Costco's mechanically tenderized meat

[rotuts]

I could not find @Anna N '  comment on Costco mechanically tenderizing its meat.

 

as My FCO was going well , even though St.P's day's S&S point CB's will have an impact ...

 

( a tasty one ! )

 

I had planned to get a gift certificate from time to time in the future to get various Prime Cuts there as a well deserved treat 

 

from time to time.  

 

Id SV the meat them deal with its consumption in various ways later.

 

I was alarmed that C'  does this with tis meat.  it precludes SV

 

So I called a Costco  20 min away from me  , very close to :

 

https://www.shakeshack.com  which has the best SmkeShake burger    ....

 

I spoke to one of the butcher's and they were very nice and straight forward on this :

 

yes  all meat is mechanically tenderized.   they clean the system frequently etc   they also were very familiar with SV

 

 and understand their routine meat in the counter might not be best for SV    they said this themselves.

 

but as something happened in Canada  , which I haven't looked into 

 

they said they would be happy to not do this to any customer as asked on the spot.   you even get to see them cut up your stuff right there;.

 

they said they were happy to do this , as some customers asked about it.

 

so   fully ijmformed  you can get around this at least at the Costco I call w is in Dedham MA.

 

that was close Id say.

 

 

Edited March 7, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[ElsieD]

When you say all meat, are you referring to just beef or also pork, lamb etc.?

[btbyrd]

8 minutes ago, rotuts said:

 it precludes SV

 

 

No it doesn't.

[rotuts]

fair enough , Ill edit my comment :

 

it precludes SV  for me  

 

why do this when its unnecessary even if the ' health risk re SV or anything else " is low ?

 

low is not Zero, after reviewing the Number Line :

 

the number line

 

I did not ask about meats , only beef.

 

if this gets better published , for Costco , Ill bet  you will eventually have to ask for Mecahnical Meat 

 

who wants to eat 160 beef ?

[Anna N]

 @rotuts

Very interesting. Thank you. I will be sure to ask about getting them to custom cut.  

 

Edited to makes sense. 

 

Edited March 7, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[jayt90]

Steaks and ground beef in Costco Edmonton, Alberta were recalled in 2012 after a child was sick with e coli. The tenderizer was suspected but not proven as the source.  In 2013 the Canadian Food Inspection Service ordered all tenderized meat labelled as such. I haven't heard of any tenderizer problems since then, but there are recalls from time to time.,

[rotuts]

@jayt90  

 

thanks.

 

@Anna N  why not Buzz your C's telephonically and report ?

 

Why ?

 

i was a bit surprised how straight forward the Butcher  ( S. of the Border , may area ) 

 

indeed , they knew a lot about SV  etc

 

Id like to hear what C's N.of the Border thinks.

[Dave W]

Why would tenderized meat preclude SV? If you're dancing in safe temperatures and pasteurization curves it shouldn't matter if it was minced, no?

 

and if you're worried about non pasteurized steaks in short SV cooks how is it too different from conventionally cooked meat that doesn't reach pasteur's temps or times?

[Nyleve Baar]

Costco blade tenderizes its cut steaks but leaves the whole vacuum packed primal cuts alone. I've started buying whole ribeye and cutting it into steaks myself to avoid this. They do label the tenderized packages but the writing is so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see it.

[Paul Fink]

Do they blade tenderize prime beef? Crasy!

[scubadoo97]

3 hours ago, Nyleve Baar said:

Costco blade tenderizes its cut steaks but leaves the whole vacuum packed primal cuts alone. I've started buying whole ribeye and cutting it into steaks myself to avoid this. They do label the tenderized packages but the writing is so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see it.

When I buy sub primals from Costco I will either wet age or dry age before cutting into steaks 

[dscheidt]

7 hours ago, Dave W said:

Why would tenderized meat preclude SV? If you're dancing in safe temperatures and pasteurization curves it shouldn't matter if it was minced, no?

 

and if you're worried about non pasteurized steaks in short SV cooks how is it too different from conventionally cooked meat that doesn't reach pasteur's temps or times?

 

A hunk of meat that's handled in typical meat processing facilities can be assumed to be covered in pathogens.  if you leave it as a hunk of meat, searing the outside of it does a good job of killing the pathogens.  If, on the other hand, you stick a bunch of needles or small knives into the hunk of meat, you move the pathogens into the interior of the meat, where a sear doesn't reach.

 

Of course, every hunk of meat that goes through the process isn't contaminated to start out with, but if you're doing this in a factory, when you jacquard a contaminated piece of meat, you contaminate everything after it until the next proper cleaning.  

[Martin Fisher]

Pffft!!!

Boning hooks and such are used extensively in butchery—have been for many decades.

I don't think it should be assumed that any piece of meat hasn't been hooked, punctured or jabbed in some way, although some cuts are less prone to 'abuse' than others.

Edited March 8, 2017 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[Martin Fisher]

Exterior contamination.

I've butchered thousands of animals (mostly poultry) but also cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, deer. etc.—never in a factory setting.

It's impossible (or nearly impossible) to not contaminate the carcass in some way especially when removing the digestive tract and hide.

