grain can cause cuts of meat to look quite lumpy and can also cause cuts of meat to fall apart, even if they have been cooked just a little.
Round meat substitute
Beef loin can be an easy substitute for round meat, as all round cuts of meat can be overcooked and tend to become tough and tough after cooking. However, beef contains a much higher percentage of fat than round beef.
If YOU want to use beef instead of round meat, YOU trim off all the fat. Beef can be a juicy substitute for round beef if you’re following a specific recipe but have trouble keeping the meat moist.
How to grill smoked round meat
Smoking is the best way to cook any round cut of meat. Because round meat is low in fat, the slow smoking method is ideal for keeping the meat juicy and tender.
To smoke beef, preheat the smoker grate to 225°F for 15 minutes before placing the beef. They keep the temperature constant throughout the process. A general rule of thumb is to give each pound of beef a 30 to 40 minute smoke time.
Therefore, smoking a heavy four-pound piece of beef takes between two and two and a half hours. The internal temperature of the meat should reach 130°F at this point.
Our smoker top round recipe uses just a simple dry rub and requires smoking over oak wood for about 5 hours until the internal temperature is 130°F and the meat is cooked medium rare.
For our smoked bottom round roast , we use cayenne and paprika before smoking our 2-pound beef for medium to rare hours(about 2).
Ideal to serve
Although round meat can be used in a variety of dishes, it lends itself more to grilled recipes. The round of grilled or roasted veal can be served with grilled vegetables. It also goes well with mashed potatoes, puddings or sauces.
Round meat cubes and strips can also be prepared in a variety of ways. The strips can be used in pasta or rice recipes, while the cubes can be used for soups and stews. You can also enjoy ground beef or ground beef in pasta or pie dishes.
Another popular way to enjoy round beef steak is to cook it using the reverse sear method. As the name of this method suggests, a thick-cut steak is cooked and then seared. To do this, place a seasoned steak on a rack in an oven on heat. Once the steak is 15F below the required temperature, remove and sear on a hot grill or skillet. Then enjoy!
Writer & content creator. BBQ fanatic!
