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Costco "Pre-Tenderized" Steaks

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MillCreek:
I routinely buy the bulk pack of boneless ribeyes at Costco and individually cryovac and freeze them.  I have never noticed any visible puncture or incision marks on the surface, but I will be getting out the magnifying glass the next time I buy a pack.

cordex:
A friend and I went in on half a steer earlier this year.  It was from a company owned by a family friend that primarily does some really high-end machining but had a bunch of land, their family had a history of raising cattle in the area, and just wanted some high quality beef.  They do strictly grass-fed and pasture-raised.  Comparing that meat to some Kirkland ribeyes my parents bought for a get together a month or two ago and the tenderness difference was extremely noticeable - the Kirkland steaks were downright soft.  I enjoy both, but it might explain part of why that was.

Ben:

--- Quote from: cordex on December 19, 2022, 11:52:57 AM ---A friend and I went in on half a steer earlier this year.  It was from a company owned by a family friend that primarily does some really high-end machining but had a bunch of land, their family had a history of raising cattle in the area, and just wanted some high quality beef.  They do strictly grass-fed and pasture-raised.  Comparing that meat to some Kirkland ribeyes my parents bought for a get together a month or two ago and the tenderness difference was extremely noticeable - the Kirkland steaks were downright soft.  I enjoy both, but it might explain part of why that was.

--- End quote ---

I have found similar. I'll buy beef from the local grocery, which is all locally raised, and everyone around here pastures their cows. Much of it is quite good, but it still depends on what they eat. Last year, the kid who grazes my neighbor's land, which is dryland and pretty close to "rangeland grazing", had a couple of cows get on my side where the grass was greener. While I wasn't upset about it, he insisted on giving me a big box of beef. While the beef was good, it definitely was missing the marbling that beef get being finished in the feedlot.

The Costco ribeyes and filets I buy, are like you said, just plain soft. I buy top sirloin from Costco once in a while, and while recognizing that it will be a bit "tougher" than a ribeye anyway, they are noticeably more chewy. The next time I get some of those I'll have to see if I can see any needle marks. The story I posted wasn't clear, but it seemed to allude to Costco just doing the mechanical stuff to the higher end cuts.

cordex:

--- Quote from: Ben on December 19, 2022, 12:06:35 PM ---Last year, the kid who grazes my neighbor's land, which is dryland and pretty close to "rangeland grazing", had a couple of cows get on my side where the grass was greener. While I wasn't upset about it, he insisted on giving me a big box of beef. While the beef was good, it definitely was missing the marbling that beef get being finished in the feedlot.
--- End quote ---
Last weekend I was just getting set up to chainsaw mill a log when my neighbor called me up and said one of his livestock protection dogs had been found by someone else in the area.  When the neighbors got home he found out that his cattle had gotten out too.  I gave my girls a radio and told them to go looking in the woods to the south west, then hopped on the ATV and went toward the back of the property adjacent to the farmer's fields, turned the engine off and listened.  Sure enough, before too long I heard some sticks cracking and brush rustling on the ridge above the creek.  Nine minutes after he called me about them getting out I let him know I had his cattle.  I drove them toward his field and we were about at the wood line when his wife drove over in her UTV with a bucket of grain and we got them herded back into the pen.

They joked they were going to have to put us on the payroll, but if they sent over some beef I wouldn't complain.  From the looks of it the cattle had been wandering around in my woods for a while, and if the thorns and burrs sticking out of their hide is anything to go on, their meat has been plenty mechanically tenderized.

Ben:
^^^

One of my top five bonehead moves of 2022 was not doublechecking all my gates the day my cow guy brought his herd for the season. I had left one of the corral gates closed but unchained. That evening I heard the cows and thought, "They sure sound close" just as I turned my head to look out the window and see several of them on the front lawn.

I ran out the door and then they started moseying down my road and I couldn't get them turned around. I had to run and hop on my ATV and by that time they were all already up at the county road and it looked like heading back to my cow guy's place 5 miles away. I zoomed down there, and I don't even know how I managed it, but I got them all turned around on the county road, and managed to get a couple of cow calf pairs turned down my road. All the rest of the cows followed them and then it was easy just staying behind them and shouting a few "hey-ah"s to get them back in a pasture. 

I did get some clapping from my bordering neighbors who had come out to their front porch to watch the spectacle.  :rofl:

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