Anyone know a way to tenderize a steak. We have no butchers in our area and the super market beef is like eating iron. The dogs are loving it. All suggestions will be tried and responded to.

Thank u in advance

Chuck

What kind of steak,are you using.

Well off hand, you can use a mallet to tenderize and/or you can marinate the steak (something acid in marinade, red vinegar for ex) but really does depend on which cut of meat you would like to use as mentioned above

I'll have to check what the wife is buying.

Add red vinegar to marinade? What would be the time frame?

Will vinegar alter taste?

Thanks

Chuck

Really is going to depend on what type of meat you are getting to get suitable recipe

vinegar is an acid which breaks down the muscle

Post what type of meat and will see what I may have on hand

You need to use the old fashioned meat tenderizer mallet. This has never failed me when it comes to hammering out the toughness of the meat. Basically you need to break down the meat with the hammer to make it tender. Marinading it sometimes works, but not always.

Also how are you cooking this meat? You may be overcooking it as well or if it is in say a crock pot you are not cooking it long enough to tenderize it.

Crock pot cooking can really tenderize meat but you have to cook it for a long time. I make beef in my crock pot but I cook it a long time and it gets very tender.

Hi all

Wife says most of the time it's london broil or flank steaks.

We usually broil or BBQ. Cook it rare to medium rare.

Chuck

I adore London broil and flank steaks. Just don't overcook them and they should be OK.

The wife sez:

The most important step is a good cut of meat. That "all red" meat that most folks think is so great is not that great. Choose one with the white marbling that most of us think is extra fat. It adds the flavor. The thickness is also important in cooking times. Thinner steaks will get tough if cooked too long.

Ask the butcher to run the meat through their tenderizer. The other option is you using the tenderizing mallet at home. This was the wife's strongest recommendation.

Use a bottled meat tenderizer as a marinade prior to cooking. It actually adds more flavor than tenderness.

Cook slower than you think is necessary. If you're checking, then it ain't cooking. Use a lower temperature & relax with your mate & glass of whatever.

Have you tried marinating the steak? Marinating it for a day or two in the fridge before cooking it is ideal. Beer comes to mind, you can use spices and other sauces...

Hello c:

You need to slice flank steak against the grain. Otherwise, it'll be tough.

excon

Here is one I use for flank steaks and skirt steaks -

Onion Rubbed Flank Steak

2 Tbs. Chopped Onion
1 Tsp Red wine vinegar
1 tsp Canola or Olive oil
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 tsp crushed dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 8oz flank steak

Adjust to how much steak meat you have there

Combine 1st 8 ing. In large resealable plastic bag

Add meat and marinate in fridge for about 3 hrs

Place meat on broiler pan

Broil 3-4 inches from heat for about 6-8 min. per side or until desired meat temp.

With doing in broiler pan and direct heat from above, just keep and eye on it just not to overcook, I usually check after about 5 min and go from there

With flank steak, Make sure to cut against the grain of the steak and nwould recommend slicing into somewhat slim slices

If you give it a try, hope you enjoy

Hi all..

I'm a big fan of cooking steak in a cast iron pan (or oven safe skillet) and then sending it to the oven (in pan) to finish cooking. It's all about caramelizing... :)

Preheat oven to 450F.
Rub oil/salt/pepper on steak.
Heat cast iron skillet on high heat for a couple minutes.
Place steak in pan and sear the meat for two minutes each side.
Transfer skillet with meat to oven to finish cooking... two minutes or so for rare to med. Rare.

Check out this video to see what you think... ;)

YouTube - How to Cook Beef Flank Steak : How to Sear Beef Flank Steak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjbSJL9g6jQ)

MARK

Hi folks

I will be trying them all and let u know how it works out. This will take some time because we only eat beef once a week. Looks like I will be doing the steaks. Wife says it sounds "too much like work". LOL

Thanks again

Chuck

Looks like more than it is, really only takes 2 min to get steak in bag with ingred and then just let it cook and slice

You can purchase a meat tenderizer. It is like a mallet with teeth on it, and you can tenderize it yourself.

