Shoulder Cuts, and the Art of Tenderizing with Marinades

Red wine marinade with a Lindner Farms Bison Chuck steak

I woke up late last Sunday, and didn’t make it up to the Hollywood farmer’s market until about an hour before it closed.  It’s usually pretty slim pickings for red meat when you don’t get there early, so I figured I’d let whatever they had dictate what I made for dinner.  All that remained for many vendors were the tough braising meats. Stews are great, but not when it’s 80-90 degrees during the day.  Lucky for me, I was able to nab a beautiful grass-fed shoulder steak from Lindner Bison Farm.  Bison is similar to beef, but much lower in fat.  When grass-fed, it’s also high in Omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin E, and iron.  Shoulder cuts of bison (or beef) are flavorful, and far less expensive than loin, rib, or sirloin cuts, but they require a little preparation to be at their best.

Know your way around the butcher shop? Click here to skip right to the marinade recipe.

Shoulder Cuts

First, let’s discuss the cut.  The name “chuck steak” might fool you into thinking you can just throw this bad boy right on the grill, but you’d disappointed if you tried.  Depending on where in the shoulder a cut is from, the meat will run the gamut from very tough (pot roast and boneless short ribs) to not-tough-when-tenderized (shoulder steak, chuck steak, shoulder petite tender) to reasonably tender, sometimes without tenderization (shoulder petite tender medallions, shoulder top blade steak, flat iron steak.) Each farm will offer a slightly different product and cut, so it’s always smart to double check with the farmer before you buy.  Certain shoulder cuts require stewing and can’t be tenderized any other way, so it’s important to know what you’re bringing home.

What causes some cuts to be tougher than others is the amount of collagen fibers in the tissue. The more an animal uses a muscle, the tougher the meat in that area will be.  Shoulders get a lot of use, so the resulting meat is tougher.  There are several ways to break down collagen, and they are not all created equal.

The first and most popular method among inexperienced cooks is to utilize a chemical tenderizer—this is what you get when you buy a bottle of tenderizing marinade from the store.  It also comes in powder form.  Higher quality products utilize enzymes like those found in papaya and pineapple, which are very good at breaking down connective tissue and collagen.  Chemical or not, I find that aggressive tenderizers like these are almost too effective, and have a tendency to make the outside of the meat mushy.

The second method is to manually break down the collagen.

Use a fork or Jaccard to help tenderize a tough steak

A Jaccard is small hand-held instrument with hundreds of small, razor sharp pins sticking out of it, which you use to pierce the meat.  It is very effective, but if you don’t have one, a fork will do the trick.  But wait, you say!  Won’t that let the juices escape?!  I get this question a lot, and the answer is no. When you sear the meat, you lock the juices in.  The small incisions are seared as well, so don’t worry about making them before you marinate.  Never ever, however, puncture meat while it cooks.  This is where you get yourself in trouble.

Poking holes in the meat before it cooks serves 2 purposes—first, it literally breaks apart collagen bonds.  Second, it opens up the center of the meat to the marinade, which will further tenderize the cut.  Which brings me to the third method, which is marinating.

When the goal is tenderization, you must use an acid in your marinade.  Non-acidic marinades will flavor your meat, but will leave it just as tough as it was to begin with.  Vinegar, wine, and citrus are the acids of choice in my kitchen, but when it comes to red meat, I always go with vinegar or wine.

Interestingly enough, if you use too much acid for too long, you can actually make the meat tougher than it was to begin with!  The science behind this is interesting, but for the moment, I’ll spare you the details.  Suffice it to say that the best tenderizing marinade will contain an acid, and be left on the meat for no more than 24 hours.  I’ve marinated meat for as little as 3 hours, but 24 is undeniably the best amount of time to let it sit.

No section on tenderization or shoulder cuts would be complete without acknowledging the power of heat to break down collagen.  Sustained, low heat will tenderize a cut of meat better than almost anything else, but this will always break down the tissue to a texture we generally associate with stew.  There are numerous stew cuts in the shoulder slab, but for now, let’s address the gorgeous bison chuck steak I bought at the market.  Cow chuck steak can be used if you don’t have bison, as the meat from these two animals is very similar.

You can use the following tenderizing recipe with any non-pot roast cut of shoulder meat—tell the farmer you’re buying from what you intend to do, and he will give you the cut you need.  Every once in a while I run into a vendor who sends a hired hand to the market for him who really doesn’t know what he’s selling.  It’s rare, but if you can’t get a confident answer from your meat guy and can’t find anyone else to buy from, you’re safe buying the following cuts for this recipe: Chuck steak, chuck eye steak, shoulder top blade steak (aka flat iron), shoulder center (aka ranch steak), shoulder petite tender, and shoulder petite tender medallions.  Don’t be fooled into buying a roasting cut!  You can use this marinade for any steak you please, but shoulder cuts are nice and cheap, and lend themselves well to tenderization.

First, go ahead and prep your marinade (recipe below) in a lipped bowl or baking dish that is just wider than the steak (the wider the pan, the more the marinade will spread out, leaving less of the meat covered.)  Set aside.

