3 Important Things to Know When Buying Beef Tenderloin | McCormick (2024)

FAQs

What are the quality characteristics of a beef tenderloin? ›

It has a very fine texture and is extremely tender. It is also fairly lean, but has a very rich flavor despite a relatively low fat content, although some higher grades can exhibit more marbling.

Browning the tenderloin first is optional, but it benefits the meat by caramelizing the outside and locking in the juices. Quickly brown the tenderloin on all sides in a large skillet ($45, Bed Bath & Beyond) with a little olive oil over medium-high. Transfer the roast to a rack in a shallow roasting pan.

It comes from the short loin, or the psoas major of the beef carcass. Because the muscle is not weight-bearing, it contains less connective tissue, which makes it tender. Although it is generally not as flavorful as some other cuts of beef, it is greatly desired for being the most tender cut of beef.

When purchasing meat and poultry, it's important to use your senses of touch, smell and sight. Always make sure the meat is firm to the touch, and check that they packaging doesn't have any tears, holes or excessive amounts of liquid. It should also be cold to the touch and have no odor.

A quality grade is a composite evaluation of factors that affect palatability of meat (tenderness, juiciness, and flavor).

The first three quality grades — Prime, Choice and Select — are the most commonly recognized by consumers and are considered food-grade labels by USDA.

Prime roasts and steaks are excellent for dry-heat cooking such as broiling, roasting or grilling. Choice beef is high quality, but has less marbling than Prime. Choice roasts and steaks from the loin and rib will be very tender, juicy, and flavorful and are suited for dry-heat cooking.

The three main "cuts" of the tenderloin are the butt, the center cut, and the tail. The butt end is usually suitable for carpaccio, as the eye can be quite large; cutting a whole tenderloin into steaks of equal weight will yield proportionally very thin steaks from the butt end.

Do you wash beef tenderloin before cooking? ›

However, washing raw poultry, beef, pork, lamb or veal before cooking it is not recommended. Bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensils and surfaces. We call this cross-contamination.

DON'T cut steaks that are less than 1 1/2 inches or it will cook too fast and you are very likely to over-cook it. The best thickness for a filet mignon is 1 1/2 or 2 inches. Use a sharp knife to cut the tenderloin center into steaks. You now have the steaks that are ready to be cooked.

Overcooking it.

Tenderloin is lean and one of the most tender cuts around, but the lack of fat means that overcooking it will result in dry, tough meat. Follow this tip: Tenderloin is best served rare or medium-rare, so use a thermometer to make sure it doesn't get cooked past 140°F in the center.

Filet mignon is a small, tender cut from the beef tenderloin, which is a lean meat that runs along the sides of the cow's spine [*]. Cooked correctly, beef filet mignon tastes like the most tender steak you've ever had.

A beef quality grade is a composite evaluation of factors that affect palatability of meat (tenderness, juiciness, and flavor). These factors include carcass maturity, firmness, texture, and color of lean, and the amount and distribution of marbling within the lean.

Marbling, or intramuscular fat, is the primary factor determining USDA Quality Grade, an indicator of the palatability factors of tenderness, juiciness, and flavor.

Quality of meat is affected by the genetic propensity of the animal, how the animal is reared, and the nutritional status during production. These factors affect the fat, lean and connective tissue component of meat and therefore influence meat quality.

Yield grade is based on the four traits: hot carcass weight, fat thickness at the 12th rib, percent of kidney, heart and pelvic fat, and ribeye area.

Evaluating Quality

Quality in retail meat cuts deals with the palatability characteristics of tenderness, flavor, and juiciness, and the visual quality of the cut. The palatability characteristics of a retail meat cut are primarily infuenced by: Amount of intramuscular fat (marbling) in the cut.

The meat should be firm and dry, never wet and wobbly. Marbling (interspersed fat) gives juicier meat and more taste. The pieces should be evenly and carefully cut.

What factors are used to determine meat quality? ›

Meat quality is closely associated with the chemical composition of skeletal muscle and is therefore influenced by the pre-mortem metabolic state of skeletal muscle tissue. Muscle metabolism is affected by various pre-mortem factors such as diet, age, genetic background, and environmental temperature.

