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First method: dry marinating the meat with sea salt for an hour.

Second method: cooking the meat with low heat using 80 degrees Celsius (electric oven) for 30-40 minutes.

The cut looks like the one on the right:

enter image description here

I used these two methods today (one followed by the other), and my steak was still tough and chewy.

What could be the reason?

Note: It's a sirloin steak.

alexchenco
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    How big is this steak? Do you mean like a regular 'steak & chips' rump/sirloin etc. single portion, or a larger cut? Also, can we assume these 'two methods' are actually just two steps in a single method. You did one followed by the other. – Tetsujin Jan 29 '23 at 13:27
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    A picture of the raw steak would help. What cut? Was it marbled with fat or lean? Often it's not how you treat it, but the steak itself. – moscafj Jan 29 '23 at 13:36
  • @Tetsujin I updated my question. Yes, I did one followed by the other. – alexchenco Jan 29 '23 at 13:39
  • @moscafj I added a photo. – alexchenco Jan 29 '23 at 13:39
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    It’s difficult to tell what cut a steak is from by looks, especially after it’s cooked. If the steak has its fibers going mostly in one direction, you want to make sure to cut across it, so each slice is lots of tiny little fibers, but that’s not always possible if you have a cut that’s from multiple muscles that aren’t all aligned. – Joe Jan 29 '23 at 15:23
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    What cut? Also was it dny aged by chance? I will say it looks a little thin for reverse sear which it seems was your second method. It's possible the steak dried out too much because it was too thin. As for dry brining 60 minutes might not be enough time for the juices to make their way back into the steak. You might get moisture loss in that case. All this is shooting in the dark though without knowing the cut. If this was brisket that would be the immediate answer! – Peter Moore Jan 29 '23 at 16:22
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    Also I can't get past this - is the yellow stuff just fat under weird lighting conditions? Or did you do something to it to give it that color? It looks like one of Guga's experiments. :D – Peter Moore Jan 29 '23 at 16:27
  • @PeterMoore I thought that was the normal color of grass-fed fat: https://www.theregenranch.com/blog-folder/why-is-the-fat-on-my-steak-yellow – alexchenco Jan 30 '23 at 04:05
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    Huh. I've never seen that color before but I guess that's a thing! Well that's another clue to your issue - 100% grass fed can be less tender than grain finished. – Peter Moore Jan 30 '23 at 13:08
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    It looks like you're cutting with the grain instead of against it. A good deal of "tenderness" to a steak has to deal with how it's cut. Long muscle fibers are hard to chew, try cutting against the grain and on a bias (angle) to get the shortest fibers. – Ron Beyer Jan 30 '23 at 22:38
  • @RonBeyer I'm trying to do that. It's very difficult to see the grain with that grass-fed beef. I hardy see any lines. – alexchenco Jan 31 '23 at 00:55
  • Are you gonna tell us what kind of cut that is or make us keep playing 20 questions? :) If it's a ribeye (which is what it looks like to me) grain shouldn't be a factor. – Peter Moore Jan 31 '23 at 13:35
  • @PeterMoore It's a sirloin steak. I updated the answer. – alexchenco Jan 31 '23 at 15:58
  • @alexchenco - "sirloin" is a different cut depending on the country. In the UK what Americans call "sirloin" we call "rump". Are you in the US? Rump can be chewy - it's not the most tender of cuts to be honest. – Billy Kerr Feb 03 '23 at 13:35

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You have a couple of things working against you for tenderness. First, grass-fed beef is often less tender that beef fed on grains. Second, the sirloin is not the most tender cut regardless of what the cow eats. Third, it appears that you are slicing with the grain. Advice for tenderizing grass-fed beef includes mechanical tenderization (a mallet to break down fibers) or acidic marinades. Slicing against the grain cuts long fibers into pieces that are easier to chew. So, if you are satisfied with your attempts at tenderization, you may want to try grain fed beef....but certainly try to slice against the grain.

moscafj
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