400kgs tough beef

Tipsy · Post by **Tipsy** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 12:19 am

Hi guys,

I come from a beef farm that mainly sells Angus cattle to the OS markets.

Last month one of these beasts decided to have a bit of a leg injury (we sold his mates Tuesday so he was pretty much in his prime)
So we decided to get him butchered ourselves which involved a very gentle kill, followed by 2 weeks hanging (something that doesn't happen with the supermarket chains) but we knew because of the injury that there was a good chance of a huge amount of tough meat.

Knowing what we were up against we made a lot of mince and sausages. 80kg of each

My father cooked the first of the good cuts in the Weber Q and while they looked perfectly cooked they were tough like leather.
My first cook was some Scotch fillet an I used the i grill mini on my Z&B and while cooked rare it was tough.

My parents have boiled a silverside and it has come out beautiful.

So after a long winded post, is there anything I can do with this meat to make it better?
Can I cook a Topside roast slowly to make it tender? Surly you need the fat of cheaper cuts to do low and slow?

Do I have to stew eye fillet?

it's not that bad.

titch · Post by **titch** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 7:54 am

Sous Vide is the go.

wedwards · Post by **wedwards** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 9:18 am

Any tough meat I usually cook low and slow on smoker

Tipsy · Post by **Tipsy** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 11:24 am

titch wrote:Sous Vide is the go.

Thanks. I will definitely give it a go as I have a Braumeister for making beer that would work perfectly.

wedwards wrote:Any tough meat I usually cook low and slow on smoker

I'll try that too, I was just worried about the leaner cuts.

Cheers

urbangriller · Post by **urbangriller** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 12:59 pm

And Brining will increase moisture and help denature the proteins.

Cheers
Chris

wedwards · Post by **wedwards** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 1:07 pm

Maybe also use a water pan as well to keep moisture up. Test on a smaller piece first to get the weight to time ratio worked out then have at it.

2browndogs · Post by **2browndogs** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 6:26 pm

If it's tough, i'd hit it with some smoke for a few hours, then braise it till tender.

Smokey · Post by **Smokey** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 7:19 pm

Personaly, Id break it down to chunks for slow cooked braises or curries. Sounds like the meat is shot so just cook it into submission in liquid. You could try the various tenderisers such as buttermilk, kiwi fruit etc for a roast but I'm thinking with your experiance, you'd still tell it ain't right.
Cube that topside, Brine in a buttermilk brine, rinse and make vindaloo

chriso · Post by **chriso** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 10:15 pm

I roasted a cheap lean cut recently, brined it for 24 hours and cooked it at around 150ish with a water pan in the OTS, came out quite most and tender.

food&fish · Post by **food&fish** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 6:27 am

I had a lot of success years ago using bicarb soda on tough meat

Tipsy · Post by **Tipsy** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:18 am

Thanks for the awesome suggestions

Smokey wrote:Personaly, Id break it down to chunks for slow cooked braises or curries. Sounds like the meat is shot so just cook it into submission in liquid. You could try the various tenderisers such as buttermilk, kiwi fruit etc for a roast but I'm thinking with your experiance, you'd still tell it ain't right.
Cube that topside, Brine in a buttermilk brine, rinse and make vindaloo

I think you may be right but I have sooo much meat I may as well have a play around with the brine and smoke ideas.
The worst that can happen is our golden retriever might put on an extra few kilos

Smokey · Post by **Smokey** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 10:55 am

Another thing you could do is slice thin minute stakes and mallet them.
For steak sangas or scnitzel .
You could also salt cure/ dry a fat free lump for a beef prosscuto type product.

wedwards · Post by **wedwards** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:06 am

Also wonder if you could turn some into jerky as its chewy already

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