Awful Cowboy Steak


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
So I did a cowboy ribeye on the MM tonight. I went at it very carefully. Ran the grill at 220, with good smoke. (used the 50/50 Smokehouse ones), good seasoning coat. Ran it at the 220 until it got to 115, pulled it and laid it on a large plate to get a good rest while I cranked the MM to 450. Got up there and put the ribeye back on cooking to 120-125. Pulled second rest and practically inedible Let it rest a bit and tucked it. As always from the pellet grills flavor was outta this world. But the beef itself some of the most awful, stringy, chewy, terribly textured meat you could try. IDK if there is something in the "season" causing the animals to be "tough" or what. But now this is the 3rd in a lineup of awful beef. First was the strip loin I bought through Costco, then midweek this week I cooked a steak from that. Terrible in a word, now tonight's yet another. This from 2 different stores.
IDK what's going on but definitely a streak of REALLY bad luck. FWIW in all cases this was "choice" graded beef
 
Been there too. Especially with tomahawks and strip steaks. I blamed my cooking. But... there was nothing anyone could have done.
 
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If I want a good steak, I go for prime. I do buy other grades but my expectations are lower. Yesterday at my local Shoprite their beef selection looked weak but I wanted a piece of steak for the fajitas I was making. I spent about 5 minutes trying to find a decent steak, ended up getting a small ny strip with hardly any marbling in it. I thought to myself, this is probably going to be tough but I'm going to slice it into thin strips anyway. I grilled it on the SmokeFire on 400, flipped once, took it off at 135 and let it rest for about 10 minutes while making the chicken and finishing up the veggies. It turned out better than expected, it was juicy and not to tough. I'm sure the thin slices played a part in it.

Larry, don't blame yourself, better luck next time. I wonder if the select grade of steak needs a hot and fast style of grilling on the pellet grill. I do reverse sear on prime cuts because I would be pissed if I over cooked it. The top grate is my friend when trying to reach my target temp after searing.
 
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Sadly Costco has not been putting out the Prime strip loins, and I hate buying individual steak(s) there as the ruin them all with that stupid blade tenderizer. They do that crap to their ribeye roasts. Honestly I think if my local Sam's would clean up their store, change the layout of the gas pump and maybe even change the location of the whole store away from the Walmart next door (it seems to attract the lowlifes from there), I would cancel the Costco membership. Only reason I keep going there is it's WAY more pleasant to shop in (cleaner, none of the Walmartians spilling in, and their gas station allows ONLY members and is laid out better). Otherwise Sam's pretty much has it all over the Costco in many ways
 
Bob Erdman said:
If I want a good steak, I go for prime. I do buy other grades but my expectations are lower. Yesterday at my local Shoprite their beef selection looked weak but I wanted a piece of steak for the fajitas I was making. I spent about 5 minutes trying to find a decent steak, ended up getting a small ny strip with hardly any marbling in it. I thought to myself, this is probably going to be tough but I'm going to slice it into thin strips anyway. I grilled it on the SmokeFire on 400, flipped once, took it off at 135 and let it rest for about 10 minutes while making the chicken and finishing up the veggies. It turned out better than expected, it was juicy and not to tough. I'm sure the thin slices played a part in it.

Larry, don't blame yourself, better luck next time. I wonder if the select grade of steak needs a hot and fast style of grilling on the pellet grill. I do reverse sear on prime cuts because I would be pissed if I over cooked it. The top grate is my friend when trying to reach my target temp after sear
LMichaels said:
Sadly Costco has not been putting out the Prime strip loins, and I hate buying individual steak(s) there as the ruin them all with that stupid blade tenderizer. They do that crap to their ribeye roasts. Honestly I think if my local Sam's would clean up their store, change the layout of the gas pump and maybe even change the location of the whole store away from the Walmart next door (it seems to attract the lowlifes from there), I would cancel the Costco membership. Only reason I keep going there is it's WAY more pleasant to shop in (cleaner, none of the Walmartians spilling in, and their gas station allows ONLY members and is laid out better). Otherwise Sam's pretty much has it all over the Costco in many ways
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We tend to only by Prime steak too, as we don't eat a lot of steak anymore.
I agree with your take on Costco beef. The only cuts of beef we buy there are Prime packers, and flank steak. More and more we find ourselves buying meat from butchers.
 
I remember years ago when Safeway switched from their ungraded Rancher's Reserve beef, which was good quality, to "Choice". We tried their strip steals several times and they were garbage. We don't eat a ton of beef but, on the rare occasions when we want steaks, I stick to Certified Angus from either Sams or our local Walmart. Same great quality from either one, but Sams is often cheaper.
 
Bob Bailey said:
I remember years ago when Safeway switched from their ungraded Rancher's Reserve beef, which was good quality, to "Choice". We tried their strip steals several times and they were garbage. We don't eat a ton of beef but, on the rare occasions when we want steaks, I stick to Certified Angus from either Sams or our local Walmart. Same great quality from either one, but Sams is often cheaper.
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Several of the larger chain grocery stores such as Wegmans and Giant have mostly cryovac packed meats...steaks included. We avoid the cryovac stuff. It always has a weird odor upon opening. Several have full on butcher operations...much better.
 
