Top Sirloin?

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Wife bought a package of Prime Grade at Costco thinking they would be tender. They aren't. Must be a way to tenderize them. Ideas?
 
She has some marinating for over 24 hours now, we'll see. I guess we could take them back. How does that work for you?
 
Top Sirloin is not a tender cut (more muscular) even with it being prime. Not cut with a fork tender like New York.Other than for added flavorings you shouldn't have to marinade it 24 hours especially at $10/lb. Costco usually has very good meat. They will refund your money no problem if you are not happy...marinade and all

My favorite is a Porterhouse which has both a New York and Filet but is not cheap. We prefer Tri-Tip steaks (a section of the sirloin) as the best combination of flavor/tenderness and price. Season well and enjoy!
 
Not impressed with Costco Top Sirloin, I buy from a local store that carries grass fed Oregon raised meat and usually get the cap steak which is both delicious and as tender as can be.
 
I can't ever get sirloin tender either. If you want a good steak,go to the butcher area and get some ribeyes. I can make those where they'll fall to pieces.
 
My local Costco changed the way they trim the Sirloin. Now they trim all of the fat and charge twice what it used to sell for.
I can still grill a good one but I need to add a lot of oil to get any char.
I grill using a Weber kettle and enough coals to get the grill "one second" hot.
Season with only a good salt and pepper, never marinate. leave it out of the fridge for 1-2 hours before grilling.
4-5 mins on each side max.Now ya got me drooling.
 
Although it wouldn't be my first choice, I would still expect a tender grilled steak from that cut. The unknown factor for me is I would be buying Canada AAA rather than USDA Choice, and the top three USDA grades are cut from older carcasses than what we allow here, so it may well be a tougher cut.

Instead of grilling they should be good candidates for a stir-fry or other Asian or Mexican recipe.

Still, I can't believe a steak with top marbling should need marinating to be edible. I would return them, as others have suggested.
 
a dusting of Adolphs meat tenderizer and fork it into the meat on the top side. Season and put on a hot grill. The juices will work with the tenderizer to break down the bonds that make it tough. Tenderizer is just fruit pectin enzyme.

+1 on the aged meat. Ive gotten some really good steaks out of the "reduced" section. Aging allows natural processes to break down the toughness.
 
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I never had much of a problem with Costco's prime sirloin. I guess you have to remember that it is still sirloin and will never be as tender as the tenderloin. That being said I have never found the prime sirloin to be tough, perhaps it is the way one cooks it or their expectations. I user the reverse sear method, sear on super hot cast iron pan and then 10 minutes in a 500 degree oven.
 
You will get a lot of differing opinions on the subject of the ideal way to cook a steak, but here is my method, which definitely works:

Although the Bar-B-Q is a great way to cook meats, I generally cook on the stove except in the hot months. But I have a cast iron griddle that I can lay on the (glasstop) burner. You can buy pans that are similar, but be sure to avoid any non-stick variety, as they cannot take high heat, which is exactly what you want temperature-wise. So, cast iron or some other uncoated metal only.

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There is no real need to bring the meat to room temperature first, although it's a popular suggestion. The issue is by the time a proper cut steak (that is, a thick one) is at room temperature in the centre, the outside is likely to be in the Food Service Danger Zone with regard to time and temperature un-refrigerated.

Now, I'm not one to worry much about a cut of beef on the counter (ground meat, on the other hand, I am careful with), but in the interest of food safety and for those who care more about it than I, just take it from the fridge to the grill and don't fret the temperature of the meat being cooler.

Turn the range exhaust hood on, and start heating your grill or pan on medium-high to high (it will depend a bit on your grill or stove, but basically it should be hot*). Or if you are using an outdoor cooking grill, it should be heating up already, probably.

Remove it from the package and pat it dry with paper towel or if you're averse to disposable paper products, a clean kitchen towel that you throw in the wash after you use it on raw meat. You could use newspaper before it goes into the recycle bin, but modern vegetable oil-based inks will probably come off on the meat. If that doesn't bother you, have at it.