Most fed beef will be A maturity. Physiological maturity is determined by the ossification (cartilage turning to bone) pattern of the backbone, lean color, and rib bone shape and color. The most important factor is the ossification pattern of the dorsal tip (button) of the thoracic vertebrae.

For starters, beef tenderloin is the longer and larger cut of beef, and it is fine-grained and lean, making it great for dishes such as beef wellington, or slow-oven roasting. Filet mignon is a special, sought-after, and expensive cut of beef that is small and lean and contains little to no marbling.

Filet Mignon is part of the Tenderloin, which is why some see Tenderloin and Filet Mignon as one in the same. Filet Mignon is cut from the tip of the Tenderloin, a delicate and tender area of the loin primal.

Beef Tenderloin is best served medium-rare. Because this cut is so lean, it can become dry and lose flavor when cooked beyond medium. A meat thermometer is essential in creating a memorable and delicious Beef Tenderloin.

The structure of meat is mostly composed of an animal's muscle tissue, which is made up of three major components: muscle cells, connective tissue, and fat.

Beef, veal, lamb and pork roasts, steaks and chops may be kept 3 to 5 days. After cooking, meat, poultry and seafood can be safely stored in the refrigerator 3 to 4 days.

Baking soda applied to the tenderloin increases the surface pH, accelerating the Maillard browning reaction for added flavor before the direct heat overcooks the meat.

There are different ways to tenderize meat, including slow cooking, marinating, and pounding. While you can tenderize meat at home using a meat mallet or rolling pin, some manufacturers handle the process by using mechanical tenderization, which involves breaking down the meat's connective tissue with sharp blades.

What does vinegar do to meat? ›

Acidic ingredients like vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt and wine weaken collagen and protein in meat. Once the proteins are broken by acid, one loose protein can bond with another and trap liquid in the meat, making it juicy and tender.

Do not overcook it. As with any lean cut of meat, if it is overcooked, it will be dry. The key is to cook it to 145 degrees Fahrenheit and no more.

If you're feeding four people, you will need 1 pound (16 ounces) of raw, trimmed beef tenderloin, which will yield 3 ounces cooked beef per person. A five-pound trimmed tenderloin will feed 20 people, and so on.

A whole tenderloin can range from 5 to 8 lbs and can feed 6 to 12 people, depending on slices cut and sides served with it.

The Aging. Most fine restaurants age their beef to intensify the flavor and improve the tenderness of the cut. Aging is done by letting the meat sit (in very controlled conditions) for several days or weeks.

Thinner pieces will overcook, while thicker pieces will end up too rare. When cooking a whole beef tenderloin, tuck its end under itself and then tie the whole thing up so that it is the same thickness all the way around.

If you're serving a small crowd, say four to six guests, a center-cut tenderloin is nicely evenly shaped for roasting whole. A tail-end tenderloin is ideal for larger dinner parties, although you'll want to tie the roast to ensure even cooking.

There are eight total quality grades: Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner. They have been used by the beef industry since 1927. The first three quality grades — Prime, Choice and Select — are the most commonly recognized by consumers and are considered food-grade labels by USDA.

For a holiday meal you'll want a whole tenderloin, and that will feed approximately 8 – 10 people. Allow at least 1/2 pound per person in your calculation. For more people you can cook multiple tenderloins. For a family meal, you can purchase a smaller piece, the butcher can cut it down for you.

Overcooking it.

Tenderloin is lean and one of the most tender cuts around, but the lack of fat means that overcooking it will result in dry, tough meat. Follow this tip: Tenderloin is best served rare or medium-rare, so use a thermometer to make sure it doesn't get cooked past 140°F in the center.

Is USDA Select tenderloin good? ›

USDA Select graded meat is generally leaner and has a significantly less amount of marbling than prime or choice. Tender select cuts such as rib, loin, and sirloin are best to use when cooking on a BBQ grill. It is highly recommended to marinate all other cuts before grilling to bring out as much flavor as possible.