r/meat • u/Deerslyr101571 • 4d ago
Eye of Round turned into Deli Style Roast Beef
Wife bought some roast beef at the deli and it was $14 per pound. Half a pound (Kroger pre-sliced and packaged) was like 5 slices. That was it. So started looking into making my own. Settled on Eye of Round. Dry brined 24 hours. Sous Vide at 131 for 18 hours. Chilled. Seared in my wood fired oven at 750 degrees. Rubbed with tallow and coated with spices. Bought 5 pounds at Costco for like $8 a pound and ended up with just over 4 pounds. I come out nominally ahead (after the lost weight), but the product and texture is through the roof.
Definitely plan on doing this again.
EDIT TO ADD: I do use an electric meat slicer, which aided in the thin, almost shaved, slices.
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u/Express-View5080 3d ago
Perfect use for that cut of meat! Good use for meat slicer for the correct thinage. Onion roll or Kaiser roll, horsey sauce and thin sliced raw onions. Oh and a quality oat soda
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u/dougreens_78 3d ago
Roast beef prices are insain atm. This is the way. I just need a meat slicer.
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u/Downunder818 3d ago
Bruh, what isn't good with cheddar, bacon, and honey mustard. The sharper, the better!
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u/Deerslyr101571 3d ago
Both slicers that I have owned were purchased on the "used" market. Good investment.
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u/Dense_Delay_2605 3d ago
Try it with cheddar, bacon and honey mustard. You’re welcome.
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u/Deerslyr101571 3d ago
Hmmm... I've got some home cured bacon in the freezer I should thaw for this!
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u/solslost 4d ago
My local grocery store used to carry boars head Cajun roast beef. Think I will try this.
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u/SuspiciousStress1 4d ago
Looks great!!
Quick question, what meat slicer do you have? I am getting a new one for Christmas(I have my grandmother's commercial(looks like a grocer deli slicer-big behemoth with insane footprint & heavy af), but can only use it in the garage because I now have a smallish kitchen, so it lives in the garage, too heavy to move back & forth(~120lbs)& i find I dont use it much as a result)
So this year I am getting something smaller.
Wondering what everyone uses & likes, your did a great job!!
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u/Deerslyr101571 3d ago
I just have a Waring Pro that I picked up at an Estate Sale years ago. I need to actually figure out how to sharpen the blade. It's not used extensively and it's ok... just could be sharper in my opinion.
But by the same token, I also feel that it is too small. When I make bacon, the slide just isn't long enough. That's my chief complaint.
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u/Naive-You-2850 1d ago
Cut your pork belly into Quarters post smoke/cook, that’s what I do. A chef long ago pointed out to me that smaller (length) slices of bacon fit on the plate, burger or BLT much better. You also don’t have the “pull the whole strip out” while taking a bite if done this way.
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u/Naive-You-2850 4d ago
Stick with your grandmas, anything lighter and cheaper will give you shitty results. Buy a new blade for the old one and you’ll be set.
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u/SuspiciousStress1 4d ago
It is a BEAST, its probably ~60/70yo, I have replaced & professionally sharpened the blade several times through the years. Works great, its a hobart, so it should outlast me-lol.
Our last move put us into a house with an amazing location(my kids can walk/bike downtown, park, zoo, museums, all over, they love it), wonderful yard(3 lots), but an insanely small kitchen(ive seen bathrooms larger).
So the slicer is relegated to the garage...we live in Idaho, its COLD out there half the year-lol
I was hoping to get something small to keep inside-at least for winters. I wont get rid of the Hobart, it will regain prominence in my kitchen with the next move, im sure(hubs is DoD, we move alot).
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u/Justabob003 4d ago
Amazon has lots of well reviewed options. Mine is a chef’s choice 7” slicer. It has served me well for 10+ years.
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u/SuspiciousStress1 4d ago
Great info, thank you!!
I am leary of some amazon reviews as some seem written by bots/paid reviewers. Plus, rarely does anyone update, anything can be great out of the box, but then blow up 6mos later.
Appreciate the input!!
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u/Antique-Show-4459 4d ago
What do you do with 5 pounds of roast beef without it spoiling. Besides the obvious sandwiches day 1 and 2. How long does it keep in the fridge. My deli RB is 17.99-21.99 a pound. I’d love to try this
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u/Deerslyr101571 3d ago
I sealed and froze the second roast without cutting it. What you see piled there... it isn't going to last long with a 22 year old runner in the house who is training for a marathon... plus me sneaking a slice here and there (I'm on a low carb lifestyle).
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u/albinogoldfish99 3d ago
It’s really not that hard to eat that much. Lol. Some roast beef and mashed patstoe on day one some leftover dinner mid week and 2 sandwitches and some snacking and man. it’s a good week
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u/Justabob003 4d ago
Divide and freeze in appropriate portions
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u/Antique-Show-4459 4d ago
lol. Im not sure how that would be thawed out. I’d think it would lose something in the thawing process. Or make French dip sandwiches. 🤷♀️
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u/HelpMe0prah 4d ago
Love doing put beef sandwiches with some thinly sliced onions and a nice horseradish sauce.
