Chicken Fried Steak. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! help please

Hardboiled329

Ladies & Gents, for those of you that have never heard of or tasted CFS some of you may be thinking WTH. Well I'm here to confess to the world that I'm a CFS junkie fo' sho'. Love to cook it but preparing it is a ton of fun as well because I can have some fun  making a great pepper gravy or a nice roux.

My victim is usually a  thin sliced round or sirloin steak that I have tenderized with a needle type tenderizer as well as kitchen mallet with the raised points.Last night I took half of a 1 1/2 lb. round steak and needled the heck out of it and then gave it a gooding pounding with my mallet  and into the pan it went.

Delicious ! mmmmmm yum. Which brings  us to my dilemma. Try as I might my CFSs are just not as fork tender as those in my favorite little diner.

TIME TO GET SERIOUS !!!! Got the other half of the steak out of the fridge and needled the crap out of it then grabbed the mallet and went caveman on it while thinking of my ex- wife and her mother. I'm tellin' ya, I beat that steak into submission. Worked out some pent up aggression in the process.

Threw it into the CI skillet with a wicked grin on my face a waited for perfection. NADA. Not much difference. Tender but not the way I had anticipated the outcome would be. Grrrrrrr.

Suggestions ? Thoughts?  Looking for seriously butter soft tender CFS. Meat tenderizer in a shaker ??

TIA, Denny

fishlessman

ive seen something called a meat cuber at cabellas . wonder if thats what you need. im sure they make a cheaper one

Little Steven

Every recipe I've seen for CFS has used bottom round. Never made it or tried it but looked at a bunch of recipes.

Skiddymarker

Bet your favourite little diner cuts the steaks with the grain, rather than across the grain. Bottom round steaks are typically cut across the grain. When you lay the steak on the prep board the fibres in the meat are oriented vertically. If you Jaccard this steak, the needles will be tenderizing (or attempting to tenderize) a fibre oriented the same as the needle. Pounding with a mallet merely bends these fibres over like a miss hit nail. 

For CFS, buy a roast, bottom round is best, but top round or baron of beef will do. Slice 1/2" thick steaks lengthwise with the grain. This is 90º different than what we normally do. Now Jaccard and mallet if you want. I usually find my 45 blade Jaccard, done from both sides reduces the steak to about 1/4" thick and once floured and fried, the texture is the way I like it. Try it. 

EDIT - Make sure the blades of the Jaccard are cutting the fibres, that is orient the Jaccard at 90º to the grain of the meat.  

Hardboiled329

Little Steven said:

Every recipe I've seen for CFS has used bottom round. Never made it or tried it but looked at a bunch of recipes.

Yup, using bottom round.

Hardboiled329

Skiddymarker said:

For CFS, buy a roast, bottom round is best, but top round or baron of beef will do. Slice 1/2" thick steaks lengthwise with the grain. This is 90º different than what we normally do.Try it. 

Will ask my butcher to cut as you suggest. I believe in asian cultures they cut  that way. Korean Bulgogi  is cut like   that and is very, very tender

Skiddymarker

Hardboiled329 said:

Skiddymarker said:

For CFS, buy a roast, bottom round is best, but top round or baron of beef will do. Slice 1/2" thick steaks lengthwise with the grain. This is 90º different than what we normally do.Try it. 

Will ask my butcher to cut as you suggest. I believe in asian cultures they cut  that way. Korean Bulgogi  is cut like   that and is very, very tender

You are right, I think. You can do it yourself, but your butcher might do a better job, mine sure is better at it than I am!

Little Steven

You can also use a meat tenderizer like papaya or an MSG product

henapple

The best I've had is chicken fried chicken. ..

chashans

Good information on this thread. I love Chicken Fried Steak! I could never match my mother's that she cooked way back when. Those were the days when they used lard rather than oil.

Eggcelsior

Use cube steak. It's REALLY tenderized bottom round.

BYS1981

Check out cooks illustrated, I just had their CFS, it was delicious, gravy was meh.

TUTTLE871

I take mine and tenderize it and then toss in butter milk for the day. Seems tender every time. That's how I was taught from my grandmother.

Hardboiled329

Eggcelsior said:

Use cube steak. It's REALLY tenderized bottom round.

Yup !!!  Someday I'll get off my tight ol' a$$ and buy a cuber for my 3/4HP LEM grinder. $250ish.

Just wrapped up a grand in a crossbow and ass't accessories.

berndcrisp

Like Dad said, "shut up and eat".

Austin Egghead

1+ TUTTLE871, buttermilk soak was the way I was taught too. Always render.

SGH

TUTTLE871 said:

I take mine and tenderize it and then toss in butter milk for the day.

I us whole milk.Seems to work just as well if you dont have butter milk.

Retired RailRoader

You don't need to buy Buttermilk use can use this as a substitute. I use this all the time. Preparation: 1. Place a Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. 2. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line. 3. Let stand for five minute. Then, use as much as your recipe calls for.

Skiddymarker

SGH said:

TUTTLE871 said:

I take mine and tenderize it and then toss in butter milk for the day.

I us whole milk.Seems to work just as well if you dont have butter milk.

@Hardboiled329 - Forgot all about asking how long you milk marinate, it is important. Many folks add some acid, lemon juice, to their milk marinade, making a home made substitute for buttermilk. The acid in the milk seems to help tenderize and create texture in the meat. Marinate after mechanically tenderizing. 

billyray

Here's one we do a couple of times a year and it uses filets. No tenderizing needed. You can cut these with a fork and the gravy is awesome.

http://www.chefpaul.com/site.php?pageID=300&view=382

Austin Egghead

@billyray thanks for the link, bookmarked

1+ TUTTLE871, buttermilk soak was the way I was taught too. Always render.  Should read always tender not render">