Marinating bison chuck steak

On a plastic cutting board, give your meat a once over with the fork or jaccard (on both sides!) and transfer it over to the marinade.  Flip it over a few times so that both sides see some love before covering it and putting it in the fridge.  I flip my meat every time I think of it, which comes out to be about once every 3-5 hours or so.  Make sure the side that has seen the least love gets flipped into the marinade before you go to bed, and flip it back over the next morning while your coffee brews.  If you do this, you will end up with something special when you get home from work and are ready to cook.

Note: Many people prefer to marinate their meat in a plastic bag so they can forget about it once it’s in the fridge.  This is undoubtedly an easier way to marinate, and guarantees an even soak.  However, I don’t like plastic bags.  I hate the waste and find that they flavor the meat, especially when used with acidic marinades.  Glass is the only container for me, but the method you use is entirely up to you.

Marinades

Now that you’re a bonafide shoulder meat expert, let’s move on to marinades.  I’m going to let you in on a secret that will change your life—marinades are simple and can be made from almost anything as long as they contain these 4 elements: Acid, base, sugar, spice.  Easy right?  So for instance, I always use olive oil as my base.  Oil helps keep the meat moist while cooking.  The acid is where I like to mix things up.  Today’s recipe utilizes red wine, which is great, because then you have an open bottle and an excuse to drink it (you don’t want it to go bad now do you?)  On nights when I prefer to drink a beer or a nice gin and tonic, I opt for vinegars.  Apple cider vinegar is great, especially for the tougher shoulder cuts, and can be procured locally almost everywhere.  Balsamic is always a winner, because it’s delicious.

Next is the sugar.  You don’t need much, but a little sugar helps to brown the outside and seal in the juices, as it caramelizes when it hits the hot pan.  It also helps to cut the acidity of the wine or vinegar.  A teaspoon of brown sugar will do, but I prefer a little Worcestershire—It pains me to report that Lea and Perrins uses high fructose corn syrup, as well as “natural flavoring” which generally translates to “chemical flavoring.”  Annie’s makes an organic version that I plan to try when I run out of what I currently have.

Finally, the seasoning.  I use garlic in everything, and marinade is definitely no exception.  Depending on the meat, I’ll use a spattering of herbs—rosemary and thyme are great, but there are plenty of others you can try as well— oregano and basil is another winning combo.  Again, ask the farmer who sells herbs at the market if she has any recommendations, or just smell a few and give the ones you think would taste good a shot.  Whatever you pick, It’s generally best to keep it simple.  Refrain from using more than 2 herbs at any one time.

Now you know the principal behind tenderizing marinades.  You can swap out any of the following ingredients for other ingredients of the same nature (acid for acid, base for base, etc.)  The measurements are essentially the same no matter what you’re using, though I tend to reduce the acid to 1/2 cup if I’m using vinegar.

Red Wine Steak Marinade

3/4 cup reasonably fresh red wine (if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t marinate with it.)

2 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP Worcestershire (or 1 teaspoon of brown sugar or honey)

4 cloves of garlic, minced

Approximately 1 TBSP fresh thyme, minced (1 teaspoon dried)\

Approximately 2 TBSP fresh oregano, minced (1 TBSP dried)

7 good cranks of freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon table salt

Wisk the ingredients together, then add jaccarded meat to the mix.  Let the steak marinate in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours, but no more than 24.

When the steak is ready, remove it from the marinade pat dry with a paper towel.  You want to remove any excess marinade before you cook, because marinade will steam the steak and rob you of the nice, crispy outer layer.

Heat a skillet or grill on high heat with 1 TBSP olive oil (if using a grill, rub the oil directly on the dried steak.) When hot, add the steak.  Cook on high for 1 minute on each side, then turn down the heat and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes per side for a medium rare 1’’ steak.  Cook times will vary, and trial and error is the best way to know for sure how long it takes (I know, I wish I had a better answer for you too.  Fact of the matter is that the cook time will ultimately come down to the heat your stove/grill throws off, and how your pan/grill grate absorbs and holds it.)

Remove the steak from heat and let it stand for 3-5 minutes before cutting.  When cooking, the juices will be active, and if you cut into it the moment you remove it from the heat, they’ll all rush out onto your plate where they are least useful.  Standing for just a few minutes helps the meat re-absorb the juices and gives you a superior steak.

Note: It is important not to overcook bison.  Shoulder meat in general tends to be lean, but bison is even leaner, so be careful or you’ll end up with a hockey puck!  Better to err on the side of underdone than overdone.  If worse comes to worse and you cut into the meat and find it too rare, don’t worry about it.  Put it back on the heat for a few more minutes.  Even if you just want to test the doneness of the steak, be sure to let the it rest for few minutes before cutting into it!  If you don’t get it right on your first try, just consider it part of your kitchen initiation.  Pay attention to the cook time and temperature you used (I keep notes myself) and you’ll be spot on next time around.

For shoulder cuts, you’ll want to carve the steak against the grain on a bias.  The grain generally runs the length of the cut, so you’ll cut on the width (i.e. so you get more slices that are shorter as opposed to less slices that are longer.) Tilt your knife towards you in order to create a slice of meat that is wider than the width of the steak (i.e. on a bias.)  Make your slices as thin as you can for maximum tenderness!

I used my bison to make fajitas, but you can also use it on salads, in sandwiches, or straight up with some fluffy mashed potatoes and a veggie of your choice.

Enjoy!