Why does my steak always come out tough? (2023)

How do you keep steak from getting tough?

In order to tenderize a cooked steak, you just need to leave the meat to stand for 5 minutes after cooking, until the juices flow back towards the outside. Then you'll be able to serve perfectly juicy meat. For a roast beef you'll need to wait longer — about 20 minutes .

Like lots of other foods, steak needs time to relax, as do the fibers within it. While the meat cooks, its fibers shrink, emitting moisture and making the steak juicy. Cutting into the meat right away will cause that hard-earned moisture to spill out onto the plate, leaving a drier, less flavorful dinner.

Simmer In Liquid

Warm some water or broth in a pan with some barbeque sauce and let your steak simmer. The barbecue sauce will help restore some flavor. Do not let the temperature get too high because you are aiming for the liquid to penetrate your steak without further cooking it. This should only take 1 to 2 minutes.

Tough and chewy steak may be the result of undercooking naturally tough meat or overcooking tender steak to the point of dryness. Cooking steak to the right temperature is essential to making a tender juicy meal.

Additionally, overcooking meat, even meat that comes from the more tender muscles, can make it tough. That's because heat causes the proteins in the meat to firm up. Overcooking also basically squeezes the moisture out of the meat, making it dry as well as tough.

The process of low-and-slow cooking breaks down the connective tissue and releases collagen, resulting in supple, shreddable meat. Slow cooking applications include braising, barbecuing and sous vide (cooking proteins in a vacuum sealed bag immersed in warm water).

Most fine restaurants age their beef to intensify the flavor and improve the tenderness of the cut. Aging is done by letting the meat sit (in very controlled conditions) for several days or weeks.

Velveting is a simple process of using baking soda or a mixture of egg whites, cornstarch and oil to marinate and tenderize economical cuts of steak, chicken and other meats before cooking. Velveting meat softens fibers to reduce toughness and enhance juiciness for maximum flavor and tenderness.

Does soaking steak in water make it tender?

Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meat's surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively, which keeps the meat tender and moist when it's cooked.

If you're slow cooking, make sure to keep the temperature low. If you're going for a sear, get high, up to that 500-700F zone. Temperatures in the middle can make the process go too long or too short, which overcooks the meat.

Your sirloin steak can be tough because you overcooked it. Or it can be tough if you don't tenderize it properly. Sirloin is a tough piece of cut, and it needs either a long cooking time (for stewing, braising) or some tenderizing method such as dry brine or marinating. Overcooking will make the steak even tougher.

Why does beef become chewy? Undercooked steaks fail to melt the fat in the beef and are quite chewy. Additionally, undercooked beef might cause an upset stomach or even food poisoning. Overcooked steaks burn through all the fat and end up being hard, dry, and chewy.

Cook Low and Slow

Heat is probably the most effective tenderizer. If you cook the steak long enough, the collagen, which is a part of the connective tissues that makes it tough and chewy, would be broken down into gelatin, which is soft and jiggly. Ideally, this happens between 160 and 200 F.

Considered the most tender cut of all, a filet mignon is taken from the center of the beef tenderloin. It is lean yet delivers a melt-in-your mouth, buttery succulence. Perfect for grilling, pan-searing and broiling in the oven. Available in several weights, a filet is perfect for 1 person.

The timing. As a rule of thumb (for a steak 22mm thick) – cook 2 minutes each side for rare, 3-4 mins each side for medium-rare and 4-6 mins each side for medium. For well done, cook for 2-4 minutes each side, then turn the heat down and cook for another 4-6 minutes.

Between ribeye steak vs sirloin, ribeye tends to be the more tender of the two steak cuts, thanks to its heavy marbling that runs throughout a ribeye. However, the most important factor in tenderness is how you cook your steak. To yield a more tender sirloin, cook it slowly over a lower temperature.

Rule of thumb #2: Thin-cut meat should be cooked Hot and Fast, while thick cuts are best cooked Low and Slow.

Is it better to cook steak on high or low heat?

Steaks should always be cooked on high temperatures to sear the outside and trap the juices and flavor inside. Steaks should almost always be cooked on a grill or in a pan on high heat: all cooking guidelines below are for one-inch thick steaks. Rest your steak for five minutes under aluminum foil before eating.

What do restaurants use to tenderize meat? If you find the meat has a spongy texture aside from being very tender, then very likely the restaurant put baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) in the marinade. The sodium in baking soda chemically reacts with the meat and make the meat very tender and soft.

