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    #16
    My first three questions would be "Why?," "Why?," and "Why?" LOL

    It makes absolutely ZERO sense to take a cut that should already be tender and mechanically tenderise it.

    BUT...I figure it’s because they haven’t faced any major legal issues with contamination...coupled with, it has quite possibly saved some terrible cooks from ruining their steaks.

    And...after they’ve screwed it up...and it’s still tender...they can proudly proclaim that Costco has the "best" beef...and do it again.

    It’s a calculated risk that Costco is willing to take, given the aforementioned negligible legal issues. Sure, it probably costs them a bit in the extra manpower...but if those people keep coming back for more...they’re ahead. And that’s the goal: increase the bottom line.

    FWIW, I personally have not purchased beef at Costco for quite some time...not a fan of artificially tenderised steaks that need to be cooked to 160°. Because that is NEVER going to happen.

    Comment


      #17
      Thanks for all of your questions. I will have them with me to address. It is to their great credit that they got right back to me after my inquiry. In our phone call the VP did explain that tenderizing improves the quality and consistency of their product, resulting in greater customer satisfaction. He also explained that they have strict procedures for keeping the mechanical tenderizerizing process sanitary. Those reasons plus the fact that the meat industry has made substantial progress in eliminating eColi has reduced the overall risk, he explained. I've not yet addressed the 160 degree issue but will.

      Comment


      • Polarbear777
        Polarbear777 commented
        Editing a comment
        Right but nobody should cook a steak to 160, so if their processes are safe, then that warning shouldn’t be there.

        But of course no matter how safe they claim, they still introduce the outside surface to the inside. They don’t butcher the whole animal so they have no control of surface condition when they get it.

      #18
      If anybody is really seriously concerned about cooking/eating a blade tenderized hunk of meat but you just can't stand the thought of cooking that nice steak to an internal temp of 160°F you have a very simple solution - sous vide.

      Simply sous vide your steak at 131°F for a couple of hours. It will be pasteurized. You can safely sear it off to whatever temp you like.

      Sous vide is also a good way to deal with ground beef that you may want to cook to a much lower than recommended temp. Pasteurize it via sous vide first then, if you like that bright red burger, enjoy!

      Comment


      • Polarbear777
        Polarbear777 commented
        Editing a comment
        That’s true but if you like your steaks under 132 IT you are out of luck.

      #19
      Y’all aware of your high risk of death from driving or riding in a vehicle?

      Comment


      • RustyHaines
        RustyHaines commented
        Editing a comment
        W.A. great point. You can weigh a specific risk but comparing the risk to other risks can be more enlightening. Do you live your life in fear, if so, of what . . . . .how long is your list?

      • prepperjack
        prepperjack commented
        Editing a comment
        True, but I also take steps to mitigate the risks and their effects when there is a problem when in a car. So, we mitigate the risk of E. coli by preparing ground meat differently. Obviously, its not a tremendous risk otherwise we'd hear about Costco linked E. coli infections often, but its an unnecessary increase in risk that can only be mitigated by cooking the meat in a way that many people won't or don't realize they should. For me, I'd still cook it the way I like, but I'd never serve it.

      • bardsleyque
        bardsleyque commented
        Editing a comment
        I skip the car and ride a motorcycle instead,I also cook my store bought burger medium rare.

      #20
      Originally posted by W.A. View Post
      Y’all aware of your high risk of death from driving or riding in a vehicle?
      Sure. Which is why I buckle up and maintain things like the brakes. Simply because there's some risk in an activity doesn't mean you shouldn't do it... but it also doesn't make sense to add to that risk unnecessarily.

      Blade tenderizing does precisely that. Even if we take their word that conditions are sanitary etc... blade tenderizing takes any bacteria on the surface and jams them inside the meat. Why do that, especially on choice and prime steaks that don't need to be tenderized?

      Comment


        #21
        I always buy beef at Costco in the larger cryovac packages. They are not blade tenderized. This how they get the meat from the supplier - they open the packs, tenderize and package for sale. A lot of Costcos don't put out the cryovacs (or if they do, it's a limited selection - mine puts out whole New Yorks and brisket and seasonally prime rib), but you can ask for them and they gladly price and bring one out. You also save money that way, but you need a vacuum sealer and freezer space. They will also usually package non-blade tenderized cuts if you ask.

        Comment


        • Dr. Pepper
          Dr. Pepper commented
          Editing a comment
          Plus, the 'Business' Costcos only sell the entire cryopack (if you live near one.) And the whole frozen New Zealand Halal lamb, and goat meat, etc.