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u/Pale_Section1182 4d ago
i did this, and it was amazing and worth every minute. it was more about no preservatives for me.
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u/kingpcgeek 4d ago
That is a lot of work to save $16.
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u/Deerslyr101571 3d ago
Doing it was really more than saving $16. My reasons?
Yes... cost of buying deli roast beef was the initial motivation.
I love a challenge when it comes to food, just to "see if I can". There are relatively few things that I've decided I should just leave to the pros, but when I learn that I just can't get a better result on my own, to just enjoy it prepared by someone else (my cheesemaking days were a bust). If I'm certain I can improve my process though... I'll do it again!
I love taking my time. Jesus... I spent 5 months building a wood fired oven (Yes, it took me that long because I started early fall, got COVID, then daylight and freezing became my enemies and restricted my time). It's more than a "pizza oven". Depending on the volume of meat, I'll use it as my smoker. But pretty much with food preparation, if it takes time, it doesn't bother me. And for what it's worth... firing up my oven on a beautiful Fall Day (like I did to sear this one) is relaxing. I like to call it the "Slow Food Movement".
I really wanted to see if I could get edge to edge perfect pink, and not have the Deli meat that was brown, but somehow not dry. Which leads into...
Quality. I was pretty certain I "could" make Deli Meat that had just as good, if not better, quality to it. I spoiled my wife... now she's going to "expect" this. But I've got a plan for the next round though.
Preparing food is my "love language". When I take time to make a meal and share it with others, I'm giving something of myself. No better feeling.
So... if you love the process and the challenge... and it just feeling downright therapeutic... the $16 saved is way less important than the Zen you can get out of taking time to cook something properly.
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u/GeneralBurg 4d ago
It’s hardly any work lol. It’s some time planning and waiting with a tiny bit of work mixed in.
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4d ago
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u/Deerslyr101571 4d ago
I just finished the cook, cool and slice portion after the baseball game last night. Ended up sampling way more slices than I expected because it was that good. Had a basic sandwich today with Mayo and Provolone.
My son used the residual heat on the Wood Fired Oven to make some ciabatta loaves for sandwiches tonight. I might heat up and dunk the sandwich in beef broth.
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u/Drunkelves 4d ago
Look up the North Shore Roast Beef sandwich. It’s a regional delicacy north of Boston that might be life changing. The James River bbq sauce is critical though so you might have to import it.
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4d ago
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u/Deerslyr101571 4d ago
I would say having an electric meat slicer is key.
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u/T49irvine 4d ago
You can get comparable results with a well sharpened slicer ten inches or longer.
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u/Delicious_Catch9453 4d ago
Without a slicer that muscle is usually kinda tough. Just not much fat in them. Even so, they do have a good flavor.
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u/Srycomaine 4d ago
That’s some killer looking RB!!! I might have to give that a try, since steaks and such are SO effing $$$! 😲😋🤌
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u/From-The-South 4d ago
The last one I cooked was actually marinated in beef brines then coated with SPG. Looks perfectly cooked too. I used ChefsTemp Bundle for my Big Green Egg which includes S1, Breezo fan and ProTemp 2 Plus wireless probes. Makes any grill, smoker or even oven set and forget.
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u/Deerslyr101571 4d ago
I went "old school" in 2021 and built a Wood Fired Oven in the backyard... but for the sous vide portion, I actually used a piece of electrical brewing equipment that recirculates water and holds temps perfectly.
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u/Srycomaine 4d ago
So, HERMS Roast Beef?? That’s like something I was thinking of doing for bulk sous vide…
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u/Deerslyr101571 3d ago
Pretty much! I found a sous vide recipe for Turkey where you butcher it first, sear, and then sous vide. It's a banger recipe, but the second year, we had so many people coming over that we needed to do 2 turkeys. So... I just pulled out my Grainfather system and TBH it's been used for large sous vide way more than it has brewing over the last 8 years.
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u/Srycomaine 3d ago
That’s awesome, brother! I tend to do large smokes, so then I can portion out and vacuum-seal it all. It goes in the chest freezer, and when needed I just water bath it back to serving temp, and it’s (virtually) just like the first day.
When I was considering doing the catering for our wedding, my wife and I had pretty much scheduled out all of the wine and beer we’d need to make and the timeline for it. But when it came to heating it all up, that’s when I thought about using my HERMS for water recirculation.
It’s good to know it is actually a viable idea!
😅🤝🍻
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u/Deerslyr101571 3d ago
If you want to blow everyone's mind away at Thanksgiving, you need to check out the Chef Steps "Better Way To Turkey". The HERMS system is built for it... and you will probably find yourself doing two turkeys instead of one! Best breast meat I've ever had. Have probably done a dozen turkeys this way.
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u/NinjaStiz 4d ago
At 18hrs I'd expect the texture to be grainy but you proved that to not be the case. I've been wanting to do this for a while
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u/Bman282828 6h ago
WOW!