What does Texas Roadhouse do to make their steaks so tender? The key to making the steak tender is to let it rest after seasoning the steak. This lets the seasoning penetrate into the steak which helps to break down the muscle fibers. Let is rest for at least 30 minutes.

Your steak probably tastes better at a steakhouse because we use lots (and lots) of butter. Bonus points when it's compound butter! Even the dishes that aren't served with a pat of butter on top are likely doused with a ladle of clarified butter to give the steak a glossy sheen and a rich finish.

Does Worcestershire Tenderize Meat? Yes, Worcestershire sauce is a great meat tenderizer. It has vinegar in it, which breaks down the meat fibers. It's highly concentrated, so it penetrates deep into the steak for more flavor.

Cola's high acidity and caramel flavor makes a surprisingly good meat tenderizer. Cola typically has a pH of about 2.7—for comparison, lemon juice has a pH of 2—making it acidic enough to break down some proteins without dissolving your meat.

They use infrared broilers

You can thank an infrared broiler for that. While some steakhouses still grill or griddle their steaks, many including Bobby Van's, The Palm Restaurants and Morton's use infrared broilers, which superheat large surfaces to an even temperature.

Yes, there are scientific reasons to back up the fact that slow cooked meat is better. Tenderness in meat comes from the melting of collagen – the connective tissue protein present in meat. When collagen melts, it turns into gelatin, a rich liquid that gives meat a lot of flavour as well as a silky texture.

What does soaking steak in milk do?

It's milk.

A steak that marinates in an acidic or enzymatic liquid too long, such as citrus juice or cola, becomes tough or mushy. But the acid in milk is so mild that you can soak beef in it long enough to tenderize it effectively, without damaging the proteins on the surface.

While washing meat and poultry to remove dirt, slime, fat or blood may have been appropriate decades ago when many slaughtered and prepared their own food, the modern food safety system doesn't require it. Meat and poultry are cleaned during processing, so further washing is not necessary.

But the reality is that flipping a steak repeatedly during cooking—as often as every 30 seconds or so—will produce a crust that is just as good (provided you start with meat with a good, dry surface, as you always should), give you a more evenly cooked interior, and cook in about 30% less time to boot! Need proof?

And the longer meat is cooked, the more liquid it loses and the tougher it becomes. Factors that also influence tenderness and juiciness are: The animal's age at slaughter, the amount of fat and collagen (connective tissue) contained in particular cuts, and, to a small degree, brining.

Tough Cuts

It's best to cook these cuts (blade, brisket, short rib) slowly, by stewing or braising them, in order to add moisture and break down the tough proteins. With game meat, like elk or moose, this is taken to the extreme. As Wolfman says “They're much leaner, so [they] benefit from stewing or braising.”

Yes, there are scientific reasons to back up the fact that slow cooked meat is better. Tenderness in meat comes from the melting of collagen – the connective tissue protein present in meat. When collagen melts, it turns into gelatin, a rich liquid that gives meat a lot of flavour as well as a silky texture.

Raw meat is generally squishy, chewy, and full of moisture. At 120°F (48.9°C) meat slowly begins to tenderize as the protein myosin begins to coagulate and the connective tissue in the meat begins to break down.

Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate).

If you find the meat has a spongy texture aside from being very tender, then very likely the restaurant put baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) in the marinade. The sodium in baking soda chemically reacts with the meat and make the meat very tender and soft.

Low and slow cooking methods can help to tenderize tough meat cuts. An easy, low maintenance way to achieve this is by using a slow cooker. Set the meat to cook at a low temperature for 8-10 hours, and be sure to add a sauce, marinade, or broth in order to keep your meat moist and flavorful.

How to make cheap steaks tender?

Slow cook: Cooking your steak in a slow cooker breaks down the collagen, which can help soften tough cuts like chuck roast. You can also cook your steak slow and low on the grill to tenderize it.

Sear Your Steak

If done properly, using a meat mallet to break the tough fibers should be enough to tenderize the meat. Searing the meat on a grill or a cast iron skillet at a medium heat of 400 – 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 minutes should easily cook the meat tenderizing it further while locking in the flavors.

To better understand this, let's look at the three main methods of tenderizing meat: mechanical, thermal, and enzymatic. Mechanical tenderization involves pounding or piercing the meat with one of those medieval looking devices.

Most chefs opt for a ribeye as being one of the best cuts of meat. A ribeye has everything – from the way it holds together to the fat marbling, and when thickly-butchered, it simply makes for an excellent steak.