Mechanically tenderized beef

[lilmira]

Saw a little bit of it on TV a while ago, didn't pay much attention. Today I stopped by Costco and saw the sticker on every package of steaks. It says the meat has been tenderized, we should cook the meat to 160F, 71C. Like seriously, that's well done. That's the temperature I cook my chicken to.

If you don't know what that is, it sounds like they break down the meat by poking it therefore raising the risk of cross contamination. My question is, is that really necessary? Just cut the meat into steaks, that's all I need.

Would this stop me from cooking my steaks to medium rare? hell no. Would this stop me from buying tenderized meat? I'm not sure. This definitely makes me think twice now.

Here are some info.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2013/05/17/sk-food-safety-ritz-1305.html
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/05/as-canada-moves-forward-rule-to-label-mechanicallly-tenderized-meat-in-u-s-remains-stuck-omb/#.UZ7J8Zz4tx4

[cancer man]

That's is what they do with old steers to soften up the meat.Cheaper cut.
I seen it done in Europe 30 years ago.
Generally pan fried.Never BBQ'd lose all the juice.

[lilmira]

Yeah, that's what I thought when I saw that on TV. But the stickers are all over the AAA beef at Costco, ribeye, tenderloin everything except the uncut ones. Now I have to go hunt for non-tenderized meat.

[JRSC00LUDE]

I asked the meat people at Costco once these labels started appearing and they said nothing has changed in their meat or in their procedures at all. The only thing that has changed is their mandated labeling requirements. Outside of that every piece of meat is exactly as it always was.

To me, it seems like nothing more than another layer of bubble wrap on society. :guns:

[lilmira]

"meat people" lol

That's kinda silly move to protect themselves from liability. I didn't think AAA meat requires tenderizing. By saying it is tenderized, without knowing that is true or not, ruins it for me. Why not suggest boiling your steak for 10mins lol?

Well, I don't even think half the people pay attention to those labels. I wouldn't, have I not seen that bit on TV.

[clem24]

Then why not just buy the giant hunks of beef and cut yourself? That's what we do.. Cheaper too. Used to buy whole strip loin and sirloin from Costco, bring it home, cut it up, cook some while fresh, and freeze the rest. Though lately we've been buying the grass fed/hormone free stuff from the farmer's market. Still the same giant hunks and then cut ourselves.

[Unknown303]

Originally posted by clem24
Then why not just buy the giant hunks of beef and cut yourself? That's what we do.. Cheaper too. Used to buy whole strip loin and sirloin from Costco, bring it home, cut it up, cook some while fresh, and freeze the rest. Though lately we've been buying the grass fed/hormone free stuff from the farmer's market. Still the same giant hunks and then cut ourselves.

I get all my beef from the family farm. :bigpimp:

[ercchry]

get the logs and dry age them at home :drool:

[JAYMEZ]

I think Costco should tell people that they package the The frozen chicken boxes and the fish in the same factory.. I had a entire box that I cooked that stunk and tasted like raw/off fish. I returned them and got a full refund and a new box .. If I had a fish allergy , I would of been dead.

Costco meat is always yummy haha.

[sillysod]

If you ever get meat that isn't from a feed lot and processed in a slaughter house it usually tastes very gamey. My uncle has a farm and his cattle just eat grass and wander around his acreage. We've bought a side of beef before from him and my wife couldn't cook the wild taste out of it so she hated it.

Funny how our bodies get used to all the garbage in the feed lot animals. It's like eating natural peanut butter after peanut sugar paste we used grew up on. Or going to the US and having iced tea that isn't full of sugar.

[DeleriousZ]

Corn fed fatty beef tastes amazing, but not nearly as rich in nutrients as grass fed free range stuff.

[Kavy]

Originally posted by JRSC00LUDE
I asked the meat people at Costco once these labels started appearing and they said nothing has changed in their meat or in their procedures at all. The only thing that has changed is their mandated labeling requirements. Outside of that every piece of meat is exactly as it always was.

