Terri
The Toughest Steaks We've Ever Tried To Eat!
The Rib eye steaks were the TOUGHEST we have ever had. I cooked exactly how they recommended. Brine in salt water, bring to room temperature, and took the steaks off at 150 degrees. We could not eat them and probably won't be able to eat the other 5. We cooked one without doing a brine and it was just as tough!
Response from repprovisions.comMay 7, 2025
Hi Terri, I’m very sorry to hear of your experience. I did email you back when you emailed me with your issue and I never heard back from you. I will copy that again here. The way you cooked them is not how we recommend. I didn’t recommend a salt water brine but just a salt brine for an hour making sure your steaks are room temp before cooking them. I also did not recommended cooking at 150 degrees. We always recommend no more than 135 degrees to maximize tenderness. Cooking anymore than 135 can cause the steaks to be tough. Grass fed, grass finished steaks do have their own challenges when cooking the perfect steak, as they are very different from a grass fed, grain finished steak. What we try to help people understand, is that since we don’t feed any grain, it’s extremely difficult to make every beef finish exactly the same each time and it will vary from beef to beef due to genetic differences or seasonal differences in grass species they are grazing at the time. So although it’s the healthiest way to eat beef, one grass finished beef may not always be as tender as the next, one may have more fat than another or one may look different than another and sometimes even smell different from another. But what we can offer is the consistent health benefits of our grass fed and finished beef. Even the fat in our meat is loaded with vitamins and minerals and tons of nutrients. This is the tip I shared with you in the email. Make sure to let your steak reach room temperature before cooking them. Once room temperature, rub sea salt on both sides and let sit for an hour. The salt helps break down the muscle proteins and connective tissue making them more tender. We cook them using our beef suet or grass fed butter and cook them on our griddle(or cast iron on the stove)on high to medium-high heat for about 8 minutes flipping every 1.5 to 2 minutes. We always recommend a medium rare(or 135 degrees with a meat thermometer) to maximize tenderness. After taking off the griddle or cast iron, let it rest 5 minutes before cutting into it against the grain(some people don’t know to cut against the grain). Again, I’m very sorry Terri. I hope you can try these tips on your remaining steaks. Thank you for giving us a try. We are very grateful.