What to Do With a Chewy Steak?

Stopped at new market and spotted ribeye steaks. They looked alright, not as much marbling as I would have liked but bought them anyway just to see what they might be like.

Yup, they're tough and chewy. They have pretty good flavor but damn they're tough.

What can one do to say a ribeye, or new york strip, that you can predict will be chewy to make them yummy?

My cooking technique for these 1.5 inch thick cuts was:

warm to room temp, ground pepper, bit of Adobo, bit of a Mrs. Dash.

Heat the cast iron skillet for 5 minutes on high, drop the steak in and Sear one side for about 3 minutes the other side for about 1 minute, with a Lodge skillet weight on top. They come off rare. Let it sit for about 4 minutes, it bleeds out some, under a lid, then serve.

Kenji,

That weight on top of the steak is pushing out moisture. A 10 minute resting time would also improve your results.

You would be better off using a reverse sear with a thicker steak. Roasting a cold seasoned steak for 25-35 minutes to 100-105 brings the steak close to serving temperature with no loss of moisture and dries the exterior. Then a quick hot sear in clarified butter adds flavor and easily caramelizes the exterior, again without loss of moisture.

It would also be interesting to ask your butcher about the storage of the steak. If they were stored at really cold temperatures (freezing) and thawed quickly, they probably were dry when purchased. A fresher, softer steak has better chance at cooking without drying out.

Tim

I find Alton Brown's method pretty much foolproof. See http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... index.html

As Tim said, ditch the weight on top of the steak.

kenji wrote:Yup, they're tough and chewy. They have pretty good flavor but damn they're tough.

What can one do to say a ribeye, or new york strip, that you can predict will be chewy to make them yummy?

If you have a pressure cooker, you might consider it as an option. (Google: ribeye pressure cooker).

If you don't have a pressure cooker, you might consider the wonders of pressure cookers.

-jbn

jbnewman wrote:

kenji wrote:Yup, they're tough and chewy. They have pretty good flavor but damn they're tough.

What can one do to say a ribeye, or new york strip, that you can predict will be chewy to make them yummy?

If you have a pressure cooker, you might consider it as an option. (Google: ribeye pressure cooker).

If you don't have a pressure cooker, you might consider the wonders of pressure cookers.

-jbn

Thats interesting. I use my pressure cooker once in a while but to cook a steak? The ribeyes we get from our co-op are really juicy and tender but I am curious to try the pressure cooker. Never even thought of that. Can you elaborate about how?

I've never made the pressure cooker steak, but looking at the recipe, it looks like what you end up with is pot roast. The recipe I found had you pressure cooking for 25 minutes, then searing it, which means you've basically got a well-done piece of meat that's been cooked so the collagen renders and it becomes soft and moist, then is seared for flavor on a pan. In my opinion, at that point, it isn't what I expect to be "steak" but rather pot roast or stew meat.

That said, I've successfully used less-than-ideal ribeye cuts as braising or stew meat. Ribeye has always been kind of an in-between cut for me, one that works well both with long, slow cooking, and in normal quick steak preparations (unlike leaner, more tender cuts of beef like filet). Also, mediocre cuts of ribeye usually work out well in hamburgers, provided they come with a decent amount of fat (and they usually do.)

Because my wife doesn't eat red meat, I get most of my red meat eating while in restaurants. So I can't vouch for the success or failure of steak in a pressure cooker. I've always been told, though, that it will really work wonders on a tough piece of meat.

Based on my experience with chicken in the pressure cooker, I'd say that the recipe calling for 25 minutes under pressure has to result in something awfully close to a pot roast. (25 minutes is a long time in there!) On the other hand, there is another recipe that keeps the cooking time brief.

In a nod to the Power of LTHForum, Google now lists this thread in the first 10 hits for "ribeye pressure cooker".

-jbn

Ah, I didn't see that one. Interesting. I'm curious to see what 8 minutes in the pressure cooker would do to a so-so ribeye. I will have to try it out some time. I can't imagine it making that much of a difference, but I won't know unless I try it.

This is what sous-vide is for. To do it home style is kind of a pain, but do-able. Crank your water heater up to 130+. Fill a big pot with the water. Place rib-eyes in tightly sealed plastic bags, and immerse. Add some more hot water every half hour or so to keep the temperature for 5 hours. Remove and sear.

I'm surprised that no one had mentioned this yet, but the best thing to do if you (consistently) get a chewy steak is to find a new butcher. While all of these suggestions are good, you would need to know ahead of time that the steak was going to be chewy to choose any of the suggested methods. That brings me to the point of asking, why buy a known chewy steak in the first place?

I think the only realistic option, while still cooking it like a steak, is to go for smaller, thinner slices when eating. But whatever you do, never smash a steak down with a pan or brick; it is like wringing water out of a sponge.

stevez wrote:That brings me to the point of asking, why buy a known chewy steak in the first place?

I shop a wee bit different than many others. I tend to go to places that are already on my route while I'm driving around the city for work and personal life. I don't usually make a 1/2 day of it on a weekend and go and stock up using destinations.

If I have to make a dinner I stop into my market grab the fresh ingredients go home and create. Very rarely am I defrosting the meat/fish for a dinner. I'm usually using something I bought the same day.

I have about 5 "markets" I regularly buy produce, meat and fish from, that are within my normal driving, biking routes.

This particular steak was bought at Harvest Time on Lawrence. I had my first ever trip there after my normal swim at the Galter. People at Galter have been talking about Harvest Time so I went because it's just down the block and had never been there. I spotted select grade ribeyes and said 'WTF" how bad can it be? Well....it can be pretty damn chewy.

