Warning - Mechanically tenderized meat

Skiddymarker

Recently saw a label advising of mechanical tenderization on some steaks at a US Costco. As Travis recently went thru a bout of "intestinal discomfort" thought that these articles might be appropriate. It would appear that in the US the labels might not be in place everywhere, if I read it correctly. Might be wise to ask. 

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2013/06/has-your-steak-been-mechanically-tenderized/index.htm

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/05/as-canada-moves-forward-rule-to-label-mechanicallly-tenderized-meat-in-u-s-remains-stuck-omb/#.Ua4BVOCNwTN

Little Steven

I soooo want one of those!

travisstrick

Discomfort doesn't come close.

lousubcap

@LS-poor man's version is the Jaccard.  Probably achieve the same effect.

yzzi

I appreciate you sharing this. I never seem to read anything but the price and weight on those labels.

JRWhitee

Thanks Skiddy I am like yzzi only look at price and if it is prime or choice.

Little Steven

lousubcap said:

@LS-poor man's version is the Jaccard.  Probably achieve the same effect.

Oh I have jaccards I just want a big one

Skiddymarker

I use a Jaccard, have two of them, 15 and 45 knife. You have to be careful what you use them on, the instructions are very clear. I think the bigger concern is buying a steak or roast that has been "knifed" and you don't know about it. If you cook to <135 or so you could be at risk.  

Eggcelsior

Good Guy Costco, protecting consumers as usual!

Austin Egghead

Will be reading labels very carefully. If I have to cook a $$ cut of meat to 160, I might as well make jerky. Will be talking with the butcher in Westphalia about how he processes the meat.
Thanks for the links

SoCalWJS

Austin Egghead said:

Will be reading labels very carefully. If I have to cook a $$ cut of meat to 160, I might as well make jerky. Will be talking with the butcher in Westphalia about how he processes the meat.
Thanks for the links

That's what I was thinking too when I read the article and saw the Costco photo...would be a waste to cook a steak to 160

Mickey

Aw crap

Austin Egghead

..."A Costco spokesman told us all of its beef is tenderized by machines except for filets and flank steaks."
I think that spokesman needs to visit with the butcher department. I just bought a boneless rib roast and it was not mechanically tenderized. I may have to re-think my meat buying at Costco.

Skiddymarker

Austin Egghead said:

..."A Costco spokesman told us all of its beef is tenderized by machines except for filets and flank steaks."
I think that spokesman needs to visit with the butcher department. I just bought a boneless rib roast and it was not mechanically tenderized. I may have to re-think my meat buying at Costco.

Good point. Funny, flank is the reason I bought a Jaccard a few years ago. At my local Costco (Washington State) the labels for everything other whole fillets, has the tenderized label. A rib roast (bone attached) had the label but was not mechanically tenderized. Very possible the retailers are simply being safe, advising everything to be tenderized. Makes it difficult to by that roast and cook it rare.....

dlk7

I'm guessing everything should be fine if you Sous Vide the steak first at 134 F for a couple of hours.

nolaegghead

from Douglas Baldwin:

While there are a lot of different food pathogens that can make you sick, you only need to worry about killing the toughest and most dangerous. The three food pathogens you should worry about when cooking sous vide are the Salmonella species, Listeria monocytogenes, and the pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli. Listeria is the hardest to kill but it takes fewer Salmonella or E. coli bacteria to make you sick. Since you don’t know how many pathogens are in your food, most experts recommend that you cook your food to reduce: Listeria by at least a million to one; Salmonella by ten million to one; and E. coli by a hundred thousand to one. You can easily do this when you cook sous vide: you just keep your food in a 130°F (54.4°C) or hotter water bath until enough bacteria have been killed.

How long does it take for you to reduce, say, Listeria by a million to one? Your water bath temperature is very important: when cooking beef, it’ll take you four times longer at 130°F (54.4°C) as it does at 140°F (60°C). What you are cooking is also important: at 140°F (60°C), it’ll take you about 60% longer for chicken as it does for beef. Other things, like salt and fat content, also affect how long it takes; but these difference are small compared with temperature and species.

