Pretty pissed off....T Bone steaks

[snyper77]

Decided to do T-Bone steaks tonight on the Lang chargrill. Marinated the steaks with salt, pepper, and Moore's Marinade for 3 hours.

Dumped a chimney of charcoal in the Lang and topped it off with 2 small splits of pecan wood.

Grill was reading about 425 with a live fire coming off the pecan sticks.....(no worries, the live fire always snuffs out when I close the door).

Put the steaks on the lower rack, nearest the heat..... 5 minutes.... flipped...... 5 more minutes......wrapped in tin foil 5 more minutes.

Removed the steaks.....internal temp was 155.....medium well...just a little pink.

The aroma and taste were amazing.....but the steaks were like shoe leather. Now, I must admit, the side of the T-Bone that has the filet was super tender and melt in your mouth.... but the New York Strip side was shoe leather.

I was so dammmm mad. They were on sale for $5/lb. I bought (4) 1lb. steaks for $21

Is it just "cheap steaks"???? Is there any way to get cheap steaks tender? Or should I ONLY buy CHOICE/PRIME cuts from now on?

 

[retired trucker]

I have never marinated a steak before. Always just seasoned and put it on the grill and cooked it. Don't know if the marinade was your problem or not. I cook my steaks rare to medium rare, or about 123 degrees.

 

[martyleach]

I have never taken a steak up that high in temp. 130-135 is about it for me, max.

 

[buccaneer]

Sniper you marinated in a solution that was either 17% salt or 27% salt and you added salt, and for 3+hours.Small volume of acid.


Its lean meat.
I grill very hot so that is definitely not the problem if you are pulling at the right time.
Cooking on low temps has a single advantage, it is easier to get tender juicy doneness, but there are major disadvantages, flavour wise.
It's all food science when it comes down to it I guess.
It is either osmosis or overheated core.

 

[Hook_Line_and_Sinker]

Too high IT IMHO

 

[buccaneer]

I cook at these temps too.
Oh bugger, just did the F to C conversion.
What were you wanting and when was the IT 155?
Sounds like maybe you pulled the juice in the marinade and then cooked it to well done, foiled?

 

[snyper77]

I was wanting 155 IT. Everyone in my household like medium well steaks.
Medium well doesn't have to mean shoe leather, I hope.

 

[lcbateman3]

Could be the cut, I have had that before. I have made tender MW steaks before for others. I personally like mine MR

 

[Midnight Smoke]

Decided to do T-Bone steaks tonight on the Lang chargrill. Marinated the steaks with salt, pepper, and Moore's Marinade for 3 hours.

Dumped a chimney of charcoal in the Lang and topped it off with 2 small splits of pecan wood.

Grill was reading about 425 with a live fire coming off the pecan sticks.....(no worries, the live fire always snuffs out when I close the door).

Put the steaks on the lower rack, nearest the heat..... 5 minutes.... flipped...... 5 more minutes......wrapped in tin foil 5 more minutes.

Removed the steaks.....internal temp was 155.....medium well...just a little pink.

The aroma and taste were amazing.....but the steaks were like shoe leather. Now, I must admit, the side of the T-Bone that has the filet was super tender and melt in your mouth.... but the New York Strip side was shoe leather.

I was so dammmm mad. They were on sale for $5/lb. I bought (4) 1lb. steaks for $21

Is it just "cheap steaks"???? Is there any way to get cheap steaks tender? Or should I ONLY buy CHOICE/PRIME cuts from now on?

No expert here on what you did with the Marinade. My guess is the meat cooked in the marinade to a point of all the juices were displaced. This left little to cook with, it is possible that 3 minutes a side would have come out great, could have been select steak with very little marbling. Not a good Steak to start with. I ususlly just season with Salt and Pepper with some olive oil.

 

[landarc]

I wonder, what was the grade? I would not hesitate to expect a better product from a marinaded steak. The high salt would not have affected the meat as a toughener as long as it was marinaded at least one hour.

I find your IT is too high for my taste, but, I have had Choice and Prime that were tender at that temp.

 

[sandiegobbq]

wrapped in foil for 5 minutes??:loco:

 

[snyper77]

wrapped in foil for 5 minutes??:loco:

Yes, the final 5 minutes, I wrapped them. It preserved a lot of moisture, as they were soaking in their juices when I opened the foil (15 minutes after taking them off).

