Can I tenderize beef by letting it sit at room temperature

[henrikbe]

Hi,

As far as I understand, meat contains various enzymes that can, given sufficient time and suitable temperature, tenderize the meat by breaking down various proteins. So, logically, meat kept for a while at room temperature ought to be more tender than meat kept in the fridge, right?

But the problem is of course spoilage. So, for how long whould you think it would be safe to keep, say, a steak on the counter, before grilling it? Would it in any way be safe to keep it long enough for the enzymes to do their work? I was thinking, after all, I'm going to grill the meat afterwards, so even though the bacteria multiply massively when sitting on the counter, they'll all be killed by the heat on the grill. But will the meat still be risky to eat?

Alternatively, how about first searing the meat quickly to kill any germs on the surface, and then keeping it at room temperature? Will this allow me to keep the meat at room temperature longer, and, most importantly, long enough for the enzymes in the meat to do their job?

[pikawicca]

Try this: Get a nice thick steak (2 inches or so) and liberally salt and pepper it. Put it on a rack set over a platter and refrigerate, uncovered, for a day or 2. Let sit at room temp for 30 minutes, blot dry with paper towels and cook any way you like. This will not be as good as expensive dry-aged beef, but it will be much better than a steak cooked directly from the supermarket. (And it won't kill you.)

[jerry i h]

What you and other suggest is dangerous, as I have one of those 'Safety Sanity' certificates somewhere. At most, you can leave meat at room temp at most 1 hour before you run the risk of sending your customers to the hospital.
Actually, aging meat is simple: take them out of the cellophane/styrafoam/bloodabsorbingpacket, put them on a ceramic or glass plate for a few days in the frig uncovered, flip everyday, best is 3 or 4 days, but even 1 or 2 days will help.

[cowboyardee]

At most, you can leave meat at room temp at most 1 hour before you run the risk of sending your customers to the hospital.
________
Even the strictest standards dictate that meat has up to 4 hours to pass to above 140 or below 40 deg F (even that is grossly oversimplified and doesn't apply to many specific situations, but it's a reasonable rule of thumb for a commercial kitchen). I don't know where your 1 hour figure comes from, but it's not accurate.

Nothing against aging in the fridge, though.

[tommy]

The better way is to age hung beef: beef that has never been cryovaced, and primals that have not been trimmed. Most cryovaced beef is already trimmed too much to take on the aging that places like Luger do. It's simple to age cyrovaced beef, but it will never been the same as hung beef.

That said people seem to enjoy the controlled rot in the fridge as Alton Brown suggests, but it will never be the same as properly dry-aged beef.

[SWISSAIRE]

The old descriptive term for room-temperature, hung, aged meat, especially game meat, was that the meat was "high, or on-high."

This was a form of putrification, and for those wthout teeth in Europe, a delicacy.

In todays's health conscious kitchen, dry-aged meat in the freezer makes better hygenic sense when avoiding pathogens. Wrap the thick-cut meat in kitchen plastic, and turn it over daily, for 20-30 days. It will shrink, and the flavours, when cooked, should intensify.

Remember that some fat with meat equals flavour. That cannot be substituted with salt and other seasonings. Keep a little fat on the meat if you cook or dry age: I've learned this in Brasil and Argentina. You might wish to view some of the videos attached to this link:

http://www.templodacarne.com.br/

Marcos Bassi uses very little salt. The important factor for him is the selection of the quality of meat, and to bring it up to room temperature, just before cooking. A Churrasco or Rodizio BBQ without any fat on the meat is a very dry, and somewhat tasteless affair. Cook with it, and then cut it off before you eat it.

[alkapal]

i wouldn't have any trouble marinating a steak in a wet marinade for ½ hour on the counter….. and in fact i'll leave meat out of the fridge for that long to get it to room temp.

[luciaannek]

I don't think this will work. I think your meat would spoil first. Yes, cooking the meat will kill some bacteria, but unless you like your steak well the center won't get hot enough to kill a lot of bacteria. Even it you sear it first there is bacteria in the air, on your tongs, on your plates etc. that can cause it to spoil.

I also am skeptical that this process is significant enough to cause a noticeable difference in texture. Could you explain it more? I bet your more likely to have noticeable results from not overcooking, and resting properly. I'd focus on doing these things PERFECTLY before trying this.