Hi all..

I'm a big fan of cooking steak in a cast iron pan (or oven safe skillet) and then sending it to the oven (in pan) to finish cooking. It's all about caramelizing...:)

Preheat oven to 450F.
Rub oil/salt/pepper on steak.
Heat cast iron skillet on high heat for a couple minutes.
Place steak in pan and sear the meat for two minutes each side.
Transfer skillet with meat to oven to finish cooking...two minutes or so for rare to med. rare.

Check out this video to see what you think...;)

YouTube - How to Cook Beef Flank Steak : How to Sear Beef Flank Steak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjbSJL9g6jQ)

MARK

Hi Mark

Have tried the skillet cooking. Was very good. Only change I made was coating with honey mustard.

Thank u again

Chuck

Try marinating in vodka. Breaks down meat better than vinegar. Cook flank rare and slice in thin diagonal cuts. Flank and london broil are best used as an addition to a dish. IE fajitas, stroganoff, beef stew. Try top sirloin, cut to about an inch thick. It is less expensive than ribeyes, t-bone or ny strip, but more manageable than flank skirt or london broil.

London Broil is not a cut. It is a cooking method. (Pan frying on high heat to medium well)

First, don't overcook the meat. Cut across the grain to shorten muscle fibers.

Flank steak is what we used to call a "butcher's cut," meaning the butcher sold the more tender cuts, and took the flank steak home for his family.

Less tender cuts like flank steaks need marinating in an acidic solution to help break down the fibers. You can also use a meat tenderizing hammer, or a meat tenderizing powder, like aji no moto. My favorite easy marinade is:

1 part cheap red wine
1 part red wine vinegar
1 part soy sauce
Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste.


Try a rolled flank steak. Pound the steak with the tenderizing hammer, then marinate in the above mixture for a few hours.

Remove from marinade, and spread with:
Spinach leaves
Feta cheese
Sun-dried tomatoes

Roll it all up and wrap with string

Bake until medium well.

Properly cooking and serving the meat is often a bigger factor than the quality of the meat. It's not in the supermarket's interest to sell you tough meat. I have a friend that takes tenderloin and makes it into a charred brick a dog wouldn't even eat... but he loves it, we really can't muster up the heart to tell him.

I bet in this case the meat is either a) being over-cooked b) poked, gashed and prodded while cooking and/or c) not being cut across-the-grain when consumed. 9 out of 10, that's where people goof-up cooking steak. So it's more likely a preparation and serving issue.

Flank should be cooked only medium-rare (4 minutes each side on mdm-hi heat) and served cut across the grain. And no gashing of the meat while cooking.

... also, I just wanted to say your wife is being a very smart shopper. Flank steak is a lot less expensive but as good as any meat there is. You guys are just having a preparation issue. Once you see it done right once, you'll realize it's easy to make a great steak out of it.

Thanks sumpssuck

The only problem we had was the cutting. Have not had a problem since correcting that.

Chuck

Bones was right you want to have some marbeling of fat in the steak to get the most flavor and ensure some tenderness. Also, the flank steak is traditionally used for london broils but it is full of tough connective tissue. To get past this that cut of meat is usually marinaded with an acid based marinade which usually contains vinegar or citrus. You can buy many acceptable marinades in your grocery store. Try not to overcook this cut of meat and afterwards let it rest on your cutting board for at least 5 minutes to keep the juices in the meat. Cutting the flank steak is key. You need to slice diagonally across the grain (think of the muscle fiber as a group of pipes wrapped together, cutting them across the pipes should give you a bunch of small pipe pieces) which will make the steak easier to chew. Best inexpensive buy for tender steak is the chuck eye steak. Try it sometime.

I'm a bit lost, I'm a butcher of 30 years, and the skirt stk comes off the flank, yes cut against the grain for skirt stk only,so what is flank stk if its not skirt?