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Mushy Tri Tip

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    Mushy Tri Tip

    Looking for some feedback. I have cooked literally hundreds of tri tip roasts and have never come across this result: I bought a chub of 5-6 roasts from Costco about 6 weeks ago and they sat in the fridge for a couple of days before they were individually vacuum-sealed and frozen. I took one out and thawed for 3 days in the fridge, salt brined for about 10 hrs, and then low and slowed on the Traeger at 225 until internal temp of 120. Pan-seared in cast iron with a slice and serve temp of 135. It looked and smelled right, but the texture was "mushy" and quite disgusting. Except for the rub it was pretty much flavorless as well. I spit it out, tried another piece from a different area and had the same result. Needless to say, I tossed the whole wretched mess into the garbage.

    Has anyone ever experienced this or have any ideas as to why it was so mushy? On a side note, I cooked a roast out of the same bag when I brought it home and it was fine.

    #2
    That's a new one to me. Tri-tip is pretty much my favorite/go-to cook. I have never had what you describe. Whether I cooked it fresh from the butcher or after being frozen for 2 months.

    Now I'm curious about the rest of the roasts from that chub.

    Comment


    • CaptainMike
      CaptainMike commented
      Editing a comment
      I'm going to try another one this weekend, we'll see. I never thought I'd say this, but right now I wouldn't touch a piece of tri tip. It was that disgusting!

    #3
    Not sure, but it could have been from the freezing of the meat. Since meat is mostly water, when it freezes, I think the ice crystals mess with the structure of the meat. I have had similar problems when cooking a piece of previously frozen meat. I have no scientific evidence for this but its just a hunch. I know you lose moisture when you thaw out.

    Its also possible that you got a bad piece of meat. It happens.

    Comment


    • Spinaker
      Spinaker commented
      Editing a comment
      I didn't know that they froze their meat. Are all of their meats frozen first? All the stuff I buy at the store is not frozen and appears to be fresh. ecowper

    • smokinfatties
      smokinfatties commented
      Editing a comment
      I am 95% sure that costco meat is not previously frozen

    • ecowper
      ecowper commented
      Editing a comment
      They have plenty of meat that has been frozen. But it is still frozen when you buy it, generally. Except the fish that was wild caught and frozen. I don't believe that anything in their butcher counter is frozen UNLESS it is marked that way.

    #4
    Interesting. I had the exact same experience with a Costco tenderloin a couple of months back. Same deal - took it home, refrigerated and froze it. Thawed it. Smoked it. Inedible due to "mushiness". I'm wondering if the Costco pre-freezing, thawing for sale, freezing again at home and thawing a second time for cooking is the factor involved. I have some in the freezer right now from the bulk pack. I will report if I have the same issue.

    Comment


    • CaptainMike
      CaptainMike commented
      Editing a comment
      I'm thinking the same thing re: refreezing.

    #5
    My very first ever exposure to a dry aged, premium, mail order steak form a very well known mid-west purveyor of premium steaks yielded just that result. I thought if this is what dry aged is, I don't want any more!!! I had heard dry aging referred to as "controlled rot" and thought that one wasn't very well controlled. Thank God I tried dry aging again, because now I'm a fan. I have frozen, thawed & refrozen lots of meat over the years and never had any get mushy... yet.

    Comment


      #6
      I found out Costco "tenderizes" ALL of their steaks and roasts (except maybe tenderloins). Pretty sure I will no longer be buying any from there. I'll stick to the cryovacs and thats it.
      I once made a mushy tri-tip, but discovered I sous vided it too long ~24hr.

      Comment


      • Breadhead
        Breadhead commented
        Editing a comment
        The Costco in Torrance, Ca DOES NOT tenderize any of their fresh beef. None, zero, zilch! They stock very little Select grade meat. Most of their beef is Choice or USDA Prime grade.

      #7
      W.A. Do you have a source for this? And what do you mean by tenderize?
      Last edited by ecowper; February 27, 2017, 07:11 PM.

      Comment


      • ecowper
        ecowper commented
        Editing a comment
        Not saying that you were saying the meat is injected. Just being clear. Everything I know about Costco's meat program is that it is one of the best big box programs out there. Better than just about any grocery store chain.

      • W.A.
        W.A. commented
        Editing a comment
        Ok, but I looked through all the steaks in my Costco, prime and choice, and the only ones that did not say "blade tenderized, cook to 160F" were choice tenderloins. This included expensive ribeyes and strip steaks that, in my opinion, should not be blade tenderized and overcooked.

      • ecowper
        ecowper commented
        Editing a comment
        The cook to 160F is a thing that a lot of stores will recommend because it's a USDA recommendation.

      #8
      We had some meat come out that way, BF said it seemed "stewed." We had gotten it from a local meat shop and then SVed it. He thought the SV was off because we did it for a little more than an hour (not the ~24 that W.A. did ). Temp checked the SV and it was fine. He has since sworn off that meat store because of that.

      Comment

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