Since sous vide cooking in a water bath is very consistent, I’ve calculated the worst-case cooking times so you don’t have to. My worst-case cooking times are based on the temperature, thickness, and type of the food and will give at least a million to one reduction in Listeria, a ten million to one reduction in Salmonella, and a hundred thousand to one reduction in E. coli:

• Table 3.1 has the pasteurization times for fish;
• Table 4.1 has the pasteurization times for poultry; and
• Table 5.1 has the pasteurization times for meat (beef, pork, and lamb).

Thick pieces of food, like a rib-roast, take much longer to cook and cool than thin pieces of food: a steak that is twice as thick takes about four times longer to cook and cool! So unless you are cooking a rib-roast for a party, you should cut your food into individual portions that can be cooled quickly and easily. It’s important that your pouches of food do not crowd or overlap each other in your water bath and are completely under the water; otherwise my tables will underestimate the cooking time.

If you’re not going to eat all your food immediately, then you need to know that some bacteria are able to make spores. Spores themselves will not make you sick, but they can become active bacteria that could. Cooking to kill active bacteria like Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli will leave these spores unharmed. If you keep your food hot, then the spores will not become active bacteria. But when you cool your food, the spores can become active bacteria: if you cool your food too slowly or store it for too long, then these active bacteria can multiply and make you sick. To keep these spores from becoming active bacteria, you must quickly cool your food – still sealed in its pouch – in ice water that is at least half ice until it’s cold all the way through. You can then store your food in your refrigerator for a few days or freeze it for up to a year. Table 1.1 has approximate cooling times in ice water based on thickness and shape.

If you want to learn more about food safety, please continue reading below; see my book Sous Vide for the Home Cook; the excellent free guide by Dr Snyder; the FDA’s food safety website; or your local health and human services department.

Cooling Time to 41°F (5°C) in Ice Water

Thickness	Slab-like	Cylinder-like	Sphere-like
5 mm	5 min	3 min	3 min
10 mm	14 min	8 min	6 min
15 mm	25 min	14 min	10 min
20 mm	35 min	20 min	15 min
25 mm	50 min	30 min	20 min
30 mm	1¼ hr	40 min	30 min
35 mm	1½ hr	50 min	35 min
40 mm	1¾ hr	1 hr	45 min
45 mm	2¼ hr	1¼ hr	55 min
50 mm	2¾ hr	1½ hr	1 hr
55 mm	3¼ hr	1¾ hr	1¼ hr
60 mm	3¾ hr	2 hr	1½ hr
65 mm	4¼ hr	2¼ hr	1¾ hr
70 mm	4¾ hr	2¾ hr	2 hr
75 mm	5½ hr	3 hr	2¼ hr
80 mm	—	3½ hr	2½ hr
85 mm	—	3¾ hr	2¾ hr
90 mm	—	4¼ hr	3 hr
95 mm	—	4¾ hr	3½ hr
100 mm	—	5 hr	3¾ hr
105 mm	—	5½ hr	4 hr
110 mm	—	6 hr	4½ hr
115 mm	—	—	4¾ hr

Table 1.1: Approximate cooling time from 130–175°F (55–80°C) to 41°F (5°C) in an ice water bath that’s at least half ice. (My calculations assume that the food’s thermal diffusivity is 1.1×10^-7m²/s and the ice water bath has a surface heat transfer coefficient of 100 W/m²-K. For more details, see Appendix A.)

Ragtop99

SoCalWJS said:

Austin Egghead said:

Will be reading labels very carefully. If I have to cook a $$ cut of meat to 160, I might as well make jerky. Will be talking with the butcher in Westphalia about how he processes the meat.
Thanks for the links

That's what I was thinking too when I read the article and saw the Costco photo...would be a waste to cook a steak to 160

Agree.  It would cause me to eat far less steak, either because I don't want to ruin a decent steak or it forces me a find a butcher and buy higher priced meat.