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Tenderizing?

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Tenderizing?

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 04 24, 2016 •  [Post 1]

Ok, we all know that a lot of big game critter steaks are not the most tender cuts. What do you cats do for the round/bottom steaks before you cook them (grill, whatever) to "tender" them up a bit. They still taste just as good as the premium cuts but are a bit rough to chew up if you know what I mean. Do you pound em with an old school meat mallet, use a purchased meat tenderizer product? Just curious. RJ
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby DBLGBL » 04 28, 2016 •  [Post 2]

Make burger out of them :) Only elk steak I keep are the loins and the back straps. Everything else makes burger. We can kill as many whitetails as we want and never need to eat a chewy elk steak. Marinades and cooking technique can help but on tough cut they can only go so far. I also can a lot of my deer but have never tried it on elk and wonder how it would be? Anyone every canned elk?

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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby Gypsumreaper » 04 29, 2016 •  [Post 3]

Those go in our burger pile as well, had some friends with one of those meat tenderizers you run a steak through and it has the little needles in each side, they were still chewy. Have tried marinating in butter milk as well didn't help much. So we either make burger outa those or cubes for stew and chili.


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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby Ridgernr » 04 30, 2016 •  [Post 4]

I bought a Jaccard tool it is a meat tenderizer/cuber . I has 42 steel cutter that really make a steak tender. it also drives the seasonings into the meat http://www.sausagemaker.com/Jaccard-Sup ... 3-1114.htm
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby Timber » 05 15, 2016 •  [Post 5]

A cuber works great. I used to use one when I worked at a meat packing place. I do not use one anymore and just "age" the meat and cut it up. Love elk steaks and have not had much to complain about toughness. I have also heard but never tried this, cut a kiwi fruit in half and lay it on top of the steak for 24 hrs. I worked with a woman that swore this worked great on tougher beef steaks. I guess it supposedly does not put any fruity flavor on the meat. I was told it broke down enzymes of the meat for some reason. If anyone tries this I would like to know if it does in fact work or not please.
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby saddlesore » 06 06, 2016 •  [Post 6]

I killed an old bull in 2009 that took me 5 years to eat, it was so tough.Presently I am working on an old cow moose I killed last year. I have tried just about every method available,but they are both more than little bit chewy. The problem being that a person doesn't find it out until all is cut wrapped and frozen. The moose was aged two weeks in a walk in cooler and I have tried letting the meat set in the refrigerator another week. No help there.

I have a bigger grinder that all the meat I don't want in steaks or roast get ground up during processing. So I bought a small grinder that fits on my wife's Kitchen Aid mixer and grind a few steaks when I want to use ground meat in tacos, enchiladas, spaghetti or stuffed peppers. Problem being with only myself eating meat , I have a LOT of ground meat.

I tried a slow cooker, but for some reason,my stomach acts up when I eat that type of meat
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby Lefty » 06 13, 2016 •  [Post 7]

My tough meats I tend to slice the steaks 3/4"

Im thinking of buying a slicer, and make chip steak and jerky from our geese
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby pointysticks » 06 28, 2016 •  [Post 8]

salt it early.

salt has properties that make it break down.

and when you serve it, slice it against the grain. the shorter muscle strands give the illusion of tenderness when you chew.
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby pointysticks » 06 28, 2016 •  [Post 9]

if you are stir frying the meat.

slice it thin against the grain. mix a bit of baking soda with water, and mix it with the meat. the pros call it "velveting" or something.

chinese joints been doing it for 2000 years. i'd google it for proper ratios. dont over do it because the meat gets weird and too soft.
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby saddlesore » 10 06, 2016 •  [Post 10]

Went to cooking those cuts in a pressure cooker for 35 minutes, 4 cups of beef broth and season to taste.Comes out tender as can be. Wish I knew about this sooner.
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby >>>---WW----> » 10 22, 2016 •  [Post 11]

I got lucky and found a commercial tenderizer at a yard sale for $5 bucks. No one would touch it because the plug was missing on the power cord. I thought, "What the heck! For $5 bucks I'll take a chance on it". The darn thing works like a charm.

Swiss steak in the crockpot is another option for making meat tender.
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 11 06, 2016 •  [Post 12]

>>>---WW----> wrote:I got lucky and found a commercial tenderizer at a yard sale for $5 bucks. No one would touch it because the plug was missing on the power cord. I thought, "What the heck! For $5 bucks I'll take a chance on it". The darn thing works like a charm.

Swiss steak in the crockpot is another option for making meat tender.


Yum..... Crockpot Swiss Steak, gotta do some of that up real soon! Thanks for the reminder Bill.
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby RAMMONT » 11 13, 2016 •  [Post 13]

pointysticks wrote:if you are stir frying the meat.

slice it thin against the grain. mix a bit of baking soda with water, and mix it with the meat. the pros call it "velveting" or something.

chinese joints been doing it for 2000 years. i'd google it for proper ratios. dont over do it because the meat gets weird and too soft.



This is close to my solution for all my wild game meat. I always cut the meat against the grain so that the muscle fibers are short - that produces a more tender cut of meat. Backstraps and tenderloins always seem to be more tender because they are long thin strips of muscle so when you cut them in to steaks you automatically cut the steaks perpendicular to the grain of the meat. I also soak my meat in salt water for about 20 - 30 minutes after I finish cutting and trimming. This is something my father taught me 50 years ago and my wife's family (very rural Virginia and Kansas people) did the same thing with everything; rabbits, beaver, racoon, bear, deer, etc.
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Re: Tenderizing?

Postby Huntlakewood » 12 06, 2016 •  [Post 14]

get a can of dark dark beer and a shot of whiskey, take your steaks put them in a container poor beer and the shot whiskey in the container let sit for an hour or so. Season to taste and what ever seasoning you like and bbq it up. It will be tender
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