Also, are these the same enzymes as are in meat tenderizer? I bet that chemically at least, you'd get similar results from just using meat tenderizer.

HOWEVER: It's still a good idea to bring meat to room temp before cooking it. This will cause the meat to cook more evenly.

[tommy]

When you say more evenly, what do you mean? The outside and the inside will cook more at the same rate?

[seamunky]

if you are interested in how the natural enzymes can work in tenderizing meat at warmer temperatures, you may want to look into sous vide.

[twyst]

I cook sous vide several times a week, but am unaware of how sous vide cooking involves manipulation of natural enzymes as part of the cooking process. As far as I knew the reason the meat became tender was because of the breakdown of collagen/elastin/connective tissues due to temperature.

Can you please elaborate?

[greygarious]

Your sous vide is probably NOT hot enough to break down collagen.
"At 140°F changes are caused by the denaturing of collagen in the cells. Meat served at this temperature med-rare is changing from juicy to dry. At 160°F/ 70°C connective tissue collagen begins to dissolve to gelatin. This however is a very lengthy process. The fibers are still stiff and dry but meat seems more tender. Source: Harold McGee -- On Food and Cooking "

[cowboyardee]

I think that quote from McGee (who I very much admire, btw) is incorrect, and/or outdated. It is likely he was writing only with traditional techniques in mind.

In truth, it depends on what you're cooking and how you're cooking it. Connective tissue disolves to gelatin at a lower temp than 160 f - even 131 f can do the job. This is readily apparent when you make, say, short ribs cooked sous vide at 131 for 72 hours. The mouthfeel - very gelatinous, just like a traditional braise. Even more so - if you refrigerate the bag, you can easily see gelatin solidfy on the outside of the meat. It's quite obvious.

Collagen does break down much quicker at higher temperatures, and it's true that you're not breaking down much if you're only cooking sub 140 F for just a few hours. But it would seem you've picked one of the few quotes where McGee is wrong.

[cowboyardee]

I don't remember the exact figures, but enzymes have a temperature range where they are most active, and sous vide can be used to hold them in that temperature range for a time in some cases. I believe the temp of maximum enzyme activity for beef falls below the pasteurization range (and thus you couldn't safely hold it at that temp for longer than 4 hours), but there might be some overlap. And again, I don't remember the specifics too well since it's been a while since I read about it. Heston Blumenthal has done some work on using beef's natural enzymes to increase tenderness - you might be able to find an article or two from him if you look around.

[seamunky]

Cowboyardee pretty much nailed it. From this website http://www.cookingissues.com/primers/sous-vide/part-i-introduction-to-low-temperature-cooking-and-sous-vide/

"Low-temperature cooking can also produce meats that are more tender than normal. Enzymes responsible for some of the benefits of dry-aging meat increase activity as the temperature rises. These enzymes are most active right before they denature, between 49°C and 54.4°C (120°F and 129.9°F). Because low-temperature cooking allows meat to stay in this zone longer than traditional cooking, meat is more tender than normal. Traditionally, a large piece of meat heated for a long period of time, such as a roast, remains tender. Low-temperature cooking makes it possible for smaller pieces of meat to be held at these low temperatures for longer periods of time."

And here is one guy's experiment in this process that he dubs "warm-aging"

http://stefangourmet.com/2012/02/27/s...

[sunshine842]

yes, enzymes do break down the proteins and fibres in the meat -- they do this pretty slowly, however -- significantly slower then the reproductive rate of harmful bacteria -- so no, you can't age beef at room temperature, as it will be rotten and hazardous to your health long before it will be tender.

Cooking of any kind, including searing, brings the food into the ultimate temperature zone for pathogen reproduction -- so no, you can't sear it and then plunk it on the counter and even assume it would be safe in a few hours.

Either buy your beef already aged, or do some research on how to dry-age beef in your own refrigerator -- and be fanatical about following the safety rules.

There isn't a piece of meat on the planet that's worth a few hours in the hospital (or far, far worse)

[henrikbe]

OK, thank you for your reply. I guess I should be considering dry-aging instead, then, in the fridge.

[sunshine842]

absolutely -- aging takes weeks; spoiling takes hours....the math does NOT work in your favour.