I'll never buy steaks from that grocer again. They don't even offer choice/prime. I'm guessing that the average steak you see in stores are "select" ???

 

[landarc]

Most grocery stores offer select, a few offer something called roll. Roll beef is graded as sub-select or better. If you got roll, and it was sub-select, you never had a chance.

 

[sandiegobbq]

Yes, the final 5 minutes, I wrapped them. It preserved a lot of moisture, as they were soaking in their juices when I opened the foil (15 minutes after taking them off).

I'll never buy steaks from that grocer again. They don't even offer choice/prime. I'm guessing that the average steak you see in stores are "select" ???

Wrapping them was not a good idea at all. You basically steamed them and cooked the life out of that poor steak.

Maybe try 3.5 minutes a side and do not foil them after they are done.

Leave them on a rack to rest uncovered for 5 minutes.

 

[Phrasty]

Snyper77... Nothing you did IMO, A tough steak is just a tough farkin steak no matter how "high" you take the temp! You just got a "bad" animal! I have lots of experience with tough steaks out here. Mark it down as one to the bbq Gods. maybe you can pass a comment at how unsatisfied you were with the steak at the place you got it and depending how cool they are maybe they'll give you a deal on another one.

Just my 2 cents.

cheers

 

[Flfiremedic]

I wouldn't foil a steak. I agree it probably boiled/steamed the meat...and took off your nice crust.

 

[NorthwestBBQ]

Decided to do T-Bone steaks tonight on the Lang chargrill. Marinated the steaks with salt, pepper, and Moore's Marinade for 3 hours.

Dumped a chimney of charcoal in the Lang and topped it off with 2 small splits of pecan wood.

Grill was reading about 425 with a live fire coming off the pecan sticks.....(no worries, the live fire always snuffs out when I close the door).

Put the steaks on the lower rack, nearest the heat..... 5 minutes.... flipped...... 5 more minutes......wrapped in tin foil 5 more minutes.

Removed the steaks.....internal temp was 155.....medium well...just a little pink.

The aroma and taste were amazing.....but the steaks were like shoe leather. Now, I must admit, the side of the T-Bone that has the filet was super tender and melt in your mouth.... but the New York Strip side was shoe leather.

I was so dammmm mad. They were on sale for $5/lb. I bought (4) 1lb. steaks for $21

Is it just "cheap steaks"???? Is there any way to get cheap steaks tender? Or should I ONLY buy CHOICE/PRIME cuts from now on?

That's called braising, bro. Please do not wrap your precious steaks in foil.

 

[buccaneer]

Yes, the final 5 minutes, I wrapped them. It preserved a lot of moisture, as they were soaking in their juices when I opened the foil (15 minutes after taking them off).

I'll never buy steaks from that grocer again. They don't even offer choice/prime. I'm guessing that the average steak you see in stores are "select" ???

If it is just meat quality then we can't help, but I urge you to think about these factors some.
Why do we rest steaks and meats, what is it for?
It isn't to preserve moisture mate.
That steak was laying in moisture that the increase in temps had driven out.
We 'rest' to allow time for the juices that have been driven by heat into an intensified area to to ease back consistantly and spread out along the protein strings that have tensed up and re hydrate them.
If the meat is foiled, it is heating .......not resting and cooling.
So your cook time was actually 25 minutes in total!
That mean, it is cooking further.
That's why the moisture was on the outside of the meat.
Rest in in a foil tent but don't foil it.
Also, sorry to say because LOTS of folks here hold a contrary belief, once you are at a temperature of 150F internal, you are at the very limit of endurance for juicyness, scientifically.
* HTH, not wanting to come across as preaching, just trying to help with the next steak.
I'd do that next one with some cracked pepper and a dab of OOil and see how it goes, hot and 3 to 3.3mins per side and rested for 6 minutes at least, tent foil.

 

[LMAJ]

You can get a bad steak once in a while.
Not sure about your method - I have never marinated steaks.
I think the issue may be the select grade - mose of what is sold around here is choice, prime at the local butcher - but you really pay for it.

 

[accuseal]

Not to be a smart a**, but in general, you get what you pay for. Marbling is the key to tender tasty meat. Lower grades just don't have adequate marbling. The tenderloin will be tender in all grades because that muscle does not get exercised, but it was probably lacking in marbling and not vert flavorful.

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