I recently picked up a pack of choice strip steaks from Costco because they had it at $9.99. Looked marbled well enough but did not grill up as nice as I am used to. Had some tender bites but most was pretty chewy.
 
All our Albertson’s stores carry Double R Ranch beef, which is the choice and prime cuts of Snake River Farms. Often these choice steaks look as good as prime and prime looks like American Wagu. I’ve never been disappointed in the tenderness or quality of these steaks. There are frequent sales where T-bone steaks and rib steaks get down to $5.99/lb.
 
Yeah, that is great if you have those stores. No such luck here. We Schmuks, Woodman's and Meier (glorified Walmart). Every one to me worse than the next plus been poisoned by Schmuks thanks to their cross contaminating salmon and chicken. My best bets are the little shop here in our village, Sam's and Costco. And of the 2 big ones I prefer Sam's because they don't ruin the meat for you
 
I used to go to Sam’s Club when I lived in WA state. I preferred it over Costco, although I belonged to both. Then they closed all the WA Sam’s Club’s. I was close to a Costco Business Center which is where I preferred to shop when I went to Costco. Everything but the clothing, electronics, etc. It was geared to small business and restaurant owners. Their beef wasn’t processed through a blade tenderizer. They even sold half goats.
 
Mark Silver said:
I used to go to Sam’s Club when I lived in WA state. I preferred it over Costco, although I belonged to both. Then they closed all the WA Sam’s Club’s. I was close to a Costco Business Center which is where I preferred to shop when I went to Costco. Everything but the clothing, electronics, etc. It was geared to small business and restaurant owners. Their beef wasn’t processed through a blade tenderizer. They even sold half goats.
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Coming soon ours will sell whole lambs
 
Tough and chewy meat is either over or under cooked or a real bad cut of steak. You said you crank it up to 450. To me that's too low. What thickness steaks did you get? If I reverse sear steak which I use a kettle "open flame" it gets much hotter than 450. I usually go for 1.5 to 2.5 thick ribeye. I'll use the wsm to smoke them then transfer to a hot grill.
 
Chad-Burnt to a T said:
Tough and chewy meat is either over or under cooked or a real bad cut of steak. You said you crank it up to 450. To me that's too low. What thickness steaks did you get? If I reverse sear steak which I use a kettle "open flame" it gets much hotter than 450. I usually go for 1.5 to 2.5 thick ribeye. I'll use the wsm to smoke them then transfer to a hot grill.
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This was one of those 3" thick cowboys. I do this ALL the time and never get a bad result. The steak was cooked perfectly. It was just a ^&%tty steak. But, a close to $40 one and not happy about that. I've done more of these than I can count and this is the first time one has turned out like this
 
I consider myself as a bit of a steak snob, meaning I preferably usually only buy “prime” grade cuts, not to say I will not buy “choice” grade if they look right. If you are buying choice grade, pay attention to the marbling as well the “eye” of the steak. I rarely buy tomahawk steaks in prime grade just because the demands of the price are usually ridiculous. Even after close examination of a choice grade there are no guarantees, sometimes you must cut your losses & move on. I know how you feel nothing worse then high expectations only to be let down.
 
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EricV. said:
I consider myself as a bit of a steak snob, meaning I preferably usually only buy “prime” grade cuts, not to say I will not buy “choice” grade if they look right. If you are buying choice grade, pay attention to the marbling as well the “eye” of the steak. I rarely buy tomahawk steaks in prime grade just because the demands of the price are usually ridiculous. Even after close examination of a choice grade there are no guarantees, sometimes you must cut your losses & move on. I know what your felling, nothing worse then high expectations only to be let down.
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In regards to your statement about if the choice grade looks right a few months ago at Costco I was debating whether to buy just for a change the prime ribeyes always buy choice could have actually been filets cannot remember. So the meat guy was restocking and I had the package of choice steaks in my hand and asked him if it was worth paying extra for prime. He looked at the steaks and said those are beautiful steaks never answered the question but I got it. :)
 
So, if Sam's actually sold them in prime grade believe me that is what would have been on the grill. But, quite honestly this is so far the first and ONLY time cooking one of those Cowboys I EVER had it turn out badly. (actually it didn't turn out badly at all it was cooked to perfection) It had edge to edge med rare, nice crust, seasoning spot on. It was just a crappy piece of meat. And I also am WELL aware of how the steak "looks". I spend at least 10 min examining the whole lot and only walk away with the "one" that "looks" the part. I'm not a dweeb beginner at it. Been cooking those Cowboys for a VERY long time. And if I've done one I've done 50.
As for the choice grade NY strip loin I bought. Here too, I almost always buy prime. But again, Sam's has not been putting out ANY strip loins and Costco has only been putting out choice grade ones. IDK why.
And the reason I bought the choice one this time is I'd bought choice from there the previous 2 times. And both times before they were fine. Not prime but still I got damn good steaks out of them and 2 damn good roasts.
I think it may be a seasonal thing or perhaps the feed lots are finishing them differently as of late. But, again had prime been available in both cases, PRIME is what would have been in my grill.
Also on a ribeye roast I have RARELY bought prime as those cuts tend to be quite well marbled even at choice grade. And I have NEVER once had a bad one. These were 2 anomalies. No explanation
 
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