petre

hi, i've been cooking beef for a month now ( not every day tho), and til now I still can't cook anything close to a tender juicy beef...every single time it'll be dry, chewy and tough like the stuff they make dildoes from, its really discouraging plus I don't think my teeth could last long if I go on eating this crap...

Obviously i didn't use any fancy beef for my cooking, just stewing steak, but still, certainly they should be tender and juicy at one stage of cooking!!

Initially i just cut the beef into small pieces, and saute them on a dry non stick pan, until they r brown, and I'll add the other stuff...but at the end, the beef will still be chewy and tough, even tho I cooked it close to an hour, and the beef themselves are cut really small..

I've tried frying them in oil, but it didn't make any difference, and just a few moments ago, i tried boiling the beef for 30 minutes, and then saute them for browning, but this turned out worse, with the beef becoming drier and tougher than ever..

Now i'm just clueless what am i doing wrong, is the bcause the beef doesn't have any bones in them? or maybe because i thaw them too quickly? Any suggestions, help and tips will be highly appreciated!

Thanks guys

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Starkizzer

Even if you can't buy "fancy" beef, try to look for some that is not super lean. The collagen in meat is what provides tenderness. Cooking to about the med rare point is when collagen turns to a gelatinous state (making meat soft and tender) cooking for too long will cause the collagen to harden and make your meat tuff.

If you can avoid freezing meat it will turn out better but if you can't a slow defrost will work better. Freezing does cause drip loss in beef. When foods freeze slowly crystalline ice structures form, these ice structures cause a loss of textural integrity. If you have to freeze meats buy pre-frozen meats and get them home to the freezer as quickly as possible. In the food industry if they are selling frozen foods, most likely, for quality reasons they will flash freeze. This does not allow the water to form in crystal structures, instead it will form glassy sheets which take up less space in the food.

Yay food science!

On more of a cooking advice, I like to by flat steak, cut into strips place into a crock pot with onions and bell peppers, some low sodium beef or vegetable broth. This plus some spices make for a great start of a beef sandwich, we make ours philly style.

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petre

u mean cooking lean beef will inevitably lead to tough meat? Why do they even sell lean meat?

And how do i know when is the beef is done and not overcooked?

Thankss.

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inBOIL

Stewing steak is a tough cut; to make it tender you'll have to cook it at low heat for a few hours. If you buy a pricier cut of beef you can cook it more quickly, but the details depend on the cut and what you want to make. Tell us what kind of meal you have in mind and we can give you more specific information.

The kind of cooking you've been doing sounds like a stir-fry. For this, use flank steak cut into strips, as well as a little oil for browning. You can marinate in soy sauce for 10 minutes beforehand for better flavor. Make sure you don't overcook, or it will be tough.

Cooking lean meat doesn't necessarily mean it will be tough, it just takes a little more skill to cook it right. As for doneness, if you're cooking it to medium rare, there should be a little red in the middle, mostly pink, and it should be soft in the middle but firm on the surface and sides.

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Starkizzer

No, as inBoil has said, lean does not mean that it will for sure be tough. But I suggested buying less lean for now until your cooking skills are honed a little more.

Btw, I hope you are not eating beef every night. Beef is great for you but everything in moderation plus branch out to other meats like fish and chicken. Hell give tofu a whirl.

Happy cooking, it has turned into one of my favorite things.

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spindles

This sounds like trying to stir fry, but cooked way too long. This kind of meat needs to be cut in very small pieces for this kind of cooking (1cm or thinner strips), then cooked on a really high heat. In a wok this would be cooked in 2 or 3 minutes + 2 or 3 minutes for the veges (also cut small). e.g. of good veges to use - snow peas, carrots, mushrooms, onion, cabbage, capsicum (what you would call red bell pepper).

This kind of meal should be cooked inside 5 minutes - most of the time is spent cutting it up.

In terms of sauces, someone else mentioned soy, but it is worth finely cutting garlic, chillie, ginger to fry before the meat, and you could add oyster sauce, rice wine, plum sauce, or any other marinade you feel like...

Serve this with rice, or add some oriental noodles (soba etc.) into the wok when everything else is cooked. Yum!

