One of the most important decisions when making beef jerky is the cut of meat you are going to use. The right cut of meat makes all the difference when making great tasting beef jerky, and here I'll show you which ones are the best!
🥩 What's The Best Cut of Meat?
The simple answer to this question is a cut that has the least amount of fat as possible. This tends to be the beef eye of round, bottom round, and top round. Fat will spoil and ruin jerky, avoid fat at all costs!
Below is a list of cuts of meat that work very well for beef jerky. You can also make beef jerky out of lean ground meat. Try several different cuts and decide for yourself which one is your favorite! Once you do, check out my Beef Jerky Recipes Page to find your favorite jerky marinade!!!
Eye of Round - The best cut of meat for making beef jerky. The most tender of the Rounds. This is a single oval muscle in the rear leg. This is my go to cut of meat when making beef jerky.
- Lean
- Little interior fat
- Need to trim the fat cap
- Grain runs the length of the cut for easy slicing with or against the grain
- Economical (relatively inexpensive)
Bottom Round - Another great choice for making jerky. It is the outer muscle of the upper rear leg. This is the least tender of the rounds. Even though it is the least tender, it makes great jerky!
- Lean
- Possible interior marbling
- Flavorful
- Economical (relatively inexpensive)
Top Round - Very similar to bottom round. The top round is cut from the inside leg muscle, opposite of the bottom round. This cut is more tender than the bottom round and less tender than the eye of round.
- Lean
- Flavorful
- Economical (relatively inexpensive)
Sirloin Tip - Second Most tender of the rounds. Not as popular, but still a very good piece of meat for making jerky.
- Very Lean
- Most tender
- A little more expensive
Flank Steak - More expensive than the rest but still a great meat for jerky. If sliced with the grain, your jerky will be extremely tough. Better to slice against the grain when using this piece of meat when making beef jerky.
- Lean (need to trim some fat)
- More interior marbling
- Flavorful
- Can be a tougher jerky
Ground Meat - If making jerky with ground meat, make sure to choose a lean package. Many people like ground meat jerky because it is easier to chew and less harsh on your teeth. The texture is VERY different from whole meat jerky though, so keep that in mind.
- Makes easier to chew jerky
- Choose the leanest ground meat available (at least 90% lean)
- Requires a jerky gun or flattened and cut into strips
- Visit my page on How to Make Ground Beef Jerky for more information
Deer Meat - Deer meat is GREAT for making jerky! Venison jerky is some of my favorite. It tends to be very lean meat and very tender. If you harvest your venison yourself during hunting season, it is also about as organic as you can get!
- Very Lean
- Very little interior marbling
- Organic
- Great Game Flavor
- Tender
Elk Meat - Just like Venison, Elk Roasts are very lean cuts of meat that are great for making jerky. Elk has a mild game flavor making it a fantastic option for even the pickiest of eaters in your family.
- Very Lean
- Very little interior marbling
- Organic
- No game flavor
- Tender
Pork Loin & Tenderloin - A little fattier of a cut, but my favorite when using pork. Great for making jerky. Goes really well with sweet recipes, but also turns out great with spicier recipes.
- Flavorful
- Tender Jerky
- Economical (relatively inexpensive)
- Great with sweet recipes
💭 Tips When Buying Meat
There are some ground rules that will apply across the board. When shopping for your choice of meat, make sure to follow these tips:
- Never purchase old or expired meats
- Purchase the correct amount of meat. After drying, jerky will lose about 2/3 of its weight. If you buy 3lbs, you will end up with a little over 1lb of dried jerky
- Inspect each specific cut to find the one with the least amount of fat
- Ask the butcher to slice the meat for you - Many butchers will slice the meat to your specified thickness at no cost. This saves a lot of time!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask your local butcher. I am sure they will be more than helpful in getting you what you need.
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London broil works well too
I have an arm roast that I got from a quarter of beef and was thinking of making jerky out of it. Is it good enough? Thanks
Yeah, that should work great. Normally a lean cut with not a lot of fat makes it ideal for jerky.
Do you have any tips or tricks that you can share for making moose jerky? We have a couple of freezers full of moose and I'd love to make some jerky to snack on when we go hiking.
I have never made moose jerky, but I would imagine that the beef and deer jerky recipes would work well with it. I wish I had a little more expertise with moose, I just have never had the opportunity to hunt moose. Let me know how it turns out!
Hi, Will I’m a Jerky lover who’s sick of over paying for store jerky. It’s been a really frustrating week researching homemade jerky because I recently got a pellet smoker and was hoping to add homemade jerky to my prepping food supply but it seems as though I can duplicate everything the manufacturers are doing but the Jerky still won’t the last as long. So far I know I can get the leanest meats, use a food preservative, smoke the meat, put it in a Mylar bag w/ a oxygen absorber, and vacuum seal it, still only get 2 months of storage. freezing it doesn’t seem to benefit. Is there something I’m missing? Thank you for spending time writing great informative articles, responding to questions & comments
That's just about all you can do. The big manufacturers flush all of the oxygen out of their bags with nitrogen to really make it last long. I don't have any nitrogen so I just make small batches at a time. You just have to eat it faster! Haha. Thanks for the kind words... Good luck Larry!
Hey Will...
Thanks for all the tips and instructions. I have your book, read what you write online, have purchased the dehydrator and jerkey slicer you use and am having a blast makiing really tasty beef jerkey. I have made most of the recipes in your book. My favorite is "Rig Hand"...
I live in the higher elevations in Western Colorado and will probably spend the colder days inside making more jerkey.
Wow, thanks for all the support in trying all my recipes and having the book! Rig hand is a really good jerky, everyone loves that one. Keep up the jerky making Tim, and stay warm this winter!
The web reminds me of my drinking days. I would often wind up in a spot without a clue as to how I got there. This is fascinating. Perhaps I'll try to make some in the future. (Note to self- bookmark this site.) To me, it looks like lucky left out at least one definition of jerk. I really liked Lucky's post. I have had in interest in etymology ever since I was young and got attacked by hornets. (I consider myself fortunate that it was hornets and not ambulatory trees.)