marinade to use with tough beef?

[Lloyd Smale]

anyone have a good marinade for a tougher piece of beef that will tenderize and flavor and how do you use it?

[JSH]

Lloyd I am not much on marinades. But if you want cheap, simple and no brainer coke, pepsi or cheap cola. Let it set in this for 24 hours. Take it out add spice or rub of your choice, put in the oven at 250-275 for 3-5 hours.
Or, on the smoker for the same, then remove, wrap in foil and back on for anoth 2 hours.
Low and slow is the key to tough cuts IMHO.
Jeff

[Old Ironsights]

Cola is an excellent tenderizer. I used to do a Kosher Brisket that used Cola, Kosher Onion Soup mix and Chili Sauce.

I also make marianades using Vinegar, Lemon Juice, Red Wine, etc as the acidic tenderizing agent.

[Thumbcocker]

For deer I use no salt meat tenderizer and let it set a while. I marinade in a mixture of extra vergin olive oil and low salt soy sauce. I add Mr.s Dash, minced garlic, a little sage and coarse ground black pepper. The portions are all to taste. The marinade is mixed with a hand mixer until it looks grey/brown. The tenderizing meat is put in the marinade for a couple of hours prior to grilling. Good stuff. Should work on low fat beef.

[SciFiJim]

Add raw (not the stuff from a can) pineapple juice to your marinade. It contains an enzyme that will break down the meat fibers. It is so strong that the pineapple harvesters have to wear rubber gloves when harvesting to prevent it from eating the skin on their hands. I learned this while vacationing in Hawaii. Try this on a smaller piece of meat to start to judge the tenderizing ability before using on a large roast.

[felix]

Heat destroys most enzymes. The canned fruit has likely been Pasteurised to the hilt, killing all useful activity. ... felix

[MT Gianni]

I had a tough Moose that benefited by a soak in Italian dressing.

[pmeisel]

The easiest thing is Italian dressing.

Lemon juice 1/3, Olive oil 2/3 with seasoning also works well.

I have done the cola thing (also seven up) but its a little sweet for me. YMMV.

[leadeye]

+1 on Italian Dressing, not the lowfat stuff though. It covers a lot of squares with a lot of different kinds of meat.

[leadman]

I use McCormicks Montreal Steak marinade. I use olive oil in place of the vegetable oil and let it marinade for at least 4 hours if I know the meat is tough, longer if real tough.

Recipe is 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons white vinegar, and the McCormick spices. You could probably substitute your own spices. I have a marinade box that I put the meat in and flip about every hour.

[SwedeNelson]

Lloyd

A long slow cooking in a dutch oven will work wonders.
Cut in serving size pieces.
dredge in flour, I like to use a little Spade-L for beef too.
Brown in a little vegetable oil.
Remove from pan and add remaining flour to oil.
Brown a little and add 5 or 6 cups beef stock or water.
Stir to make a gravy.
Add meat back in and cook until it just about falls apart.
2 to 3 hours at about 250 to 300 degrees. Add water as needed.

Good eats.
Swede Nelson

[EMC45]

+3 on the Italian Dressing! I like the Kroger brand. Cheap and it goes a long way. Reminds me of the dressing from the school cafeteria.

[C A Plater]

I use teriyaki sauce as a base and will add white wine, some honey and vinegar to taste along with the garlic, onions and other seasoning. No need for salt as there is plenty in the sauce.

[fatnhappy]

a meat hammer

[shotman]

Italian is 2nd Catalina is first both work but Cat will make meat sweeter

[sheepdog]

As said raw pineapple to greatly soften meat, cola to lightly soft/favor, Italian dressing for good favor and mild softening. Milk for removing game taste.

[Conservadude]

Add raw (not the stuff from a can) pineapple juice to your marinade. It contains an enzyme that will break down the meat fibers. It is so strong that the pineapple harvesters have to wear rubber gloves when harvesting to prevent it from eating the skin on their hands. I learned this while vacationing in Hawaii. Try this on a smaller piece of meat to start to judge the tenderizing ability before using on a large roast.

That enzyme is called papain and is often present in the over-the-counter meat tenderizer products (even if not named by name but just 'tenderizing enzymes'.) Body builders often take a papain pill along with large protein doses to help it digest. As far as I know, this is the only reasonably quick meat (protein) tenderizing enzyme.

Also, wrapping and baking at 240 F for 1 to 3 hours tenderizes tough meats too, but note that you will not be able to cook it to medium or medium-rare and what not if you do this. Using the meat tenderizing products will tenderize the meat without cooking it so you can cook it any way you want.

Brian

[MoldyJoe]

I have also used Red Wine Vinegar, and made my own Italian dressing with it. Worked great on some tough old roasts. Joe

[C1PNR]

This is a recipe I've been using since the early 70's. The original was from a Charmglow Gas Grill cookbook, but I've added my own ideas since.

1 1/2 c Peanut or cooking oil
3/4 c Soy sauce
2 T Dry Mustard (I use Coleman's)
2 T Salt
1 T Pepper (fresh grind is best)
1 c Dry Red Wine
2 T Dried Parsley flakes
1/3 c Fresh Lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together (makes about 1 quart) and pour over meat to cover. You may "spike" the meat with a large fork to help the marinade get into the meat if you don't have time to let it marinate for 4 hours to overnight.

Turn often to insure all the meat is treated, unless you put everything in a zip lock bag and squeeze all the air out.

[Gary Carter]

anyone have a good marinade for a tougher piece of beef that will tenderize and flavor and how do you use it?

Here is my favorite marinade:
•2-3 lbs. Meat (loin, steak, roast doesn’t have to be exact)
•1 green onion chopped (since we don’t use green onion much I chop the whole bunch and put in)
•¼ t. chopped fresh garlic (1 or 2 cloves, doesn’t have to be exact)
•¼ t. accent
•1 t. sesame oil
•3 T. sugar
•½ cup soy sauce
•¼ cup water
•1-4 Jalapeno peppers chopped, to taste (could probably be left out if you can’t eat them)
•¼ t. black pepper

Mix and pour over meat (I use an ice cream bucket w/lid to put meat in), refrigerate over night (24-48 hours better). It will not look like enough marinade at first, but will combine with meat juices to make an adequate amount.

Turn meat 2 or 3 times to make sure of even distribution.

Grill or broil to taste, make sure not to over-cook wild game to avoid drying it out.

Works great on deer, and will help tenderize cheaper cuts of beef and pork.

[waksupi]

Geez, Gary, long time no see.

Forgot to wish you happy birthday, and congrats on your graduation!


Here is my favorite marinade:
•2-3 lbs. Meat (loin, steak, roast doesn’t have to be exact)
•1 green onion chopped (since we don’t use green onion much I chop the whole bunch and put in)
•¼ t. chopped fresh garlic (1 or 2 cloves, doesn’t have to be exact)
•¼ t. accent
•1 t. sesame oil
•3 T. sugar
•½ cup soy sauce
•¼ cup water
•1-4 Jalapeno peppers chopped, to taste (could probably be left out if you can’t eat them)
•¼ t. black pepper

Mix and pour over meat (I use an ice cream bucket w/lid to put meat in), refrigerate over night (24-48 hours better). It will not look like enough marinade at first, but will combine with meat juices to make an adequate amount.

Turn meat 2 or 3 times to make sure of even distribution.

Grill or broil to taste, make sure not to over-cook wild game to avoid drying it out.

Works great on deer, and will help tenderize cheaper cuts of beef and pork.

[Gary Carter]

Finaaly got some time to do what I enjoy.

[waksupi]

You can tell we're related. Same spelling disfunction!