For making Whole Muscle Jerky use cuts with low content of intramuscular fat. In other words, look for cuts without a high level of fat inside the muscle of the meat. This is the opposite of looking for a good steak. When selecting a cut for a steak fat marbling is ideal. This is not the case when it comes to selecting a cut for jerky. If the cut includes a large fat cap, then cut it off.   

This is not as much of a concern if you are making Restructured Jerky. It is still necessary to remove any fat cap from the original cut before grinding.  

For making Whole Muscle Jerky use cuts with low content of intramuscular fat. In other words, look for cuts without a high level of fat inside the muscle of the meat. This is the opposite of looking for a good steak. When selecting a cut for a steak fat marbling is ideal. This is not the case when it comes to selecting a cut for jerky. If the cut includes a large fat cap, then cut it off.   

This is not as much of a concern if you are making Restructured Jerky. It is still necessary to remove any fat cap from the original cut before grinding.

Eye of the Round - This is a tougher and smaller muscle in the hindquarter that has a larger grain. Eye of the round is ideal for cutting into strips to make whole muscle jerky when you cut across the grain. If a fat cap is included with the eye of the round, remove it.  

Flank Steak - This low-fat cut from the abdominal region of the cow is used heavily throughout the life of the livestock, making it a tougher cut of meat. This may lead to cost savings at the butcher. For 3 oz of meat there is about 6 grams of fat. If a fat cap is included, a rarity, remove it before processing.  

Silver Tip - A fine grain meat, silver tip is another heavily-used muscle extracted from the shoulder. This lean, affordable meat is good for making whole muscle jerky.  

Hanger Steaks - What used to be a cut reserved for restaurants are becoming trendier cuts of meat to make at home, causing a spike in price. Since there is only one small hanger steak per animal it is difficult to keep up with the demand. This is causing the price increase and why hangar steak is becoming too expensive to make into jerky, even though it is an excellent cut for that purpose.    

Instead of using one of the cuts listed above, restructured jerky is made from lean ground meat. For most store-bought beef the fat ratio is too high. That’s why it is easier to grind with a 1/8 inch plate at home rather than trying to find 93/7 freshly ground beef at the grocery store.