Help!!! Frozen Tenderloin Not Tender

[tghk]

Help, desperate here

So, I have bought multiple times high quality beef tenderloin from New Zealand, frozen perfectly, sawed into perfect 1 inch steaks.

Every single time, the result could hardly be called tender. First off, no matter how I thaw it, lots of juice lost right there. Then, no matter how I cook it, rare, medium-rare, medium ... the result turns out chewy and / or dry.

Using the perfect Lodge cast iron pan, high heat, rice bran oil, flipping once, etc etc I know how to cook a steak ... but I guess when it comes to frozen I am doing something wrong.

Help me out here ... Thanks!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Salt the steak just after it has thawed. Let it sit in a plastic bag in the fridge. The salt will first draw moisture from the meat. But as it sits, osmotic pressure will pull that salt back into the steak. The salt will help tenderize the meat, while holding in moisture, and enhancing the flavor.. Cook the meat in a 350' F oven until a meat thermometer reads 125" F. Then finish the steak over flame, in a hot cast iron pan, or under the broiler. Also, Adolph's meat tenderizer works well, as it contains the enzyme papain, which breaks down meat fibers, and salt. Make sure to choose well marbled meat.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[tghk]

Thank you! That sounds promising, I will give it a try!

Quick follow up ... Would you say sous vide to 125 F would be the same, better or worse? Thanks!

 

[tghk]

... also: Is there a trick to thawing steak? Usually I just let it sit on a plate in the fridge. Might it be better under vacuum in a sealed sous vide bag?

 

[dcSaute]

for tenderloin, the thickness should be closer to 2" - thin steaks are very tricky.... especially using high heat -

is the meat "sawed" frozen? or delivered as frozen slices?

I prefer to sear the steaks/cuts in a smoking hot cast iron pan. when I have a nice

crust, I put them on a rack, over the sear pan, and finish in the oven at 325'F/160'C


looks like

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

In both Santee, and El Cajon, CA, there is a meat market that sells nothing but Iowa Corn Finished, grass fed beef beef. The market is Iowa Beef Outlet stores. The meat is in vacuum sealed plastic bags, and is wet aged. It is extremely flavorful, and tender. I once purchased rib eyes to cook on the Webber Kettle, over natural charcoal, of course trying to impress my Mother, and Father In Law. As with supermarket meat, I sprinkled the steaks on both sides with Adolph's meat tenderizer, and stabbed thoroughly with a fork to make it more tender. I then cooked it to a perfect medium rare. I was so disappointed. The meat was already very tender, and my treatment of it made it almost into a mush. Lesson learned: know the quality of the meat you're working with before you mess with it. i never got a bad piece of beef from Iowa Meat Farms Outlet. I did impress my FIL with my archery skills, and how hefty a bow that I shot (70 lb. pull with 20% let off). I knew a bunch of adult men who couldn't pull that bow. Ah well, you win some, you lose some. And just so you know, a 70 lb. compound is overkill for dispatching a rooster. But that's another story.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[dragnlaw]

tghk, Welcome to DC!

Not sure I can help you, but I don't think tenderloin should be cooked past medium rare, so stick with that if you can. Like shrimp, fast and furious.

Chief, I think you've misunderstood tghk. Poster is talking tenderloin which has no marbling.

tghk, as dcSaute has asked, is the tenderloin delivered already cut? or do you cut?

If whole, may I suggest that you sear the entire portion you will be serving, then cut into individual servings. Example, a whole tenderloin is quite long and you only have 4 people to serve. Cut off the frozen meat the whole 8" needed for 4 people. Sear the entire 8" and get a really good crust all around, then cut into servings. Sort of like you were doing a Beef Wellington.

If you are purchasing already cut, then perhaps I could suggest. Bring out of the fridge a good 1/2 hour before cooking - so it is at room temperature. If it is too cold when it hits the pan it needs to be there longer in order to sear.

Next, be sure you have dried the meat - if there is too much juice in the pan, again you are not getting a good sear, it is boiling off the liquid before being able to sear.

Last, if dryness is a concern, wrap in bacon. This adds the fat needed for flavour and moistness. (there's a reason many restaurants serve it this way).

Hope this helps. I'm certainly not an expert in this department, but these are some ideas you might be able to try. Beef tenderloin is much too expensive to continually have tough and tasteless!

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Buy American! New Zealand is known for lamb, not beef.

OMAHA STREAKS

 

[taxlady]

Buy American! New Zealand is known for lamb, not beef.

OMAHA STREAKS

The original poster is in Hong Kong. According to the Omaha Steaks website:

International Shipping
Due to import/export restrictions, we are unable to ship our products outside the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

[summer57]

i believe that New Zealand beef, like Australian, is primarily grass-fed. No hormones, no additives, it's good stuff.

However, American beef is pretty much all grain-fed. That might explain the difference in tenderness, though in terms of taste, to me, grass-fed beef tastes pretty good.


dcSaute and dragnlaw made some good suggestions -- make sure it's completely dry before putting it in the pan, and 2 inches is better than 1 inch thick. It's too easy to overcook thinner steaks.


(edited to quote the correct people)

 

[taxlady]

i believe that New Zealand beef, like Australian, is primarily grass-fed. No hormones, no additives, it's good stuff.

However, American beef is pretty much all grain-fed. That might explain the difference in tenderness, though in terms of taste, to me, grass-fed beef tastes pretty good.

Taxlady made some good suggestions -- make sure it's completely dry before putting it in the pan, and 2 inches is better than 1 inch thick. It's too easy to overcook thinner steaks.

That wasn't me. I was commenting on the lack of availability of Omaha Steaks in Hong Kong.

It was dcSaute and dragnlaw writing about the 2" thickness.