Choice Ribeyes are Tough?!?

[rcbaughn]

Gotta get y'alls opinion here.

So I had some USDA choice ribeyes cut to about an inch thick at my local butcher and got them home and decided to grill me up one that night. Hit it with kosher salt about three hours before I grilled it and had it in the fridge on a wire rack and pulled it out to warm up about an hour before it was gonna be grilled. Ground some fresh black pepper on them and grilled it hot and fast on my mom's old Weber gasser turned to as high as it will go to get a good sear. The steak probably got to medium rare after tented in foil for 5-6 minutes.

That said..... THE DAMN THING WAS SO CHEWY!!!! Like, very tough to the point of sore jaws after the end of it. We paid $36 for four nice steaks about 16 oz each, so I want to get the best meals I can out of them. Do you think them being cut that day has anything to do with it? My dad is a big proponent of letting his steaks rest in the fridge for a few days and up to a week or so before he cooks them after they are fresh cut like that. If he isn't going to cook them, he'll freeze them at that point and thaw and cook. Do I need to do that with the rest of these ya think? I don't wanna cook another one and get that same result. I almost think that I may have to go buy that tenderizer stuff to put on them or even a acidic marinade for a bit. I hate that too, I love just salt and pepper on my beef and have never used that tenderizing stuff. Only seen it in stores.

Let me know your advice though if ya have any! My meat cooking confidence was up just a little since I did a pretty good 6 lb. Boston butt and pastrami out of one of those pre-corned points last week on the mini WSM, so this is really pissing me off. I can't waste good money like this even though they were a gift from family.

 

[landarc]

Something seems wrong, Choice grade steaks should grill up nice and tender, no matter how long you wait after buying them. I don't salt Choice steak that early, but, that is not what went wrong, I don't think. I have gotten some less than terrific Choice grade steaks before, but, not as you described.

 

[rcbaughn]

I know, only thing I'd ever really marinade them in is red wine, and even then I hate doing that. I want salt and pepper and high heat.

 

[Jorge]

Sometimes it's just luck of the draw. I wouldn't salt that early either, but it's a personal preference and there are a lot of ways to cook.

I'm not questioning your judgement, but are you sure they were Choice steaks? Just because the primal was graded Choice, doesn't mean those steaks would have graded out as Choice if looked at individually.

I wouldn't worry, unless you cook an obviously superior piece of meat and have a similar result. If that happens let us know the specifics.

 

[Jorge]

How did you determine med-rare? Again, not questioning you but looking for a possible answer.

 

[boogiesnap]

quality of meat varies WIDELY even among grades. i have bought, many years ago and never will again, ever, choice steak from s&s, and it is awful. i can buy choice steak from a downtown butcher for the same price, freshly sliced, and it is great.

like ronelle said, there is luck of the draw, but also trial and error, AND some experience with buying just the right meat.

hope next dinner is better!

 

[Vision]

Sounds like you need to rest the steaks 10min after they come off the grill.

 

[Hoss]

This is ONLY an opinion.I have had USDA Choice that was less or more tender than I expected.It could have been the meat.I doubt it because you stated it was purchased from a local butcher.Your post also states that you did a high heat sear,removed and rested til it was med rare.I am assuming it was truly med rare.Overdone will toughen a steak dramatically,IN MY OPINION.That leaves the salt and the 1inch thickness.I think this is where the problem lies.I have read of dry salt brining steaks,tenderizes and works great BUT all I have read about it states to salt heavily for 1 hour per inch of thickness,then rinse and return to refrigerator to equalize for at least an hour before proceeding with the prep/cook.I think the thin steak,the long salt brine (1 inch/3 hours)and the lack of equalization combined caused your steak to be subpar.This is just my opinion and I wish you the BEST of luck on the remaining cuts.

 

[boogiesnap]

wait, what? you salted 3 hours BEFORE cooking? :tsk:

there are many techniques, i do not think that is one of them.

your steaks may have BEEN good. don't do that next time.

 

[Jorge]

like ronelle said, there is luck of the draw, but also trial and error, AND some experience with buying just the right meat.

That Ronelle is a handsome farker!:wink:

 

[boogiesnap]

That Ronelle is a handsome farker!:wink:

OT..yeah, i had an image of him in my mind:shock: while i was posting...sorry, jorge.