To me, it seems like nothing more than another layer of bubble wrap on society. :guns:

Bubble wrap it is not, most retailers do not tenderise their meat before packing, Costco does and the government wants the public to know the dangers involved. Health inspectors stopped Costco from using this tenderization method back in September and allowed it again later on but explained that the risk of using this method greatly increases the chances of contamination.

Costco has had issues with E.Coli & listeria and the chance of cross contamination of "needling meat" is real.

Costco uses a large machine that stamps the meat with tiny needles to tenderise the meat. If there is any contamination on the steak it gets pushed into the meat further making it harder to kill while cooking. Additionally if one steak has bacteria the whole lot will as the bacteria will be on the tenderizing needles and get stamped into all the meat until the cleaning process.

Like said earlier in this thread Costco meat should be cooked to well (which is why I don't buy from meat from Costco I like rare steaks) because of this tenderization process and when cooking the meat on the BBQ expect a steak that will be drier as the natural juices from the meat will leak/have leaked out during the packing or cooking process.

Don't get me wrong im not bashing Costco in any way or form as I shop there at least twice a month but I prefer to by my steaks elsewhere :)

[ExtraSlow]

Anything mechanically tenderized is about as safe to cook as store bought ground beet. Myself, I wouldn't cook ground beef to rare, so I would treat a mechanically tenderized steak the same way.

[DEATH2000]

Originally posted by clem24
Then why not just buy the giant hunks of beef and cut yourself? That's what we do.. Cheaper too. Used to buy whole strip loin and sirloin from Costco, bring it home, cut it up, cook some while fresh, and freeze the rest. Though lately we've been buying the grass fed/hormone free stuff from the farmer's market. Still the same giant hunks and then cut ourselves.
This is what my wife wants us to start doing. But she wants to go buy half a cow pretty much lol.

[Kavy]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
Anything mechanically tenderized is about as safe to cook as store bought ground beef. Myself, I wouldn't cook ground beef to rare, so I would treat a mechanically tenderized steak the same way.

+100

QFT

[schocker]

Are all of the costco steaks like this, even the higher grade ones?
I would prefer not to have tenderized meat as I don't want to cook it to 160F :nut:

[bspot]

Jesus christ this thread is making me hungry!

I've made it this far eating bloody barely warm steaks, I'll take the risk going forward. So worth it :drool:

[lilmira]

So why did they start poking good tender meat to begin with? It worries me to eat tenderized meat cooked a bit on the rare side. If I want it done, I can do that myself. I tenderize my pork chops. It just seems like an unnecessary step to ruin a good steak. An uncut strip will last me a long time. I don't want it stored in the freezer for too long. I may have to get my steaks from a good butcher shop from now on. :banghead:

[ercchry]

Last time we did the uncut, we dry aged it, after week one, we started cutting steaks off, continued till day 28... then vac packed the rest and tossed it in the freezer. lasts a good 4-6 months like that.

If i did it again, i wouldn't cut any till day 28... all the added trimming is wasteful

[Cos]

.

[Bobino]

Originally posted by schocker
Are all of the costco steaks like this, even the higher grade ones?
I would prefer not to have tenderized meat as I don't want to cook it to 160F :nut:

Only the ones labeled as "Tenderized/mechanically/blade tenderized" I would assume. :dunno: If you buy a whole strip loin (or any primal) as mentioned above, they are straight from the packing house in the original packaging usually and not tenderized

We recently bought some tenderized rib eye steaks from Costco. I don't really like my steak well done, but I would recommend tenderized steaks to those that do.

[nonofyobiz]

Tenderizing a RIb eye....BAD!!!

Does costco still carry Canada Prime beef?

