Steaks. ?? tuff to chew. newyork cuts.

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motsco

Fire Starter
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Jul 18, 2012
56
12
olney maryland
sorry gang a little off topic from smoking.

I grill all my steaks on my webber kettle 22.5. with a grille greats grate (GG IS AWSOME BTW)

my cooks could be from 350 to 600' depends how long I let the charcoal heat up in the can before dumping it, and the air temp moisture.

I have had many great cooks with steaks at all grill temps, I just adjust cooking time to temputure and conditions.

I can nail down rare, med. rare, well done in almost all conditions.

But,

every once in awhile I can cook a perfect rare, med. rare, newyork cut and it will be to tough to chew, I have even run into this with prime cut newyorks, it's like the only difference between prime and choice to me is flavor, because say 2 out of 5 prime cuts could be tuff same with choice cuts, prime cuts do taste way better.

is there something I should be checking when buying ny stip steaks, to make sure they are not going to be tuff? other then the good marbling.. or is this just the nature of ny strip cuts?

thanks
Tom
 
Hello.  IMHO if you can cook them to perfect IT then it has to be the quality of the meat you are buying.  I don't mean prime or choice, I mean the quality of the steer the cut has come from.  Do you buy the beef from the same supplier EVERY time?  If so, A: complain to the supplier and take them a sample. B: change supplier.  If not, you need to determine which supplier is providing you with inferior product.  High end restaurants  make meat suppliers compete for their business.  No reason you shouldn't do the same.  If you know a great steakhouse in your area you could also ask who supplies their beef.  Now you may not get an answer but a little "covert surveillance" should give you the answers. Just my opinion.  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
I agree with kc,some meat packers will let cattle go to 28 months and up,these are usually cheaper to buy for stores,$2-$3 a pound,"also usually tougher"but usually charge same price as 22 month year olds.i'm sure you'll get different opinions on this but it's a start,so if your getting your steaks at a store maybe you can ask where their beef comes from  and do they always carry the same one.some of the bigger stores or discount stores that don't cut there own meat bid out to several companies to get the cheapest price.this is also my opinion ny strips are over rated, give me a delmonico or flat iron any day. good luck
 
is there something I should be checking when buying ny stip steaks, to make sure they are not going to be tuff?
thanks
Tom
Yes, stop buying NY strips and start buying ribeyes. I'm probably in the minority here. but to me the NY strip has always been completely over-rated, and consequently over priced. They're drier, granier and tougher than a ribeye, no matter what the grade or quality. And like you've discovered, there is a huge variance in the quality from animal to animal. With rib steaks and roasts you're a lot less likely to get a "bad one" though it can and does happen.

If you're dead set on strips, try to avoid the grass fed offerings from places like whole foods, as these are leaner and tend to be drier and tougher. I made that mistake with a rib roast for my wife's birthday a couple years back, and it was Chef JJ on this forum who explained to me the difference between grass and grain fed beef.

Finally, aging for even a few days uncovered in the fridge will help the natural enzymes in the meat begin to break down the fibers, as well as reducing the overall moisture and concentrating the flavor.
 
thanks all -

 Yes I mostly do ribeyes but I like to change it up to new yorks. 

A thought after reading boatbums post - the last NY I did was tuff it sat in the fridge wrapped in the butcher paper for three days. wonder if because I didn't unwrap it right away could be the problem.

I will also look into if it was grass/grain fed.

 I always let my meat set at room temp for 1/2 hour lightly coated with salt before grilling.

thanks,

Tom
 
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Agree I have got some prime cut that where shoe leather and some cheaper cut that where butter. I not really sure what you mean by New York cut since I live in NY I'm assuming thick 1" to 1"1/4".
When I'm grilling steak mainly Rid Eyes. I put the steaks in the coolest part of the frig for a time. I get the grill screaming hot then take them out right to the grill. Depending on how the are to be done R MR M I'll leave them on longer or shorter then let stand tented for up to 15 min.
 
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Funny, I agree with most all opinions above. I'm thinking it all boils down to marbling regardless of the cut. If the steak looks heavily marbled and you watch it on the grill I'm thinking you'll be OK. No marbling, regardless of the cut or price, you run the risk of a quick over cook and tough chew. Now, I'm NOT a fan of Wal-Mart and almost ashamed to admit I bought a 4 pack of NY strips, each individually wrapped for less than 2 bucks apiece on the advice of a buddy who had tried them. 8 ounces each, fairly thin and slightly marbled. Well, I let the coals die down quite a bit and flipped them around a time or two with some rub on them, got a little char on them and pulled off. Really pink interior, barely MR, and had a baker with a veg (usual stuff) on the plate. GF gave it 2 thumbs up, I was impressed and amazed expecting a top sirloin type of experience. Pleasantly surprised, I went back for more to discover they were gone......LMAO, story of my life......Willie
 
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