Tough Ribeye - I Learned A Lesson!

[Panhead John]

Some of you probably saw my post last night at "Show Us What You’re Making For The Super Bowl". I had a beautiful ribeye I cooked which turned out to be extremely tough and chewy. I didn’t even finish but half of it and threw the other half away. I don’t remember ever doing that before. I couldn’t figure out what went wrong and blamed it on the cow. Well, keen eyed glitchy commented about the almost total lack of marbling in the pics I posted. I then went back and looked at the picture I took of the steaks while they were still in the package. We all know how important marbling is to a steak, but I’ve never been disappointed before from Costco, and this time, I just picked them out by size and cost. I didn’t really pay attention to the marbling. I just kinda forgot to check. Take a look at the ribeyes, left side package, in my picture. Guess which one of the three I cooked last night? Shouldn’t be hard to guess.
I’m posting this to maybe help someone in the future. I will certainly pay more attention myself, when picking out meat next time. I’m not saying the lack of marbling was 100% of my problem, but I’m sure it had at least something to do with it.

[ofelles]

Probably because you use a real plate!

[Panhead John]

I only did that because all my paper plates were in the dishwasher.

[fracmeister]

They all look a touch marginal for choice. That said I buy prime and am pretty picky on the marbling. The other thing I look at on ribeyes is the relative sizes of the longissimus dorsi (heart), complexus, and spinalis (also known as the crown or cap). You want the best and biggest spinalis you can get. That's the part circled.

[au4stree]

fracmeister, Yes! I don’t recall when I learned about the spinalis, but I always knew that was my favorite part of a ribeye. So I would always look for a ribeye with the biggest and marbled I could find.

[Stuey1515]

I reckon that muscle is the best thing on the cow for me!

[HawkerXP]

I believe that you can get the "eyebrow" as a separate cut in Costco. I think they roll them up and tie.

[Steve B]

Yup this ones all on you John.

I'm very picky when choosing my steaks and don't mind paying for it. I will almost always spend 5-7 minutes going through all packages. Usually 2 or 3 times before choosing. Even at my local butcher shop.

[glitchy]

JimLinebarger I don't think that's what I heard the butcher mumbling after Steve left and the butcher had handled every steak in the case 3 times.

[Panhead John]

You’d think Steve B would be as picky about his musical tastes as he is his steaks. The other day I saw him standing in line for Justin Bieber tickets. I waved to him and he just turned his head and looked away.

[Steve B]

glitchy and Panhead John You guys.
LMFAO

[RonB]

There is a local chain here called Fresh Market. They carry both choice and prime. When I look in the display case, the choice steaks occasionally have better marbling, but steak has been a rare treat, (pun intended) since my wife decided beef is unhealthy. So I don't mind spending a bit more for prime if looks better. And if I don't see any I like, I'll skip steaks until I do see some good ones.

[Panhead John]

I usually always check the marbling and look of the steak pretty carefully and didn’t that day. Won’t forget next time. Tell your wife Panhead John says meat is healthy and that it makes all men better lovers......then all will be well again.

[Oak Smoke]

Sorry about your luck. Setting down to have a good steak and finding that always stinks. A few years ago I saw that our united supermarket had ribeyes on sale for $5.50 a lb. I asked the head of the meat department if he'd sell my some whole vacuum seal ribeye rolls for that price. I wanted to be able to wet age them a while. He sold me 3, but he picked them out. Two of them were beautiful, the third looked much like your steak. Even after the wet aging that one roll was as tough as a pigs nose. I ended up grinding it.

[Panhead John]

Thanks Oak Smoke Yeah, wasn’t the end of the world or anything. Just a little disappointing. I had a 5 year run of great steaks from them. Only one bad steak? I’ll take those odds anytime. But, I will be paying closer attention from here on out. And I usually do inspect each one for the marbling but didn’t that time.

[FireMan]

Here’s a good case of membership being worth the price of admission.

[Jerod Broussard]

I blame it on grass fed, too much walking and not enough lipogenesis. Or, that and too much Brahman influence.

[glitchy]

It’s called get midwest beef, where we feed and treat it with a cushy life.

[Panhead John]

Not enough lipogenisis......that was my first thought too.

[58limited]

Panhead John I have had that problem several times at the local Market Baskets here in SE Texas. They have those nice looking thick cut steaks in the display counter but every time I've bought one they have been tough. In hind sight the marbling is lacking in those steaks even though they are labeled as choice. I now only buy steaks from HEB or from my friends who raise grass fed beef. I also buy whole ribeye rolls from Robert's Meat Market in Orange and cut my own.

[Bkhuna]

Truth be told, they probably sold you USDA select that was mislabeled. That meat still has the marks where the jockey was hitting it.

[ssandy_561]

Here is a couple of photos of the best steak I ever cooked in my life. I still dream about it. LOL.





This was an American Wagyu Gold Grade Cowboy Steak from Snake River Farms.

2.5 inches thick and a few ounces short of 3 pounds. Granted it did cost me $108 but if you really like ribeyes you might want to think about getting one of these for a special occasion.

Will you look at that marbling and spinalis. That there was a steak from a blessed cow.

[Panhead John]

Wow! That is beautiful. In the top picture......Since I just heard of the spinalis yesterday, that’s gonna be the left side C shaped piece, right? Separated from the right side by the fat?

[crazytown3]

Doesn't make much of a case for their blade tenderizing.

Maybe cook up the other 2 from the left package, and all 3 from the right package get chopped/ground up for hamburgers.

[Panhead John]

I should have checked my package to see if they were blade tenderized. The other 2 ribeyes have some decent marbling as well as the NY Strips. That’s awfully expensive ground meat if I was to do that. But I’m not. That was the first time to happen in about 50-60 total steaks I’ve probably bought from Costco over the last few years.

[crazytown3]

I think I can just make it out in the small print on the label. Regardless, it's kind of on the lower end of what their usual quality is. Little stinkers. :-)