        #22
        I'll be very interested in what they have to say. I've also had recent experience along similar lines.

        Wild Fork has recently opened a retail outlet nearby, and I went in to case the joint. I was going to get a ribeye steak, but the packaging said it was "pin tenderized". The NY strip did not say that, so I got it instead. When I got home, I looked at their web site where it said the NY was also pin tenderized. In addition, the label said "For your safety, the USDA recommends cooking to an internal temperature of 165ºF as measured by a food thermometer".

        Interested by BBQPhil posts, I emailed two questions:
        1. Is the NY mechanically tenderized or not?
        2. Please provide the reference where USDA recommends 165ºF.

        Got two separate responses, the first within hours, and the second 3 days later.
        1.-
        Hi John,
        Thank you for contacting the Wild Fork Customer Care team,
        Our product team was able to provide insight that we do not tenderize the NY strip anymore. We have to adjust this on the website.
        ​Hope this was able to help!
        ​Best regards,
        Avery

        2. -
        Hi John,

        Terribly sorry for the delay here. We've escalated this internally and noted that this is an error on our packaging. We are auditing this to understand how many products were affected.
        ​
        The USDA recommendation is to cook to a minimum internal temperature of 145F.
        The difference between mechanically tenderized products and non-mechanically is that the mechanically tenderized must be cooked to full recommended temperature of 145F (medium-well done) because of its higher risk, while the "intact" cuts = non-mechanically tenderized can usually be cooked to the customer preference (rare, medium-rare, medium-well, well done) because there is no possible contamination introduced to the inside of the cut like there is when you tenderize it.
        ​Please feel free to reference the articles below:
        ​
        https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2016/05/20/beef-retailers-now-labeling-mechanically-tenderized-beef#:~:text=These%20products%2C%20like%20all%20wh ole,meat%20from%20the%20heat%20source

        https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/What-is-a-safe-internal-temperature-for-cooking-mechanically-tenderized-beef-veal-or-lamb-steaks-chops-and-roasts

        https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/import/FAQs-2008-0017.pdf
        ​
        Please let me know if I can further assist here.
        Sofia Osuna Monroy
        Customer Care Supervisor

        Comment


          #23
          Been eating their meat and cooking it rare for well over a decade with no apparent ill effect. Will probably keep doing it. I've seen some YouTube stuff way back that discussed this and they had the stock sanitation explanations. I'm sure it's largely true. But like every one else, I would like to know why on steaks?

          OR you can always opt to do what Panhead John does, keep cows in your yard


          Comment


          • Razor
            Razor commented
            Editing a comment
            Like all things Panhead John, those are his cows, but that’s his neighbor’s yard. 😂

          • Panhead John
            Panhead John commented
            Editing a comment
            Ya think I want em crapping all over my place?

          • Razor
            Razor commented
            Editing a comment
            😂 Exactly

          #24
          "Cook to 160F" on beef is the same as "Charge fully for 4-6 hours before first use", or "3 Servings Per Container".... Nah!

          Comment


          • CaptainMike
            CaptainMike commented
            Editing a comment
            Funny, like when a recipe says "4 - 6 servings" More 2 - 3 servings for us fat Americans!

          #25
          I think that's pretty cool a VP is coming down to give you a tour. And personally called you to set it up.

          As for the risk involved of blade tenderizing...meh, I've seen the Costco facilities and they are clean. Much cleaner then other places (which I still eat at and/or buy meat from). I like to live dangerously 🤠😎

          Comment


            #26
            Costco Visit
            My visit to Costco today was quite informative and I got a better understand of their mechanical tenderizing and an opportunity to address our questions. The hosts were Costco’s VP of US meat operations, a regional manager, and the manager of my local Costco (Carlsbad, CA) meat department. As noted, the invitation to visit resulted from my email inquiry to their CEO.

            NY sirloin, rib steaks and several other cuts go through the tenderizing process. A big revelation to me was that they are not done as individual steaks, but as subprimal cuts, those long pieces of meat that are eventually cut into perhaps 8-10 steaks. So the blades penetrate parallel to the surface of the steaks, not perpendicular.

            The subprimal cuts are shipped to Costco by the meat packers. Their surfaces have been treated with an anti-bacterial spray before being sealed in their cryogenic packaging. Once received by Costco, the sub-primal cuts are removed from their packaging just before being tenderized, then cut onto steaks and packaged. That means the blades are less likely to encounter any bacteria before penetrating the meat.

