How tender is too tender ?

General
1

I like mine about 2 minutes away from being mushy :slight_smile: Been doing all of my meats longer, and my Picanha steaks for 16-18 hrs @ 135F. They could be eaten with only a fork, but it would take a little more work, and kind of mutilate the pieces. Of course with a knife, I can almost just push the blade straight down through it.
My GF complains that they are too tender. Maybe if I had molars, Id agree.

I know beef can start to disintegrate, and become powdery, and thatā€™s pretty nasty. But personally, I like it just before that point. How about you ?

2

My wife leans towards the same ultra tender preference as you do Chris! Personally I am a bit more traditional. :slight_smile:

1 Like
3

Pure, unadulterated personal preference.

I like texture in my food. Chewing increases the opportunity for tasting.

4

I hear you, but in my case ā€œgummingā€ doesnā€™t work as well :grinning: lol

5

In another post, I described a supermarket corned beef as having the texture of mashed potatoes (not an exaggeration). It was awful. Not sure if that was due to a long cooking time, over tenderized at the factory, or both (probably the last two). The problem is that thereā€™s no way to know in advance. So Iā€™m going the DIY route next St Pattyā€™s Day.
Costco regularly sells a marinated skirt steak, which I believe contains papain as a tenderizer. Delicious, melt-in-your-mouth goodness when tasting a sample in the store. Way too mushy when eating a full serving at home.
I like a little bit of chew in my meat. Not a jaw exercise, but I want to know Iā€™m eating something. To that end, Iā€™ve pretty much sworn off ā€˜tenderizedā€™ meats. Instead, relying on the notes Iā€™m gathering on the cheap cuts Iā€™ve been buying since discovering sous vide.

6

I do tri-tip roasts (known elsewhere as bottom sirloin) at 131F for 16 hours and theyā€™re super-tender. Those are our favorite cut of beef.

7

I do tri tip roasts for 16 hrs at 135F, and also very tender, but not so rare / red.