Once dry, now you moisten with vegetable oil. I prefer tasteless oils like Canola or Peanut over Olive Oil. I use Grapeseed Oil, and apply a bit and rub it over all sides with my fingers. You don't need a lot, just enough to moisten the steak on both sides so that your seasonings will stick properly, plus the meat won't stick on your grill lines as you cook.

Next ... should be obvious after the previous paragraph ... season with salt and pepper only, again using your fingers to rub it into your oiled steaks.

Some may want to add more spice than that, but if you need more than S&P then there is something wrong with the meat or the cooking method in my opinion. (I would be OK with meat tenderizer, but I also think you should not need it, but you decide).

Even if you are in the habit of adding other seasonings, try it with S&P alone at least once, you might change your way of doing things if you do as it really brings out the flavour of beef (or any other meat you could grill).

With tongs (not a fork) put your steaks on the grill. Times vary depending on the thickness of the steak, but I usually turn after 4 minutes on the first side.

Turning:
There are two schools of thought but the new school of thought is you can turn more than once as it contributes to more even cooking. I've also done it cooking just one side, then the other, then serve. They both work, but I've changed to turning twice.

1-turn method
4 minutes on the first side, turn ¼ turn (to get your cross-hatch grill marks) and cook 2 more minutes. Flip, 4 minutes, turn, 2 minutes, remove to a serving tray or plate and if you can stand it, let sit for up to 10 minutes to retain the juices before digging in..

2-turn method
4 minutes on the first side, flip to second side for 4 minutes, turn ¼ turn (to get your cross-hatch grill marks) 2 minutes, flip and turn (that is, lay the steak down turned ¼ turn for your cross-hatch) back to the first side 2 minutes, remove to your tray or plate it and if you can stand it, let sit for up to 10 minutes to retain the juices before digging in.

Times will vary depending on the thickness of your steak and your done-ness preference, but the above should give you a medium-rare to medium-well with a 1" thick steak. Adjust your cooking times to your preference.

You can test on the grill by pushing with your tongs on the meat if you know your firmness criteria. If not, and you want to test, I prefer cutting an edge piece off and having a bite rather than making a slice into the meat.

* It's merely important for the grill to be hot for beef, it's critical for pork chops and pork steaks.
 
After 24 + hours marinating, the steak had good flavor but still not exactly tender. I passed on the suggestions you all gave me and got the green light to cook whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, how ever I want it
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You need to first start with a quality sirloin, and you won't get that from a big box store. You can get a sirloin to be very tender, but it takes a lot of work and there are a number of ways to do it, especially if it's been frozen. Hint: A lot of the meat you purchase in the big box store has been frozen at least once.

The idea is to disrupt the connective tissue-a 5-8% salt solution plus some vinegar will start breaking down the connective tissue. With a sirloin you can poke some holes in it with a fork and brine it for at least 24 hours. That will break down enough connective tissue to make it pretty tender. That keeps the actin proteins from becoming denatured, which causes the dryness and toughness (freezing also can cause the actin proteins to become denatured). However, it's just the opposite for the myosin-the idea is to denature the myosin protein which the brine helps with.

When cooked, meat loses around 20% of it's weight in moisture, which is counterbalanced by the absorbed brine. The absorbed brine also pulls any aromatics from herbs and spices in the brine deep into the meat. In addition to less moisture loss, proper brining also prevents dissolved protein filaments from coagulating into dense aggregates, making the meat still more tender.
 
Maybe what we get isn't top sirloin, but the sirloin we get tastes good and is nice and lean. It's not super tender, but it's not tough either. Sirloin is actually my favorite cut for a cross of leanness, flavor and cost.

Well actually, if I could spend $68/meal, I'd get the 55 day dry salt brick aged ribeye from David Burke's on Rush St in Chicago. Now that's the best piece of meat I've had.
 
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