With One Simple Request, Butchers Will Help You Prep Tough Steak Cuts

Prepping and working with meat can be difficult. It's why butchery is a specialty career in that requires very specific skills and knowledge. So, what are you doing not using that service for all that it's worth? You can leave the butcher shop with perfectly tenderized meat that you didn't have to lift a finger to achieve by simply asking the butcher to do it for you. 

With recipes like tacos, cheesesteaks, stir fry, and other dishes that typically use tough cuts of meat like flank, skirt, and chuck steak, tenderizing is necessary. It can also be a bit of a pain to tenderize steak and other meats at home, but it's something any good butcher would be happy to do for you before even leaving the shop. When asking your butcher to do anything extra like trimming fat from your meat or tenderizing, just be sure to be polite and respectful. Keep in mind that if the shop is very busy, they may not have time to go the extra mile for you. Also understand that you may be charged a small fee for the extra service, too. Whether you're shopping at a specialty butcher shop or a supermarket butcher shop may impact their ability or willingness to provide extra services like deboning, trimming, or tenderizing, as well. Either way, there's a lot to gain from being kind and friendly with your butcher, especially if you frequently prepare and eat meat in your home.

Butchers may tenderize your steak with a mechanical tenderizer that pierces the steak with either needles or blades to soften the muscle fibers. This method is also performed on many ready-cut steaks that you'll find in the normal meat section of the grocery store. It's a faster and more efficient tenderizing method than pounding with a mallet.

If, for whatever reason, your butcher isn't willing or able to tenderize a cut of meat you're buying, there are a few cuts that you will absolutely need to make sure you still tenderize at home. The types of steak you should be tenderizing include the very popular flank, skirt, and tri-tip steaks, as well as chuck, sirloin, flat-iron, bavette, merlot, and a few others, too. Basically any cut of steak that has little to no fat and is on the less expensive end will need a little extra love and care before being prepared and eaten. There are a few different ways to tenderize steak, the most popular of which is pounding it with a mallet. This method physically breaks down the muscle tissues and creates a more tender and juicy piece of meat after cooking. It is possible to take it too far when using a mallet, though, so be careful you don't accidentally turn your flank steak into ground beef. And, whenever possible, leave it to the experts not just for your sake, but the sake of your steak, too.