How can you make steaks tender at home?

I'm a pretty good cook except when it comes to steaks. No matter what I do, they come out like hockey pucks. I've tried baking, broiling, and tenderizing and yet they are never tender. What is the key to cooking tender beek steaks at home?|||The key is using the proper cut of beef.





For steaks, the tender cuts are T-bone, Rib-eye, Porterhouse (which is essentially a t-bone), NY Strip and filet mignon.





Look for the words Rib or Loin in the name of the steak. However, avoid the steaks that use the work "mock" in the name. "mock" tenderloin... is not a tenderloin steak so it will be tough.





Sirloin is the borderline steak... but still good and is probably the "lowest" you want to go with a steak.





Steaks that are cut from Chuck and Round will be tougher because these are the cow's working muscles. You usually end up with little hockey pucks when you try to cook these... so I generally avoid if you're cooking steak.





With a good steak... salt and pepper is really all you need.


yes, you can get fancy... garlic powder, onion powder... etc or use Montreal seasoning. At this point it all becomes personal preference to how you like it.





Edit... someone mentioned stabbing the steak with the prong thing. That's a jaccard meat tenderizer. It will probably work on tough cuts, if you have one.|||Season the steaks with meat tenderizer seasoning and pound the steaks out with a meat tenderizing tool. Make sure you thaw steaks out in the fridge do not microwave. If you buy them directly from the store don't plan on eating them until the next day, but right when you get home do the seasoning and pounding.





Do not over cook the steaks, if you say they come out like hockey pucks it sound like your heat is too high and you might be overcooking them. Steaks need to cook over low heat.





The first answer says cook hot and fast, but I never have luck doing that. I know people that can make a great steak that way but I am not one of them!!|||I get my skellet smokin hot throw on your meat 3 min on both sides and your done|||when i buy my meat i put it in a freezer fridge like storage, the temperature there is exactly 0 c





i keep the meet there for 4 days up to week then i freeze it in the normal freezer





it works great, the meat is soft and tender|||It starts with a good steak.





Have you tried marinating your steaks in apple cider vinegar, perhaps with steak sauce added for flavor? I've found that's very good for making meats tender- especially beef.|||The best advice I can give is to let the meat come to room temperature before cooking. If you just season it and slap it on a grill, the protein bands constrict and that makes the steak tough and rubbery. But allowing it to come to room temp, you stop the "shock". Also, don't poke at it while it cooks. Put it on the grill and leave it alone for at least 3 minutes ( depending on how you like it cooked - alittle longer won't hurt if you like it med - med/well), if it feels like it's sticking, leave it for another minute. Flip it over ONCE, with tongs or a spatula - NOT with the fork. When you pierce the meat, it allows all of the juices to escape and that means a dry piece of meat.


When it's cooked to your liking, remove it from the heat an let it "rest" for at least 5 minutes (up to 20 minutes if it's a large cut of meat). This will allow the juices to distribute evenly throughout the meat - they were all pulled to the surface of the meat during the cooking.|||I was with my brother and we stabbed the steaks a million times with an object with a few prongs coming out. It ended up tasting really good and it was not hard to eat.|||I leave the steak in the fridge for at least two days before cooking it. I find that as the meat ripens, it softens. If it looks like the meat will be tough, I "marinade" the steak for about two hours in Coca Cola.|||Bro get a Geroge forman grill those work perfect|||well of course it starts with a good steak, a sirloin, ribeye, or a filet mignon, season as needed, grill it really hot, and fast! good luck.|||First make sure you buy a decent cut of meat, rib eye is good, anything that has some fat, but not too much. You can actually make a really tender steak from very lean meat too...its all in the cooking. If they're tough, they're probably cooking TOO long and on too LOW of heat. A very hot pan for a shorter amoung of time is best. I also never tenderize the meat with a mallet because it mashes up the steak and can cause juices to run during cooking. The trick is not to pierce the meat during cooking, give it a good sear to hold juice in, and let it rest for a little bit after cooking.





First take your steaks out of the fridge for 20 minutes before you cook, so the middle won't be cold and it will cook more evenly. And season it how you want. I like to buy store seasonings (like Pappy's low-sodium), but you can make your own, one of my favorites has a little sweet paprika, salt, pepper, small sprinkle of sugar, small sprinkle of cumin...





Then get a pan really hot, its hot enough when you can only hold your hand two inches above its bottom for a few seconds.





You can lightly coat the bottom with cooking spray or olive oil or leave it dry.





Then slap your steak on, make sure you have a pan large enough to give your steak room. For an average 6-8 oz. cut, let it sear for about 2-3 minutes, then flip (don't use a fork, it will pierce the meat, juices run out and it will make it tough, use tongs)...then let it sear another few minutes depending on how done you want it. If you want ti more tender, you should have it less done, and deep pink in middle.





Let it rest 5-8 minutes before cutting it, or juices won't have time to settle in meat...





Good luck!