Sidenote: I also picked up some of their hot-booth carnitas and some of their store made pork rinds. Carnitas was good, not as good as Chicago Meat Market carnitas, but good. the pork rinds were disappointing. Either rancid oil was used, old oil, or just plain bad oil cause they didn't taste good at all.

jblth wrote:I think the only realistic option, while still cooking it like a steak, is to go for smaller, thinner slices when eating. But whatever you do, never smash a steak down with a pan or brick; it is like wringing water out of a sponge.

I'm not sure the Lodge weight had too much to do with the lack of tenderness of this cut of meat. I use it on my regualr meat market ribeyes and they always turn out great.

From what I've experimented with, the use of the weight gets me a great even sear, cuts down on total time to cook and assures me a better rare cooked steak.

kenji wrote:. I spotted select grade ribeyes and said 'WTF" how bad can it be? Well....it can be pretty damn chewy.

BINGO! An "USDA select" grade ribeye is bound to be tough. That coupled with the cooking method was the problem.

You should look for a well marbled "USDA" choice ribeye (Yes, ask a butcher to help you.) and try again.

Tim

Tim wrote:

kenji wrote:.

u should look for a well marbled "USDA" choice ribeye (Yes, ask a butcher to help you.) and try again.

Tim. I know the "select" can be an issue. But I've had plenty of select product that wasn't this tough. I've also had product labeled choice that was as chewy as utility.

At my other markets that I use for beef I can predict pretty well how tender their product will be.

Being this was the first meat buy at Harvest Time, I'll have to experiment with purchases from them to gauge their quality.

I just can't see why or how a "regular" customer of Harvest Time is using these ribeyes and not having to floss immediately afterward.

In the mean time, I found my Rival crock pot will keep water at 130 degrees. And I have a pressure cooker. I also have 1.5 pounds of this ribeye left over in the fridge. I'll try both the above mentioned techniques and see what happens and get back to you all.

Kenji,

That pressure cooker will turn your steak into pot roast.

Searing a steak typically raises the internal temperature by 20 degrees. Therefore, cooking to 130 degrees before searing results in a well done steak. Reverse sear methods normally recommend roasting or sous vide to 100-110 degrees.

Tim

kenji wrote:In the mean time, I found my Rival crock pot will keep water at 130 degrees. And I have a pressure cooker. I also have 1.5 pounds of this ribeye left over in the fridge. I'll try both the above mentioned techniques and see what happens and get back to you all.

I'll be curious to hear your results. I will be shocked if either of those methods will take a tough, select grade piece of meat and turn it into an edible medium rare steak, but I'd love to be proven wrong. I've never been able to do anything with a select ribeye other than turn it into hamburger or stew.

OK, Tonight was take a ribeye and pressure cook it.

Used, 1/4 cup of cheap dry red wine, ground pepper, lil salt, and 3 tablespoons butter, and chopped two cloves of garlic, got it boiling in the the non-electric pressure cooker, put a saucer in the thing, dropped a steak on it. Closed the lid and once it got to rattling the weight, I went 10 minutes of rattle on medium heat. Let it sit for a minute, then doused the pot in cold water to release pressure. Let it sit for 3 minutes covered. Got a skillet red freaking hot, shaked some adobo and black pepper on the meat then put the steak in for 1 minute each side.

It was browned perfectly, some of the middle of the 1.5 inch steak was still pink inside.

It was about 1/2 the chewiness it was with my previous just searing and serving technique. Way more tender. Taste was very good. I could tell more connective tissue broke down without the meat drying out.

Seems like I'd want to try a longer pressure cook and the same finishing technique to see if it will get even more tender and yummy.

I've got the slow cooker filled with water at 138 degrees. I'm going to drop another of the same steak in a ziploc before I go to bead, and see what 8 hours simmering does. When I wake up I'll take it and sear it the same way I did for the pressure cooked meat, and see how it is with eggs tomorrow.

kenji-

I really appreciate your spirit of adventure with the steaks you bought. Thanks for sharing the results!

The GP wrote:kenji-

I really appreciate your spirit of adventure with the steaks you bought. Thanks for sharing the results!

Thanks!

I like to eat and not have to floss immediately afterwards.

kenji wrote:I've got the slow cooker filled with water at 138 degrees. I'm going to drop another of the same steak in a ziploc before I go to bead, and see what 8 hours simmering does. When I wake up I'll take it and sear it the same way I did for the pressure cooked meat, and see how it is with eggs tomorrow.

Just be careful, 138F is on the high end of medium rare. I'll be interested to hear the results regardless of the outcome.

I just dropped the ziplocked meat into the slow cooker.

I'll check back in after a good night's sleep and tomorrow's breakfast.

The wife thinks I'm a loon and that I have food on my mind way way too much.

I would suggest salting the steak an hour before cooking.

kenji wrote:The wife thinks I'm a loon and that I have food on my mind way way too much.

What's wrong with that?

Second cut of chewy ribeye was made way more tender using a 9 hour soak in 138 degree water in a ziploc. I took it out put Adobo and some pepper on it and seared it for one minute each side in a cast iron skillet then let it sit for five minutes covered.

When I cut into it the meat was pink. I'd call it medium rare.

Comparing this technique to the pressure cooker I'd say the pressure cooker made the cut a bit more tender, but I'll bet if I didn't pay attention to how long it cooked it would have dried out.

Does either technique take a select cut of meat and make it a smooth choice cut? No. But it definitely makes it way better, about as close to choice as you can get.

kenji wrote:Second cut of chewy ribeye was made way more tender using a 9 hour soak in 138 degree water in a ziploc.

You probably could have let it go 12. I bought a controller for my slow cooker, because the lowest setting would give 141 degrees. It's easier than turning the pot on and off every few hours. Lots of tough meat changes into delectable after 48 - 72 hours.