We get all our from A Better Butcher. I like the thought of hormone, antibiotic, and hopefully GMO free beef

[googe]

Yeah, this is dumb. Costco covers up for the fact that most of their meat is shitty by tenderizing, and until recently, didn't label it. Problem is it's unsafe unless you like your steak overcooked and ruined. So they have the label so that they can deny selling unsafe meat (unsafe if you eat it how most people like their steak) even though they know people probably don't understand. So if all Costco steak has to be cooked well done, what's the point of selling it?

[DEATH2000]

Originally posted by Cos


We had half a cow and it fills a stand up deep freeze.
Where did you buy yours from? Im new to the whole cow buying process lol

[Cos]

.

[clem24]

Originally posted by Bobino
We recently bought some tenderized rib eye steaks from Costco. I don't really like my steak well done, but I would recommend tenderized steaks to those that do.

They don't label them as "rib eye", they label them as "rib steaks"... Always wondered if these were the same. I haven't bought from Costco in a long time ever since we switched to the grass fed/no antibiotics yada yada.

But I have NO IDEA what anyone would need to tenderize a rib steak/rib eye.

[speedog]

Highwood Valley Ranch (http://www.highwoodvalleyranch.com/index.htm)

[ExtraSlow]

Country lane Farms

[sputnik]

Originally posted by clem24


They don't label them as "rib eye", they label them as "rib steaks"... Always wondered if these were the same. I haven't bought from Costco in a long time ever since we switched to the grass fed/no antibiotics yada yada.

But I have NO IDEA what anyone would need to tenderize a rib steak/rib eye.

A rib steak has the bone.

A ribeye is the same beef with the bone removed.

[googe]

Glad this is getting attention, Consumer Reports has an article on it:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2013/06/has-your-steak-been-mechanically-tenderized/index.htm

BTW, there are a few cuts that Costco doesn't tenderize:



A Costco spokesman told us all of its beef is tenderized by machines except for filets and flank steaks.

The CBC Marketplace episode covering it was pretty gross. They put some E.coli on one piece, ran it through, then found the needles were covered in it. Every otherwise good piece of meat that went through after was then injected with that E.coli. :barf:

Although it's shitty that Costco sells it, they're actually better than most, because other places are doing it to their meet without labeling. So at least Costco are up front about it now.

It's probably going to be law to label it in Canada soon, but I have less hope for down here, where restaurants still serve pink and juicy hamburgers :barf: If you ever order a burger in the states, don't forget to say well-done.

[ExtraSlow]

rare hamburger is pretty tasty, but only safe if it's done with freshly ground meat, not with not prepackaged hamburger meat that's common.

[clem24]

Originally posted by sputnik


A rib steak has the bone.

A ribeye is the same beef with the bone removed.

That's not it.. Go to Costco and you'll see "rib steak", but boneless.. I am thinking it's the same thing.

[speedog]

http://primecuts.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/beefdiagram2.jpg

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
rare hamburger is pretty tasty, but only safe if it's done with freshly ground meat, not with not prepackaged hamburger meat that's common.

Medium rare hamburgers are f'ing delicious. I'm always overjoyed when in the U.S. and am asked how I want my burger. No one ever gives you the option up here, and everytime I've asked, they refuse for "health reasons"

[sputnik]

Originally posted by googe
It's probably going to be law to label it in Canada soon, but I have less hope for down here, where restaurants still serve pink and juicy hamburgers :barf: If you ever order a burger in the states, don't forget to say well-done.

I love ordering medium rare burgers in the US.

[Xtrema]

Everyone said I should go to Costco for meat. I'm glad I didn't.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Medium rare hamburgers are f'ing delicious. I'm always overjoyed when in the U.S. and am asked how I want my burger. No one ever gives you the option up here, and everytime I've asked, they refuse for "health reasons"

Its because they use ground steak/sirloin instead of the crap garbage we call hamburger. "merica doesn't put up with shitty food (unhealthy, yes, but shitty, no!) :rofl:

[clem24]

Originally posted by Xtrema
Everyone said I should go to Costco for meat. I'm glad I didn't.

