Elk steaks, what did I do wrong?

[Khunter]

Two words.....Sous Vide. Look it up. All you grey hairs need to update your cooking techniques. Sius Vide will destroy ANY cooking method!!!

Sous Vide photo. moose steak medium rare for tonight's dinner. medium rare from edge to edge with a 30 second sear on each side at the end.

 

[02bfishn]

Getcha one of these bad boys;
(Big Fin good guy link) Jaccard Tenderizer

Had tough AZ cow 3 years ago - helped a bunch. Experimented with brining over night and that also helped on toughness.

 

[LopeHunter]

I changed the way i cook any steak, (although i have no experience with Elk steak) that's beef or venison.
Take chunk of steak, rub steak in oil, brown for 2 mins in very hot pan, transfer to very hot 220c oven cook for around 6 mins, remove and REST for the TOTAL amount of cooking time (extend the 6 mins depending on how you like your steak, rare etc) so in this case 8 minutes, then slice diagonally across the grain in fairly thin slices.
I bet it works....unless of course the butcher didn't supply steak!
Cheers
Richard

220C is around 425F

 

[Southwind]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous-vide

So you other grey hairs don't have to look it up and/or if you don't hang out at Bed, Bath & Beyond or Williams Sonoma.

Sounds like a tough old bull to me, tenderize it and cook minute steaks, cube it for stew or a whole lot of grind.

By the way khunter that moose looks delicious!

 

[tjones]

All this or just eat it. Its a bull elk, purest form of meat you can get your hands on.

 

[bigdonniebrasco]

My money says, it was out of your control.

You did everything right. It could be the animal, the processing COULD have contributed.... any number of conditions or events that you cant control. With REALLY tough meat you can either:

Bury it in your freezer for a year and cross your fingers.
Very slow and low braise.
Grind it

 

[pondweed]

+++++++ on the Jaccard

It's hard to imagine what I did before I started using that thing....on waterfowl especially.

 

[Northwoods]

Sometimes it's just the animal IMHO. In 2000 I was living in AK and shot a moose. It was the the first time I had butchered an animal without the help of dear old dad and I had no idea what I was doing. When I finally got the beast back home I called my dad to ask him what the heak I do with moose quarters. Bottom line, it was a great eating animal even though I was clueless. 6 years later I shot a B&C bull moose in MN (a hunt no longer available) and he was very chewy even though I knew a few things about curing and butchering game. One solution is to pressure cook the meat. I do a lot of game like this now. It keeps in the masson jars for a long time and is very tender this way.

 

[idnative1948]

This grey hair throws the steaks into a bag with cheapo Italian dressing for about two/two half hours before grilling, sears each side just until the blood runs, flip them same thing other side, done. But JMHO from a grey/no hair. Thinner cuts, dredge in flour/salt/pepper throw in a cast iron with a couple table spoons of bacon grease, but then again this is just from a grey/no hair.

 

[plains2pines]

This grey hair throws the steaks into a bag with cheapo Italian dressing for about two/two half hours before grilling, sears each side just until the blood runs, flip them same thing other side, done. But JMHO from a grey/no hair. Thinner cuts, dredge in flour/salt/pepper throw in a cast iron with a couple table spoons of bacon grease, but then again this is just from a grey/no hair.

this s my fav way! I never ever age my game meat. it doesn't make a big enough difference. meat is usually boned out for pack out anyway, or at least quartered and broke down for the coolers for drive home. I have noticed no difference between aging an not aging with wild game. pops always did though. beat with a tenderizer and use this recipe above, you will be impressed. I shot a nice 6x this year, granted he lived his life in a hay field but he was all nice and tender

 

[idnative1948]

this s my fav way! I never ever age my game meat. it doesn't make a big enough difference. meat is usually boned out for pack out anyway, or at least quartered and broke down for the coolers for drive home. I have noticed no difference between aging an not aging with wild game. pops always did though. beat with a tenderizer and use this recipe above, you will be impressed. I shot a nice 6x this year, granted he lived his life in a hay field but he was all nice and tender

Hay fed is the bomb!

 

[plains2pines]

and the cast iron is the only way to go.

 

[hank4elk]

A cow two years ago was around 10 yrs old,huge gal. Tender all the way thru even tho she froze the 1st night in the hanging quarter bags and I brought it in for butchering a quarter at a time to thaw.
The bull Corey Jacobsen gave me after his hunt with Randy was less than 5 yrs(likely 3) and the 1st night backstrap steak was a bit tough. I aged it in the bags outside, with the rest of the straps in the fridge for a few days. Every piece since has been more tender.
As others have said ,sometimes meat is just more tender or tough. Sometimes a crockpot & 8 hrs of slow cooking is the cure.
Then again, I have never had a piece of Longhorn cattle that was tender and chewed worth a damn.....lol