Officially upset with Costco


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
So as many know I had been telling the praises of how tender Costco Prime is compared to the Prime I get at Sam's. Well I came across this video indicating Costco blade tenderized their meat. Well sure enough today I was there and nearly everything was blade tenderized. Even prime graded stuff. Absolute disappointment. I even spoke to one of the meat cutters there. Said it's "company policy" "the Costco way" but did say if I wanted to order a case of meat they could bypass the step.
So now I really don't know if their meat quality is better than Sam's (though it does look better) or if it's the blade machine. This really leaves me rather pi$$ed off
 
hmmm... i'm not too far north of you and i have yet to experience this at the Costco I frequent...
I:)LOVE Costco Prime!

I have cancelled (actually have let expire) our Sam's membership... however, at the time we did go to Sam's, they never had prime.
 
Does the label have to state that the meat is blade tenderized? I never knew they did this. I still think their rib eyes are the best for the money.
 
Is that like using a Jaccard tenderizer ? would add a risk like ground beef instead of safer whole cuts imo,I use 1 some times but its right before its thrown on the fire so a safer method as I know where my tools have been cleaned and stored properly
 
I hate Cooks Country they purposely blur out any information and insist on getting money and email address to let you see it. Well EFF them. Sorry. Maybe one day they'll get off their high and mighty horse. So basically the link you gave does not show anything but a big splash ad wanting you to "register"
Anyway with re to blade tenderizing I would like to be the one who decides what I use it on with my own Jaccard machine. I don't like the store/company making that choice for me. I did look at all the labels and everything but tenderloin showed "Blade Tenderized". I didn't look at the Chuck roasts though I did look at the other primal cuts in both choice and prime i.e. sirloin, ny strip, ribeye and so on and all showed BT.
Sadly the meat at Costco is truly higher quality with more fine marbling, and better cuts than Sam's but I will most likely not be buying Costco anymore as I don't like their invasion of choice in how I use what I buy. Sadly the major reason I joined Costco was because of the higher quality meat. So my first year membership may be my last for them as there really is nothing else they sell I cannot find a replacement for through Sam's or other retailers :(
 
Last edited:
LMichaels said:
I hate Cooks Country they purposely blur out any information and insist on getting money and email address to let you see it.
Click to expand...

Well, if you find value in their works you can join for a nominal fee and reap the benefits. If you don't like them you don't need to pay :)
 
Is there any way to look at it an tell? Usually with cube steak it's pretty obvious and it's meant to be cooked to death.
 
Well for Barb and I it's not an issue we only buy pork belly's, baby backs and brisket from Costco. Barb works part time at our local Safeway when it comes to steaks, pork chops, roasts etc. the guys in the meat dept. take good care of us by making sure we get quality meats. Been super happy with what we get.
 
LMichaels said:
I hate Cooks Country they purposely blur out any information and insist on getting money and email address to let you see it. Well EFF them. Sorry. Maybe one day they'll get off their high and mighty horse. So basically the link you gave does not show anything but a big splash ad wanting you to "register"
Anyway with re to blade tenderizing I would like to be the one who decides what I use it on with my own Jaccard machine. I don't like the store/company making that choice for me. I did look at all the labels and everything but tenderloin showed "Blade Tenderized". I didn't look at the Chuck roasts though I did look at the other primal cuts in both choice and prime i.e. sirloin, ny strip, ribeye and so on and all showed BT.
Sadly the meat at Costco is truly higher quality with more fine marbling, and better cuts than Sam's but I will most likely not be buying Costco anymore as I don't like their invasion of choice in how I use what I buy. Sadly the major reason I joined Costco was because of the higher quality meat. So my first year membership may be my last for them as there really is nothing else they sell I cannot find a replacement for through Sam's or other retailers :(
Click to expand...

"Mechanically Tenderized Meat

When beef is labeled "blade tenderized," what does that mean?
Print
Save

Blade-tenderized (also known as “mechanically tenderized” or “needled”) meat has been passed through a machine that punctures it with small, sharp blades or needles to break up the connective tissue and muscle fibers with the aim of making a potentially chewy cut more palatable (or an already tender cut more so). Because the blades can potentially transfer illness-causing bacteria such as E. coli from the surface of the meat into the interior, meat processed in this way should be cooked to 160 degrees (well-done) to ensure that any potential bacteria is no longer viable. Unfortunately, blade-tenderized meat can be difficult to identify because the punctures are nearly invisible to the naked eye. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture has published guidelines suggesting that all mechanically tenderized meat be labeled and accompanied by a reminder to cook the meat to 160 degrees, these do not become mandatory until January 2016. A handful of retailers, including Costco, label their tenderized beef, but if you’re concerned, you can ask your supermarket butchers to see if they can confirm the processing of their meat.

As for the effectiveness of blade tenderizing, we compared tenderized top sirloin steaks and rib-eye steaks from Costco with traditional steaks, and we found that the blade-tenderized steaks were indeed more tender when all the steaks were cooked to a safe 160 degrees. But we prefer our steaks cooked to medium-rare, and—since that isn’t advisable with blade-tenderized beef—we’ll be seeking out traditional meat."
 
Stopped in at Costco today just to see for myself. Talked to the butcher a bit about it too. All cuts other then Filet, which being tender doesn't need it, and the tough cuts that get cooked to tender, like flank and stew meats get a pass. He told me that other then the obvious, another benefit is that fat gets distributed thru the beef by the blades. Haven't decided if it matters to me but I won't be cooking a good steak to 160. Suppose one could buy the whole sections and cut your own steaks.
 
Last edited:
I don't think the threat of health issues from the process is what the tin foil hat people want us to believe. Face it, ever heard of anyone becoming ill from steak tartar. I haven't. Yet there you have steak being chopped so if surface germs were an issue it would DEFINITELY be an issue with that dish. I grind burger and regularly eat them quite rare, and on some cuts I will do my own blade tenderize with my Jaccard device and eat it rare. So the health issue is a non issue for me. It's that I don't want another entity making that choice for me.
 
I also went to Costco this afternoon after reading everything here and what I could find with Google searches. The main butcher came out and pretty much confirmed that they were familiar with concerns regarding blade tenderizing and it was their recommendation to cook meat that's been tenderized to 160 IT. I asked how long our Costco has been doing this and he said 21 years. He told me that they clean and sanitize their tenderizing equipment every 4 hours. I questioned him as to why, if the meat was prime in the first place, did they feel the need to blade tenderize it. He kind of chuckled and said their policy regarding prime meat was to run it through the equipment a second time as well. Anyway, I discussed it with my wife and we'll continue as we have in the past with Costco's beef and cook it to suit our tastes. We've been buying Costco prime meat regularly as long as they've been carrying it, and Choice before that, and never had a hint of a problem.
 
I'm not sure that Costco's tenderizing policies will affect us much. I buy whole beef loins and break them down into filets/steaks, whole briskets, pork butts and the like. We almost never buy beef that's already broken down.
 
1. Costco prime beef is the easiest way I have to buy prime beef.
2. It is the most affordable prime beef I can typically buy.
3. It tastes good.

Nothing else matters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top