Eye of round

[amkirkland]

My mom used to do an eye of round braise when I was a lad. This was pot roast to me. I've since discovered that I much prefer this lean cut as a plain roast, seared, roasted to medium-rare in the middle, but woudn't mind branching out a bit. Anyone have any secrets for such a cut? Anyone else ever had such a lean cut as a braise or "pot-roast?"

[Karl S]

Do not use eye round for braising; too lean for pot roast.

If you search "eye round" on this board, you'll get a number of threads on ideas. Marinating and grill-roasting is a tradition in my family. Must be sliced very thinly, against the grain. Must not be cooked more than medium rare.

[LindaWhit]

Agreed. I usually use chuck roasts for pot roast. The slow braising breaks down the fat and makes the meat oh-so-tender.

Eye rounds are good for quick searing/grilling/simple roasting to medium rare.

[jonijo]

Not true. It makes a great pot roast. After searing, cooking it at a slow simmer in liquid (with whatever additions you like: sliced onions, beef stock ,chopped carrots, bay leaf etc) for 3-4 hours (covered) will yield a tender delicious roast. Slice thinly, serve with the sauce .

[malibumike]

Eye of round is the cut with the least fat, therefore the most healthy as far as beef goes, this makes it a tough piece of meat as a roast. I usually roast the meat, cool it in the fridge and use my meat slicer to make roast beef sandwiches.

[monkeyrotica]

Rub with seasoned salt/garlic powder/paprika/black pepper, grill over charcoal, and slice thin for Baltimore pit beef sandwiches. Serve with raw onion and horseradish mayonnaise on a soft kaiser roll.

http://www.thatsmyhome.com/lunchbox/b...

[eve]

Mom made eye round often and she rubbed with salt, pepper and paprika. Then, using a knife or tip of thermometer (never noticed), would create pockets for inserting garlic slivers--all over the roast. Not sure about temp and timings though. But we served rare in center.

[oldone]

I like Eye of Round for pot roast or roasted for Roast Beef. I use (horror of horrors!) Liptons French Onion soup Mix and Campbell's Mushroom and cook at 325 for 3 hours in an aluminum foil packet for Pot Roast. Makes great gravy and is easy to do. Also, is not greasy. Never been a fan of chuck roast.

[pikawicca]

Has anyone tried brining this cut? I've never brined beef, but eye round might be a good candidate.

[amkirkland]

I've wondered about this too, but I can think of three reasons not to.
1. The issue with brining is that health concerns mandate overcooking poultry, whereas with beef that's not a problem... at least not yet.
2. Modern poultry has little flavor so watering it down doesn't hurt much, but I assume it would hurt beef.
3. Brining doesn't cure toughness, which is the issue with the eye of round, just dryness.

On the other I've wondered if there was brining involved somewhere in the process of making deli style roast beef.

[monkeyrotica]

I've seen corned eye of round in the meat section, right next to the briskets, so it can be done. Whether or not it's worth eating is another question.

[amkirkland]

So here's what's going on with my eye, and an appeal for some more opinions.

When I got home from work yesterday I put my available garlic (5 cloves) a handful of cilantro, homemade chili paste and the juice/zest of one lime plus some salt, pepper and olive oil in my mini prep and made a paste that I coated the roast with. My intention was to just rub this in the meat then roast it at around 300 and finish under the broiler to sear. Unfortunately, my thermometer decided to go caput on me, and I rely on the thermometer for perfect roasts. So, I just left the paste on there, put it in a container and am letting in "marinade" in the frig. I'll roast it tonight.

I've never used a paste like this and I'm afraid a pan sear would burn it and make it bitter. Any preferences as to whether searing pre or post roasting is better? (with a reason for it, please) I'm thinking I'll roast it rather slowly to get an even inside at about 110-115, let it rest as the oven gets to temp, then quickly seer for flavor. FYI, I don't buy the seals in the juices thing.

One more thing, on the roasting temp. If lower will result in a more even interior, then is there any reason not to roast it very low, as in 200-250 or so? Perhaps I would have something to spritz it with to keep the surface moist, but the paste may do that just fine.

[Will Owen]

I haven't done one in a long time, but back in Nashville I'd buy the roast then ask the meat guy for a pound or so of suet, which he would often slice thin for me. I would then season the meat, tie the strips of suet to encase it thoroughly, then give it about 15 minutes/lb in a hot oven. The suet (which gets discarded afterwards) both flavors the meat and keeps it from drying out.

The thin-sliced meat is delicious both hot and cold, especially with a good horseradish/sour cream sauce or hot mustard on the side.

[amkirkland]

I've got some stilton I'm gonna melt over the hot slices. Mmmmm.

[butterfly]

Eye of round is used for the Cuban dish, boliche. Most versions stuff the eye of round with chorizo and/or ham (if you selected the eye-of-round to save your arteries, then this is obviously not for you...). Serve with black beans, fried plaintains--it's Cuban soul food. If you are interested, I can ask my husband for his recipe.

[amkirkland]

Well, actually my parents like to stock me up on meat when they visit, and I can't bring myself to tell my mom that her roasts weren't works of art, and perhaps I'd rather something like a rump. So... Every once in a while I end up with a wholesale club pack pack of eye of rounds in my freezer. But, I figure since it's healthy, I probably won't stuff it with chorizo, thanks for the offer though

[tnfoodgirl]

I've made eye of the round roast for years and everyone is always surprised on how good it is. I run olive oil all over the roast, then kosher or margarita salt and pepper. Before you leave for work in the am, preheat the oven to 500 degrees; once the oven has reached temperature, put the roast in the oven, cook for 15 minutes, turn the oven off and go to work, when you come home you will have a perfectly done medium rare roast and BEST of all your ktichen won't be HOT.

[phantomdoc]

Just saw this on "America Test Kitchen". They salt the roast and put it in the fridge for a day. Then sear on all sides in hot frying pan. Then in a 225 F. oven till probe thermometer reaches 115 F. Turn off the oven and wait 45 min to an hour.
I did not understand eye round until I saw this show. A very lean, tough, inexpensive cut that can be transformed to a juicy delight.

[CindyJ]

I saw that episode, too, and I was reminded that back in the early days of my marriage, eye round roast was the cut I always used for roast beef. I'd use a "rub" of Lipton's Beefy Onion Soup and seal it in one of those "oven bags." I think one of the reasons it always seemed so good was that I used my home slicing machine to make very thin slices. Another reason was that I didn't know what better roast beef tasted like. :)