The top round, aka the inside round or the “London broil”, is a cut from the inside of the rear leg. It’s lean, flavorful, inexpensive, and comes in large cuts perfect for making jerky at home. While there are other cuts that work just fine, none hits all the right notes the way this cut does.

Even though marbled fat is perfect for our steaks, it’s not what we want in our jerky. Fat spoils quickly and turns rancid in a few days, so it’s important to select a cut that’s low in fat content so the jerky will have a long shelf-life.

If you plan on wolfing down the jerky quickly or simply prefer jerky that’s a tad fattier, eye of round and bottom round are also terrific options for making jerky at home that you simply can’t go wrong with.

When you get to the store to buy some top round, you want the freshest meat with the longest expiration date. Make sure that the meat is free of dark spots and connective tissue, ask your butcher to pre-slice it for you, and you’re on your way to making premium, homemade jerky!

So what is the best part of the deer for jerky?

If you are not a hunter, like me. I have no idea what part is considered the “best” for making deer jerky so lets first break down the part of a deer.

If you have experience in making beef jerky, you’ll know that you want to use the leanest cut of meat. The reason for this is any fat or excess fat on the meat can cause the jerky to spoil quicker than leaner cuts of meat.

This same rule applies to deer jerky.

The leanest cut of a deer or venison is the backstrap, tenderloins & hindquarter.

These part has the least amount of fat and is still tender for making deer jerky. To be fair deer, in general, are very lean and any part of the deer can be cut to make deer jerky.

If I had to choose one deer cut, it’ll probably be the quarter hind leg roast since you get a big meat selection and you’ll be able to make bigger slices which are better for drying, curing and eating!