 

[MikeJ65]

I don't really think that the salt is the issue. It's not something that I do, but it shouldn't make it tough. Choice covers a lot of ground and a cut that is closer to Select than Prime, possibly not adequately aged, and fairly thick can be on the tough side. I always buy the whole primal, wet age in the cryovac to at least the sell by date, and cut about 3/4".

 

[VoodoChild]

Sometimes it's just luck of the draw. I wouldn't salt that early either, but it's a personal preference and there are a lot of ways to cook.

I'm not questioning your judgement, but are you sure they were Choice steaks? Just because the primal was graded Choice, doesn't mean those steaks would have graded out as Choice if looked at individually.

I wouldn't worry, unless you cook an obviously superior piece of meat and have a similar result. If that happens let us know the specifics.

Id Go with Luck of the Draw almost !!
I buy 99.9% of meat at costco which is usually choice and over the years I have had tough steaks(ribeyes) a few times ..Maybe I picked some that were not "as Good" as the others but they came out the way you described basically tough at med rare.. there is alot of Beef processed and I can only imagine a few get thru the cracks so to speak.

 

[Gore]

Medium-rare choice ribeyes should not be tough under any circumstances.

There are two schools concerning salt. One says to salt just before grilling. As salt remains on the meat, it sucks the juices out. However, after a day in salt, the meat pulls the juice back in and the salt is distributed within the meat (this is the second school). People have their own preference, and I prefer the first school of salting just before. I've never tested a 3-hour salting.

 

[chriscw81]

Last summer I had a few ribeyes covered with seasoning. I was about to cook them and something came up and I had to leave. I wrapped the steaks and threw them in the fridge. The next day I cooked the steaks and they were tough as hell.....

I blame the amount of time the steak was left in the salt. A 1 inch steak should be fine with just putting S&P just before cooking. At least you knew something wasn't right.




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[caseydog]

Sometimes ya' just get a bad chunk of beef.

How was the marbling? I've seen some Choice ribeyes that have big ribbons of fat, and very little marbling, and others that have marbling on par with Prime. You need as many of those thin lines of fat as possible to get a tender, juicy steak.

As for salting, I often sprinkle my ribeyes with k-salt, and put them on a wire rack in the fridge for 24 hours -- a mini dry age. What drains out is just water, which doesn't make a steak tender or juicy. Rendered fat does that. Losing that water makes the beef flavor more intense.

But, I think you just got some Choice steaks that probably shouldn't have been rated Choice. You have to do some of your own grading. Look for good, marbling throughout the whole steak. It is not so much the amount of fat that matters, but how well and evenly the fat is distributed.

CD

 

[NorthwestBBQ]

Do you know what Chef Ramsay would say to one of his cooks in Hell's Kitchen if they "tented" a steak with foil? :loco:

 

[landarc]

Do you know what Chef Ramsay would say to one of his cooks in Hell's Kitchen if they "tented" a steak with foil? :loco:

no, what would he say?

Not kidding, is that wrong?

 

[caseydog]

Last summer I had a few ribeyes covered with seasoning. I was about to cook them and something came up and I had to leave. I wrapped the steaks and threw them in the fridge. The next day I cooked the steaks and they were tough as hell.....

I blame the amount of time the steak was left in the salt. A 1 inch steak should be fine with just putting S&P just before cooking. At least you knew something wasn't right.




Sent from my Nexus using Tapatalk 2

I don't think the salt killed your steaks. I'm reading Ruhlman's Twenty, by Michael Ruhlman right now, and one whole chapter is dedicated just to salt. He says to salt your meat as early as possible, and from personal experience, I agree -- not that he needs any validation from me.

As picky as I am when buying ribeye, my favorite steak, I occasionally get a piece of meat that lets me down.

CD

 

[boogiesnap]

Medium-rare choice ribeyes should not be tough under any circumstances.

There are two schools concerning salt. One says to salt just before grilling. As salt remains on the meat, it sucks the juices out. However, after a day in salt, the meat pulls the juice back in and the salt is distributed within the meat (this is the second school). People have their own preference, and I prefer the first school of salting just before. I've never tested a 3-hour salting.

i know, good gore answer and i'm being baited, BUT, wouldn't that suggest 3 hours is then in neither school, thus ill-advised and thusly, a choice ribeye may be rendered tough in such circumstance?