Trying to get tough meat tender

Dots1982

Bought some stewing beef and it's too chewy.

If I stew it for 3 or 4 hours will this be enough to soften it?

Any other suggestions?

duploelabs

Soak it overnight in grapefruit /paw paw/ pineapple juice. Drain and dry before use. You won't taste the juice but the enzymes in it will break down the protein strands in the meat making it more tender

Dots1982

duploelabs wrote: »

Soak it overnight in grapefruit /paw paw/ pineapple juice. Drain and dry before use. You won't taste the juice but the enzymes in it will break down the protein strands in the meat making it more tender

Top tip. Thanks.

rubadub

I think those have to be freshly squeezed juices. Stuff in cartons is heat treated and I heard they do not work.

duploelabs

rubadub wrote: »

I think those have to be freshly squeezed juices. Stuff in cartons is heat treated and I heard they do not work.

It's the whole stuff you've to look for, not the 'made from concentrate' stuff

nozzferrahhtoo

I guess if one then wanted to avoid wasting the juice it could be cooked into a sweet and sour sauce or some such?

rubadub

duploelabs wrote: »

It's the whole stuff you've to look for, not the 'made from concentrate' stuff

The "not from concentrate" cartons would also be heat treated. In M&S I once got a bottle of very short life pressed apple juice (not being sold off, it was supposedly pressed less than 48hrs ago), but I think it was even pasteurised, or some term like "lightly pasteruised". You could really tell the difference, a real zing to it.

M&S also have cartoned pressed juice and it tastes nothing like it.

The tenderizing bit is meant to be more concentrated in the pineapple core. So I suppose if you got fresh ones you could liquidise the core and freeze it as it would be thrown out anyway.

_Brian

Cook it in a slow cooker. 6-8 hours, always comes out tender.

squonk

Cook it in a pressure cooker. It'll be fall off the fork in no time.

sheesh

3-4 hours should be plenty I often get rib steak for stews and initially it is tough but cooked but after 2-3 hours it is tender.

the connective tissue in the meat needs that amount of time to dissolve into the stew and become yummy

uck51js9zml2yt

Slow cook for a few hours on normal hob.
If you've a slow cooker, even better.5-6 hours