Help with a REALLY tough cut

Hi all,

I have a brisket from a local purveyor and have had a lot of trouble cooking his product. The farm raises organic, grass fed, free range, humanely slaughtered beef.

This is the second time I've attempted to cook their product and it's so low in fat that it comes out tough no matter how I cook it. I've tried doing their strip steaks sous vide to numerous temperatures and always the same tough result.

With the brisket, I've done it in a pressure cooker and it was still tough when finished. I'm going to try sous vide on it next time but wanted to get any pointers before I start. Specifically I'd like to know:

Is there a better/different techniques

for lower fat but still tough cuts like brisket
What should I do differently for a grass fed organic cut of meat
Should I bother with the "high end" cuts when they're such a pain in the ass?

Thanks much! Any and all advice appreciated!

David

Find more posts tagged with

All About Ingredients

Comments

Samuel_68313

I have followed this recipe with fantastic results: https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/smokerless-smoked-brisket

That recommends 68 for 24 hours but chefsteps also has a great guide when it comes to cooking meat sous vide. https://www.chefsteps.com/classes/cooking-sous-vide-beyond-the-basics/landing#/

Unfortunately I cannot really help with the other stuff.

erdreich.david

Thanks Samuel,

I'm leaning towards the sous vide method, but still concerned as the pressure cooker method still resulted in a tough product. Frankly if this doesn't come out well I'll be going back to my regular butcher and non-organic beef.

Any specific tricks with the smokerless method?

D

bkeene12

I would try injecting some butter into the brisket. It might work like a lardoon and bring some fat into the meat while in the SV. Also, you might try dry aging it and see if that gets you any where.

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

I have never had good luck with any grass fed beef. It is just to lean for those of us who grew up eating grain fed beef. The free range gives them more exercise (think burning the fat they do have) and a "carb free" diet. Not conducive to a flavorful, marbled piece of meat. I tried several times and gave up. The only thing that helped a little was a Jacquard, and that is so wrong to have to do to a piece of meat. Good Luck!

tshewman

In the short term (e.g. for this one), brining would likely help with moisture. Perhaps consider adding an flamed oak based alcohol to the brine if leaning toward the slow cook and wanting more depth of flavor. I have treated young lean grassfed cuts with fishsauce and left for 3-4 days with decent sucess (e.g. steaks and roasts). For the future, it may be helpful to contact the purveyor directly if possible. There's a few reasons the grain fed has more fats etc.....beef does not have the digestive systems of bovines (nor humans) and thus the grains can be inflammatory leading to more visceral and organ fats. Some suggest (e.g. see dan Barber's work on this) cows are likely best grass fed from a health perspective. The challenge being that collagen turnover and "buildup" for the flavor and texture that we want requires time. At the risk of over-simplifying, collagen (keep in mind-there are different types) has a 1/2 life of 300-500 days. This means in order for it (the very product we want to break down) to accumulate, it needs "time".......in order to make a living some grass-fed beef suppliers will choose a younger (maybe younger than ideal??) animal for customers (they have to make a living as well). FWIW, I've encountered this locally and the older grass fed beef is always less lean and much more tender than the younger. So, now I discuss (without asking for specifics) with the purveyors to see if they think it was older or younger than average and they usually know and are willing to share. I can't say the Oxtail or short ribs have ever suffered though but the rib eye and strip steaks seem to suffer the most. The down side is the older cuts (we have one vendor who prefers to wait....) is so very expensive (so a trade-off). Our pork we also purchase locally (from a purveyor that emulates very closely what Bluehills farms does) and this round I took my children so they could meet, pet and get to know (I had them choose the animal-Leader was it's name) the very pig we will be eating ~ February. Who knew meat could get so complicated.

brian_martin2001

I've never tried messing with grass fed beef, but I would assume (yes, I know what they say) that it would not be all that dissimilar from certain game animals in texture. With brisket, because it is such a work-horse muscle, to render that collagen down, it needs to be cooked for a long, LONG, time. Modernist Cuisine recommends any one of the following temperatures: 58°C, 60°C, 63°C,or 70°C. The temperature they preferred the most was 63°C. The cooking time is 72 hours. I'm not sure if the fat cap is on the side of the brisket the is facing down, however, if it is not, personally, I recommend you ask them to keep it on. It really is going to help somewhat. I hope that helps.

wes.sand

Sous vide... I don't know about grass fed beef, but it works for moose brisket and it is very lean.

erdreich.david

Wow! Thanks for all the helpful replies!!
I'm going to go with brining, sous vide and a jacquard.

@Todd_Shewman_38102 thank you in particular for the well thought out response. Fortunately my child learned many years ago about the animals that we eat and how they are raised. She's a regular with me at our abattoir and respects her food and their sacrifice for our sustenance... but BOY does she have expensive tastes :-)