Tissue steak, anyone? Now that’s a tough chew
Definition: Tissue End, beef — The sirloin end of the striploin that contains a half-mooned shape of very tough connective tissue.
We are going to let you in on a little secret. Armed with this knowledge any person can visit a butcher shop and immediately identify the retailer’s philosophy in terms of both product quality, and how they view their customers. Stop by the beef striploin section and look at each steak closely for a half-mooned perfectly shaped white line; if you see this your “red-flag” should go up.
This is called a “tissue” or “vein” steak. It is very tough and will easily spoil a great backyard barbecue dinner.
Most striploins will cut on average 10 to 12 regular sized steaks. The final three or four steaks running into the tougher sirloin can be called the tissue end. Until recently, the primary measure to rate the quality of the striploin was by how tender it can be (the other measure and growing in clout is flavour).
The tough connective vein in the tissue end left a huge problem for butchers and meat sellers as to what to do with up to 25% of tough (and costly) beef.
Tissue end good for steak burgers and kebabs
Nearly all grocery stores stock and price tissue end steaks on their shelves without discrimination. But at the same time, so do some of the independent butcher shops. At Olliffe, we always separate the end and use it in three ways: send to the kitchen for prepared foods, grind and use in big-flavoured steak burgers or make steak kebabs.
Next time you are at your local meat purveyor, have a look at the tray holding the striploin. If you find a half-mooned line in the centre of the steak, you will know how they not only view their product but also how they view you, the customer.
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