Wrong.. If every retailer is doing it, then Costco is best as they are up front about it. Still.. *IF* we hadn't switched to the organic stuff, I'd definitely still be going there. And as mentioned, buy the big fucking bulk/chunk of cow instead of the cut up stuff and it won't be mech tenderized. I used to get the giant sirloins and cut them up myself. Saves a shit ton of $$$ too as it's cheaper.

And you can get just about any cut too in bulk, like tenderloin, new york, etc... The only thing you can't get is prime in bulk; it only comes in AAA.


Originally posted by speedog
http://primecuts.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/beefdiagram2.jpg

Thanks for that! I guess rib steak <> rib eye.

[Kavy]

Originally posted by clem24


Wrong.. If every retailer is doing it, then Costco is best as they are up front about it. Still.. *IF* we hadn't switched to the organic stuff, I'd definitely still be going there.

Every retailer isn't doing it however. It's actually quite the opposite.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by clem24


Wrong.. If every retailer is doing it, then Costco is best as they are up front about it. Still.. *IF* we hadn't switched to the organic stuff, I'd definitely still be going there. And as mentioned, buy the big fucking bulk/chunk of cow instead of the cut up stuff and it won't be mech tenderized. I used to get the giant sirloins and cut them up myself. Saves a shit ton of $$$ too as it's cheaper.

And you can get just about any cut too in bulk, like tenderloin, new york, etc... The only thing you can't get is prime in bulk; it only comes in AAA.



Thanks for that! I guess rib steak &lt;&gt; rib eye.

As long as your "organic" means you watch the cow get shot by a farmer. Otherwise....

[btimbit]

Many plants and supermarkets have been doing this for DECADES, and now it's suddenly a big issues?


Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Medium rare hamburgers are f'ing delicious. I'm always overjoyed when in the U.S. and am asked how I want my burger. No one ever gives you the option up here, and everytime I've asked, they refuse for &quot;health reasons&quot;

We can't for legal reasons. Although in the past I have cooked burgers to order for regular customers if they asked, but only customers I knew, and because I knew 100% that our burgers were completely safe.

[speedog]

Originally posted by GTS4tw


As long as your &quot;organic&quot; means you watch the cow get shot by a farmer. Otherwise....
Please do further enlighten us all.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by speedog

Please do further enlighten us all.

I think organic labeling is BS. If the laws around organic growing were tighter then I might have more faith in it. However knowing organic growers personally, and knowing some of the laws surrounding it, I am not convinced that it is any different than anything else you eat. Just good for sucking cash out of your wallet. This is not 100% true with all growers, and all food, but people buying into this stuff should really do some research and make more educated decisions.

I find it similar to "free range" eggs, I know people who think those $5 cartons of eggs in the store are the same as free range from a farm, that is sad. The best way to eat safer and healthier is to buy meat direct from a farm where you can form a relationship with the farmer and know what is being injected, what is being fed, general conditions, and most importantly- conditions at slaughter. The only problem is that this is illegal unless you slaughter it yourself.

[speedog]

How would the slaughter conditions that a cow endures change it's organic status?

[AudiPWR]

Originally posted by speedog
How would the slaughter conditions that a cow endures change it's organic status?

The meat goes bad if the cow was killed under stress. Best to just blow its brains out by suprise.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by speedog
How would the slaughter conditions that a cow endures change it's organic status?

Haha, you got me off on a rant. Not really related to organic status, just the most important part of meat buying in my opinion. Even more so than what it ate. AudiPWR got what I meant.

[clem24]

Originally posted by GTS4tw


I think organic labeling is BS. If the laws around organic growing were tighter then I might have more faith in it. However knowing organic growers personally, and knowing some of the laws surrounding it, I am not convinced that it is any different than anything else you eat. Just good for sucking cash out of your wallet. This is not 100% true with all growers, and all food, but people buying into this stuff should really do some research and make more educated decisions.

