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/saskat...ritz-1305.html
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/0.../#.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.

[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.

[ercchry]

get the logs and dry age them at home

[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.

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

[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

[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.

[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]

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