Ecoli and salmonella get the most attention but there are other pathogens of concern (brief list, see reference below for much more extensive information)—some of them could be lurking in the digestive tract or nearly anywhere on the outside of the animal.

 

Good reference: The USDA's Bad Bug Book, Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins Handbook, 2nd edition, 292 pages.

 

 

Edited March 8, 2017 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[paulraphael]

14 hours ago, dscheidt said:

 

A hunk of meat that's handled in typical meat processing facilities can be assumed to be covered in pathogens.  if you leave it as a hunk of meat, searing the outside of it does a good job of killing the pathogens.  If, on the other hand, you stick a bunch of needles or small knives into the hunk of meat, you move the pathogens into the interior of the meat, where a sear doesn't reach.

 

On yet another hand, SV gives you the option to pasteurize to the core, even if cooking medium-rare. This is not always the best solution (the longer cooking can mess with the texture and make the meat drier) but in some cases it's ok. And it may be the best option if you have to serve people with serious immune system compromises, in which case you shouldn't assume 100% that the interior of meat is uncontaminated.

[Dave W]

21 hours ago, dscheidt said:

 

A hunk of meat that's handled in typical meat processing facilities can be assumed to be covered in pathogens.  if you leave it as a hunk of meat, searing the outside of it does a good job of killing the pathogens.  If, on the other hand, you stick a bunch of needles or small knives into the hunk of meat, you move the pathogens into the interior of the meat, where a sear doesn't reach.

 

Of course, every hunk of meat that goes through the process isn't contaminated to start out with, but if you're doing this in a factory, when you jacquard a contaminated piece of meat, you contaminate everything after it until the next proper cleaning.  

Yes I understand what blade tenderizing means. That's what I meant when I said it doesn't matter if the meat is minced when you pasteurize it, because you can pasteurize to the core as paulraphael also notes. 

[dscheidt]

1 hour ago, Dave W said:

Yes I understand what blade tenderizing means. That's what I meant when I said it doesn't matter if the meat is minced when you pasteurize it, because you can pasteurize to the core as paulraphael also notes. 

Pasteurizing times and steak are not terribly compatible.  Baldwin's time for a 1 inch steak at 131 F is two hours and 45 minutes, which I find well into texture ruining territory, and it gets worse when they get thicker.  Since the whole problem can be avoided by not buying meat that's been ruined, I don't see what the problem is. 

[Dave W]

But what about the problem with conventionally cooked steaks not pasteurizing the interior either? The issue isn't sous vide. 

[scubadoo97]

28 minutes ago, Dave W said:

But what about the problem with conventionally cooked steaks not pasteurizing the interior either? The issue isn't sous vide. 

 

Absolutely.  Makes ya think twice about eating their steaks rare 

 

[chromedome]

7 hours ago, Dave W said:

But what about the problem with conventionally cooked steaks not pasteurizing the interior either? The issue isn't sous vide. 

I think the issue is cooking time. A potentially bacteria-laden steak spending 20 minutes on the grill has given pathogens little time to grow in the temperature "danger zone." The same steak spending an hour or longer in a sous-vide bath has a higher likelihood of pathogens reaching an infective dose. Longer-cooking cuts are riskier, of course, because if you haven't pasteurized the meat completely at the beginning of your cook time you are essentially creating a pathogen incubator.

Edited March 9, 2017 by chromedome
typo (log)

[btbyrd]

A lot of melodrama in this thread. "Ruined meat!" Please.

If you're a non-paranoiac with a healthy immune system, this isn't an issue.

If you are pregnant, elderly, immunocompromised, pasteurize it, buy whole-muscle cuts, or shop elsewhere.

If you're irrationally paranoid about food-borne pathogens, cook everything in an autoclave (including your forks, knives, and spoons).

 

I Jaccard pretty much everything. It makes it better. 

[Paul Fink]

From this NPR report I understand that mechanically tenderized meat in the US

must be labeled.

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/05/20/478859242/new-labels-warn-that-a-tender-steak-could-be-a-little-dangerous

 

[rotuts]

"" Makes ya think twice about eating their steaks rare ""

 

just ask for steaks that have not been tenderized 

[Shel_B]

I came across this recently while looking for meat choices to make a pot roast or beef stew:

 

 

Let me start by saying I've only braised or stewed beef twice in my life.  I've used pork quite a bit though, and have made chicken numerous times.  I've certainly never made a braise or a stew with meat that has been mechanically tenderized ... if that's a correct term for this. So ...

 

What is "Blade tenderized"?  Is it when the meat is punctured with needle-like spikes, or is it something else?

 

How does this Costco tenderization effect the cooking results?  I suppose the meat is more tender, although it's hard for me to imagine chuck or short ribs needing to be made more tender when being braised.  What happens to the texture of the meat when treated in this manner?  Is the end result better or worse in any way?  Might the meat fall apart more easily, get stringier, etc.  How might cooking time, temp, or technique need to be addressed?

 

 

[gfweb]

It is jabbed with a zillion blades.

 

I wouldn't SV at low temp since external bacteria are driven into the meat by the blades.

 

I've braised such meat and saw no difference.