I find it similar to &quot;free range&quot; eggs, I know people who think those $5 cartons of eggs in the store are the same as free range from a farm, that is sad. The best way to eat safer and healthier is to buy meat direct from a farm where you can form a relationship with the farmer and know what is being injected, what is being fed, general conditions, and most importantly- conditions at slaughter. The only problem is that this is illegal unless you slaughter it yourself.

I agree that a lot of "organic" stuff is BS, but there's a whole range of shit that we're dealing with here. If we're talking fruits and vegetables for example organic still allows the use of certain pesticides. But I am talking about hormone/antibiotic free, grass fed cow.

Sorry I am not privileged enough to personally know any actual farmers who will just sell me a cow, so I am going to have to rely on labels, people, and my taste buds. I can say that the stuff I get does in fact taste better. Same goes with the hormone/antibiotic free chicken I get. Perhaps it's BS but unless you have a better solution, this is about the best that I can do.

We buy our meat from the 'farms' that do weekly deliveries to parking lots, and if we don't have time, then we just buy from their stand at the farmers' market. I quote 'farms' because until I actually see for myself, I can't be certain of what exactly goes on in there.

As for eggs, this one is easy - I let my taste buds tell me which to buy. So far, I've only found 1 brand I like - Brunbrae (SP) Farms free run brown eggs. They have the yolks that are deep yellow/almost orange color and have a very rich and intense taste. From time to time, we get farm fresh eggs (complete with the poop/feathers/blood still stuck to them) through my dad's friend who owns a lot of chickens but strangely, even those can't compete with the Brunbrae eggs for taste. And if you look closely at the labelling of the Brunbrae eggs, they only see free run and no where does it say hormone/antibiotic free, so I'll just have to assume it isn't.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by clem24


I agree that a lot of &quot;organic&quot; stuff is BS, but there's a whole range of shit that we're dealing with here. If we're talking fruits and vegetables for example organic still allows the use of certain pesticides. But I am talking about hormone/antibiotic free, grass fed cow.

Sorry I am not privileged enough to personally know any actual farmers who will just sell me a cow, so I am going to have to rely on labels, people, and my taste buds. I can say that the stuff I get does in fact taste better. Same goes with the hormone/antibiotic free chicken I get. Perhaps it's BS but unless you have a better solution, this is about the best that I can do.

We buy our meat from the 'farms' that do weekly deliveries to parking lots, and if we don't have time, then we just buy from their stand at the farmers' market. I quote 'farms' because until I actually see for myself, I can't be certain of what exactly goes on in there.

As for eggs, this one is easy - I let my taste buds tell me which to buy. So far, I've only found 1 brand I like - Brunbrae (SP) Farms free run brown eggs. They have the yolks that are deep yellow/almost orange color and have a very rich and intense taste. From time to time, we get farm fresh eggs (complete with the poop/feathers/blood still stuck to them) through my dad's friend who owns a lot of chickens but strangely, even those can't compete with the Brunbrae eggs for taste. And if you look closely at the labelling of the Brunbrae eggs, they only see free run and no where does it say hormone/antibiotic free, so I'll just have to assume it isn't.

Very good points about not really knowing what goes on, even at small farms. There are a lot of people out there raising animals that are very uneducated on safe practices, and that is scary, but at the same time there is less chance of contamination in a small setting than a factory setting. As I said before, getting to know people at a farmers market is the best way to get introduced to bulk meat.

The eggs/taste thing is a funny thing, our bodies get so used to eating certain chemicals that we find the ones without taste funny. My aunt never liked farm fresh eggs either, it was always funny to me that when she would come to visit she would buy them, said they tasted better from the store. I have also had a lot of people tell me that they hate lamb, but then they describe what it tastes like and you can tell they have only had store bought, which is the meat I find the biggest difference with.