Otherwise, as mentioned, this kind of meat can be cubed and cooked slowly for hours...my favourite atm is a Jamie Oliver recipe, with Pumpkin where you basically throw everything in your oven proof pan, and stick in the oven for 3 or 4 hours until the pumpkin falls apart. This recipe here in fact:

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petre

urm, so does that apply to any cut of beef? coz I don't think i could afford any other cuts apart from stewing steak...

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Poppinjay

What spindles said, cook less, not more. Almost any kind of beef needs no more than 5 minutes under a broiler or in a pan. High heat. This is for one serving, not roasts.

Don't boil it. You might be successful poaching it in beef broth, but I wouldn't. Beef belongs in the broiler or the saute pan.

I found some great cuts at a farmer's co-op. It cost all of $3.

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skizziks

Take a hunk of beef and braise it, that is, cook it in simmering liquid like beer or tomato sauce and wine, for many hours, which will soften the meat and add flavor. As stated, you need meat that has fat. If you start with a thin slice of meat, marinate it in acid (lime and lemon and orange juice) to soften it up a bit.

oy yeah i just remembered, you can also marinate overnight in 7-up or coke, ala korean bulgogi.

Ayashe

Stew meat isn't always the cheapest beef really. Any time of beef will do well stewed or simmered into a soup of some sort, for this I generally buy the cheapest cut I can find and cut it up myself and it is generally cheaper than the stew meat.

Another suggestion is to pound it with a meat tenderizer. I will often buy an inexpensive cut of steak and pound it thin. You might want to consider giving Swiss steak a try, it is simple and fairly foolproof. I dredge the beef in a flour mixture. It is usually something like 1/2 cup of flour with a 1/4 teaspoon of dry powdered mustard seed a little salt and pepper. Pound the beef to about half its thickness. Brown the beef in a skillet with a little oil in the bottom of the skillet (just until browned, you aren't cooking it in this) I will usually also sautee chopped onion and green pepper in the pan as well. Now I generally transfer it into a pot or sometimes will throw it in the crock pot for several hours. Add enough stewed tomatoes to cover your beef, 1 Tablespoon or so of worcestershire sauce, some crushed garlic (a couple cloves) Allow this to simmer until your beef is tender(here it gets hazy, probably around 60-90 minutes depending on how thin you pounded out your beef and the cut used. I will try to cut it with the side of a fork and if it does so easily.. it is done. If you want to use a crock pot just put it on low before work. Serve with rice, it will be tasty.

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Charlatan

Different cuts of beef should be cooked differently...

If you are buying cheaper, tougher cuts like shin, oxtail, ribs, etc. -- stewing beef -- you should be stewing or braising. This means, cooking them at a low temperature for a long period of time in a liquid. This breaks down the connective tissues in the meat making it succulent and fork tender. The key is getting your flavour from a) browning you meat well and b) good flavour base in your braising liquids.

If you are buying good cuts like sirloin, etc. -- higher heat and short cooking times. Do not over cook this type of meat. Ideally it should be rare to medium rare... any more and you are comitting a crime.


It sounds like you are buying tough meat, cooking it like fine meat and expecting good results. It isn't going to happen.

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SabrinaFair

There's always cooking with nature's beef tenderizer--mango. I remember this from a Biology Lab experiment my sophomore year of college (admittedly, the last time I took a hard science course). If you 'marinate" the beef in mango for a spell, it helps to break down the meat to a more tender consistency. I've never tried this before, but it sounds pretty tasty to me.

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Stone

Bravo, Charlatan... all beef is not created equal. Some is inherently tough and vice versa. Basically, like everything, you get what you pay for.

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Rekna

If you want tender stir fry on the cheap then do this:

First the cut should be flat iron. Flat iron is the most underrated cut of meat (priced here at 4.99-5.99 a pound. Flat iron is also considered the second most tender piece of beef (just behind the tenderloin).

Now before you cook it slice it in to very thin strips. Cut the strips against the grain (the short way on a flat iron). Cutting against the grain makes it much more tender. Next put some seasoning on the meat and let it marinade while you prep the veggies. Cook up the veggies until they are basically ready and then throw in the meat. The meat should cook in under 3 minutes if you cut it thin enough. You should pull the meat out as the dark red color turns to pink.