            The ROSS tenderizing machine has a head with dozens of stainless-steel rods (about the size of knitting needles) with specially sharpened ends. The ends are not pointed but sharpened to a thin flat tapered knife edge designed to deflect any containments on the surface.

            (Here’s a video of the ROSS machine I found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN8EDNz_488)

            The head is cleaned every 4 hours using a special sink with a pH balanced soap solution whose pH is tested at each use. Each time the head cleaning process is done, a control sheet is initialed by 3 employees.

            Costco believes that the tenderizing improves the product, even prime cuts, based on customer response and cutability tests they’ve performed, and they believe there’s no impact to safety. They said they’ve never had a known incident from this process.

            As to why they label the beef to be cooked to 160F, they explained they go beyond the FDA recommendation of 145F for tenderized beef. They acknowledged that most people, including themselves, would never cook their steak to such high temperatures. They expect consumers such as us to not necessarily follow those guidelines and do our own research. (My supposition is this is dictated by legal requirements, much in the way thermometers with cooking guides often include a similar warning.)

            Here is a useful reference on tenderizing: https://www.beefresearch.org/resourc...zation-of-beef

            I had a tour of the receiving area, and it was surprisingly small, indicating what comes in moves quickly through their cutting room to the freezer cases. They use automatic scanners to log most everything they do in the chain of events between receiving and selling. Should there ever be a recall, the intent is to identify small batches of product that can be traced and to avoid impacting a larger group of customers.

            In summary, meat tenderizing is something Costco does to improve their product and, with their safety processes in place, considers it to not impact health safety.

            Much thanks and appreciation to Costco for responding to our inquiry openly and positively. I imagine few companies would be as transparent at Costco has been.


            ....................................

            Here some links they provided that cover the subject of tenderizing and beef safety.

            On the food safety side, the Beef Industry Food Safety Council (BIFSCo) has this best practices document:

            bp_for_pathogen_control_during_tenderizing_whole_m uscle_cuts_final_2020.pdf (bifsco.org).

            USDA has some info as well regarding the following:

            Labeling requirements for Mechanically Tenderized Beef and other Q&A links on the topic can be found here – https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/federal-register-rulemaking/federal-register-rules/descriptive-designation-needle-or-blade . .

            Effect of blade tenderization and aging on tenderness - https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/30400510/2009872952.pdf

            My visit to Costco today was quite informative and I got a better understand of their mechanical tenderizing and an opportunity to address our questions. The hosts were Costco’s VP of US meat operations, a regional manager, and the manager of my local Costco (Carlsbad, CA) meat department. As noted, the invitation to visit resulted from my email inquiry to their CEO.
            Last edited by BBQPhil; July 29, 2021, 09:22 PM.

            Comment


            • Draznnl
              Draznnl commented
              Editing a comment
              Thank you, Phil, for asking the Pit's questions and bringing us back more information than we could have hoped for.
              Last edited by Draznnl; July 29, 2021, 03:04 PM. Reason: Added a missing comma or two.

            • Troutman
              Troutman commented
              Editing a comment
              That’s one hell of a thorough write up. I’m impressed they went through that kind of explanation for you. Be sure to share this with them.

            • Jerod Broussard
              Jerod Broussard commented
              Editing a comment
              Why is the FDA in charge of the labeling?

            #27
            Thanks for reporting back to us BBQPhil. Sounds like you had a good visit to Costco!

            The USDA report on the effect of blade tenderization in its introduction section mentions cooking the meat to an internal temperature of 60C (140F) for safety. That's much lower than the 160F they are putting on their label, and makes me feel a little better about doing such steaks to at least medium rare safely.

            The real question is what is your feel, coming away from this?

            Comment


              #28
              Thanks for doing and sharing this with us.

              Comment


                #29
                To Jim, my takeaway was very positive. My initial thoughts from reading the label was that it didn't seem to make much sense, tenderizing prime steak and adding some health risk. What I learned is that Costco has good reason to do this for customer satisfaction and have put in processes to essentially eliminate risk. Personally, I have been buying less meat from Costco in recent years for special occasions after discovering sources with even better prime steaks. (Creekstone, Snake River, local butcher.)

                Comment


                • jfmorris
                  jfmorris commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Thanks Phil. I will probably continue to buy most of my steaks as primal cuts and slice them down to the thickness I want myself. But if I do happen to eat a Costco steak, I won't worry so much about the blade tenderizer anymore.

                #30
                Thank you for your time, Phil, very informative.

                Comment

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