My mom brought this up. She heard baking soda was bland and mushy. But she also heard soaking a tough piece of meat in coffee tenderizes is. Any truth? Any suggertions on how to do it with say beef?
-
-
Interesting. Never heard of such a thing. I suppose to truly test it you'd need to have 2 identical pieces- one soaked in coffee and one not, cooked identically side by side, with same seasoning, to the exact same IT, and then do a completely blind taste test with a few people.
Comment
-
We had a good laugh.
What about with Elk and Venison?
I read about dry rub for flavor. The one with coco and cayenne sounds good. But we are wondering if the acid in coffee would break down muscle tissue.Comment
-
Marinades do tend to do that, (just never heard of coffee being the active ingredient) but since marinades only penetrate a very short distance inward it's really only a surface treatment. More on marinades here: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...nd-brinerades/Comment
-
For elk and venison, one thing is to never go over med rare. As far as tenderize goes, other than aging the meat not much out there. Soaking in milk can help remove a gamey taste in an improperly processed animal but not so much with tenderization. Buttermilk actually works worse than milk. Best advice (and we eat a LOT of various venisons) is to be sure to bleed the carcass well and hang it for a bit, then cook to Medrare, and cut across the grain.Comment
-
We have eaten A LOT of deer, elk, and antelope too over the years. I've never needed milk to remove a gamey taste cuz I don't remember ever getting it once I've processed it. One of my rules about processing game meat: unless you completely trust your meat processor, if you haven't processed it yourself, you will never be sure just whose meat you are getting back (especially the hamburger). -
wu7y well said. Although audad does have a "goaty" flavor no matter how well you take care of it. Unfortunately some places that are quite a trip to go hunt at, you have to us the in-house processing team. They are not likely to hang and bleed the meat properly as they are about speed, not quality many times. Also a lot of those places people go to shoot a red stag, or trophy fallow, or black buck; and often do not even want the venison.
-
-
Thanks Huskee. Good marinade article.Comment
-
The q about acid is really interesting. I like using ground coffee in rubs for both beef and pork. But never occurred to me that the acid in coffee might have effect beyond flavor (as I expect from eg lime juice in a marinade). How acidic is coffee anyway? Hmm.Comment
-
Funny this topic showed up. I was watching a show called Big Food Bucket List and the host was at Shirley Mae's Cafe in Louisville KY and they actually add coffee to the their meatloaf because they said the caffeine tenderizes the ground meat!
Comment
-
tbob4 phosphates are to hold on to moisture. Nitrates give the fake smoke ring, and are typically topically applied...still funny though, lol. -
texastweeter - I knew I didn’t know what I was talking about. I inject for flavor but not the ring. Funny story- on my cheap offsets I always had the most beautiful ring. On my upright (same temps and recipes) it can be non-existent. Until I saw BBQ comps on TV I was oblivious to its importance. -
tbob4 what cabinet smoker? They usually have lower airflow and higher humidity. Try maxing the airflow if it doesn't make Temps rise. Smaller hot fire and high airflow might help, it does when I use one of my cabinets.
-
-
I’ve never heard of that. I would say forget that and do what is scientifically proven to tenderize meat and that is kosher salt. Dry brine. Check out dr blonder audio on this site of search meatheads posts on the science of salt. I also use wicked pig marinade tenderizer, I can attest it works!Comment
-
I’m intrigued with this question. In my years of smoking meat I have gone through many phases. I used to marinate exclusively. I moved to rubs - most of which included salt and sugar. I went to coffee rubs and them MSG rubs. MSG is supposed to really tenderize. My wife suffers from migraines and while I never linked my rubs to her headaches, I moved away from it when I learned there could be a correlation between the two. I now dry brine with salt and rub later. Coffee hasn’t been a real ingredient in rubs lately. The question sent me to Google and I found that coffee has many of the properties that wine does. Wine used to be the base in my marinades. @Dr. Blonder ?Comment
-
Msg is a flavor enhancer, wouldn't help to tenderize. The headache thing has been debunked several times. It got started as "Chinese food syndrome" and was more of a racial issue back in the day. Mushrooms, cheeses (especially aged), and tomatoes all contain relatively high levels of MSG. Coffee on the other hand can absolutely help a headache. Unfortunately my wife gets severe migraines too. She currently takes an injection that seems to be helping. -
texastweeter - my wife take Maxalt (dissolving). It works pretty well. My son gets them, too. The issue is they hate to admit they are getting migraines and treat them like headaches until they are in full symptom mode. I can tell the difference but they don’t want them so bad they refuse to admit they are coming on to medicate them early. -
I take Maxalt and or some other medication on occasion for cluster headaches that affect my vision. The other med is something I spray up my nose and gives me the worst taste in the world in my mouth almost instantly. Neither helped my wife unfortunatly.
-
-
Usual homemade products used for tenderizing are Papaya juice which contains an enzyme named Papain, Pineapple juice which contains the enzyme Bromelain, Fig juice which contains another enzyme I can’t remember right now. and Citrus juices which are acidic. Ken Rollins is a big fan of lime juice on beef and pork. Most commercial tenderizers contain Papain or Bromelain as the active ingredients.
If it is an acid like lemon or lime juice it is denaturing the protein and would only work where there is direct contact with the protein fibers. The acidity of coffee is less than citrus so it would be less of a tenderizer compared to the others.
I’d just enjoy the hot coffee or use a little in the dry rub for the flavor.Comment
-
BEST COFFEE RUBBED STEAK RECIPE: WHAT DOES COFFEE DO TO MEAT?
If you thought your filet mignon only paired well with a robust cabernet sauvignon, think again. Most wine sommeliers agree that the right coffee rub for steak has a comparable effect on meat as would wine.
The reason wine professionals and enthusiasts pair their wines with a perfect cut of meat is because of the acidity. The high tannin concentrations in bold reds allows your palate to ‘cleanse’ the inside of your mouth to truly enjoy the fatty richness of your steak. What most foodies overlook is that coffee grounds can have the same effect.
Coffee grounds can be used as rub for almost any cut of meat. The acidity levels of coffee replicate tannins in wine, which allow amplification of flavor. But it doesn’t stop there. Coffee rub on steak can also act as a tenderizer, making meat softer and enhancing the moisture of the meat by creating a sealed crust of flavor.
Still not convinced? Try for yourself! Below is a recipe shared by Rachel Drake of Orlando, Florida. She loved our medium roast coffee so much, she decided to make the best coffee rubbed steak recipe.
from Best Coffee Rubbed Steak Recipe: What Does Coffee Do to Meat? – Koffee KultLast edited by bbqLuv; March 28, 2022, 09:39 PM.Comment
Comment