As a general rule never cook beef beyond medium rare (125-130 degrees). The only exception to this is a slow cooked bbq. To get tender beef you have 2 options. 1) cook a good cut of meat as fast as possible or 2) cook a poor cut of meat (beef brisket) as slow as possible (14+ hours) on as low of heat as possible.

Hanxter

5 years ago i posted a reply to the very same question... comes out great...

take a can of coke, pepsi, dr. pepper or the like... pour it over the steak in a glass dish, covered over night...

in a hot skillet melt two tbs butter, saute coarse chopped onions and green pepper till soft... season the steak with pepper and skittle in the pan 2 minutes to the side... remove to a cutting board and cover loosely for a few minutes more... slice diagonally in thin strips across the grain... pour the run-off juices over the top with the onion and peppers...

of course you're gonna have more than just steak so do this with time to spare...

italian dressing does the same but with different flavor...

Amaras

Both dressing and the cola do the same thing, break down the meat, tenderize if you will.
I use white vinegar for that overnight, or at least an hour.
Then lightly pound the meat, then season according to taste (Barbecue sauce/Garlic
/pepper/salt). Then I fry 5-10 mins, depending on thickness at around 8 on my stove, flipping once at around 4 mins. Add shredded cheese, serve on toasted bread.
You can fry mushrooms/onions at the same time as the meat, even green peppers.
If you cut te meat into thin strips you put the heat up, for less time, and you have the
beginnings of awesome steak subs at home. From there, let your imagination go.

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dimbulb

You're using the wrong technique for your cut of meat. Stewing meat is tough and full of connective tissue.

Techniques you can use for these cuts could be braising or stewing, both are variations of slow-cooking in liquid for 1-2 hours. This gives the opportunity for the heat to dissolve the connective tissue into gelatin (which makes for yumminess and also tenderizes the meat).

I also love stews/braises, because you just let it sit. Easiest meal ever.

See this link for more information about braising How to Braise - A Great Cooking Technique for Home Cooks

Seaver

First you need to do some research on sections of Beef. The most tender cuts will be the furthest distance from both the hoof and the head. This is the Tenderloin, which includes Filet Mignon. These are also the most expensive, other cuts have a great deal of flavor for a fraction of the cost... but you have to cook it differently.

For example, Brisket is the prime example of tough meat which can become godly. The trick is lower the temperature of cooking and extend the time. Properly cooked, it should take 6-12hours. Reasonably, you don't expect to wait this long for a daily meal.

Another option is Skirt Steak. This is a thin stretch of steak over the rib, it is kind of heavy with fat and can be tough. This, however, you would want to cook quickly as the thin nature of the cut allows the fat to melt back into the meat and serve to keep it from drying out. Think of fajitas for these, cut against the grain (marinades with beer work well).

A good blend of flavor, texture, and cost for steaks would be either the Sirloin or NY Strip. There are two major lines of thought, as you're not an expert cook I'll keep it restaurant-simple (I'm from Texas... and am a self-proclaimed steak-snob).

Heat up a cast-iron skillet (yes, cast iron or go home). Pre-heat to about 400 degrees in your broiler. When pre-heated, put steak in skillet and cook for 2min on each side. This creates a very nice sear, which helps in texture and flavor. After cooking both sides for 2min each, move to oven and drop the temperature to about 200-250 and cook until you like it. I love mine Medium/Medium Rare, which will take about 10min. Use a prod-thermometer for accuracy, mine can sit inside the steak while it cooks. Constantly opening/closing your oven will lead to improper cooking .

If you want some advanced advice, immediately wrap steak in tin-foil and let sit in oven. Take your skillet and pour in about 1/2cup of wine, stir and scrape all the goodies from the skillet while on medium heat. Stir until it starts to thicken, and add in onions/mushrooms. Keep stirring on low heat until shrooms are soft and onions become clear. Add a pinch of salt and a couple grinds of black pepper. You now have a very nice sauce to pour back over the steak.

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