why is my meat tough?

[bjlc57]

I have a le Cresuet dutch oven.. for the past 18 years I would put my meat in this magic pan and it would FALL OFF the bone or you could cut it with a spoon .. but this past year.. all the meat is coming out tough.. including yesterdays corn beef which i cooked at 275 for about three hours and it was at 170 temp when i took it out.. the taste was great but the meat again was tough.. what is going on? please please help me.. this was covered in water.. I don't use a grate to put my food on.. I have used one in the past. .but this was what i saw on AMerica's test kitchen.. but other beef roast are tough tough tough. no more touch it and it falls apart.. has my pan gone bad?

 

[kruizer]

170 is not hot enough to tenderize most tough cuts. It needs to be at least 200 degrees. That is a generalization but it is mostly true. you need to cook tough cuts longer.

 

[miller51]

Agreed, I did a small corn beef point last night for hash this morning and only did a little water in the dutch oven with some onions and ran it at 260* for almost 6hrs to hit 205* and it probably could have went another hr and 5* more, but had 2 butts to pull... You can use them with a higher temp like 325* and get things done sooner, but the end temp and feel is whats going to make it fall apart regardless of what temp or time you use. As every bbq guy I've ever talked to has told me, the meats done when it's done, no 2 pieces cook the same and cook times are only guidelines.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Dutch Ovens don't go Bad, especially $200 to $400 LA Crusuet! There are hundreds of families still cooking in Great Grandma's Cast Iron Dutch Oven.
As the guys above pointed out. The meat is not cooked enough. An IT of 170 is just Well Done, but no where near Falling Apart Tender. For Beef Pot Roast, or Corned Beef fork tender is typically 195 to 200°F. Fall Apart or Shread with a Spoon is 205 to 210°F...JJ

 

[bjlc57]

okay but for the past year.. roast after roast after roast is tough.. in the past.. I would put the grid in the bottom of the dutch oven .. put in an inch of water and put a pack of onion soup mix over the top of the roast and it was to die for. and suddenly this past year or so.. they are all tough as shoe leather..

 

[bjlc57]

plus I thought that over temp was over cooking ..meaning the meat would get tougher and dried out..

 

[noboundaries]

The OP never says what "cut" of beef he's calling a beef roast. Could be that your beef supplier has changed their meat to a lower grade, but the temp is probably the real issue. Just about any cut of beef will fall apart tender if braised long enough.

I use time as a general guideline, and I can't remember the last time I temped a braised chuck roast, brisket, tri tip, or corned beef. I go by probe tenderness only. I stovetop braised two corned brisket points today (St Paddy's Day) in a Dutch Oven. They weren't ready at 2hrs 45 minutes, were almost there at 3hrs 15 mins when I started adding the veggies. Fork tender at 3 hrs 40 minutes. I was ready for them to take 6 hours if needed. They were melt in your mouth juicy and tender when sliced across the grain. I have no idea of the grade of meat. They were commercial corned briskets I pre-soaked in water for four hours to de-salt, but I knew if you add heat long enough, they'd get tender.

Overbraised meat will fall apart, not dry out, unless you keep cooking for hours and hours beyond the fork tender point.

 

[Meatgr1nder]

I have a le Cresuet

LA Crusuet!

It's L E C R E U S E T

There are hundreds of families still cooking in Great Grandma's Cast Iron Dutch Oven.

There are hundreds of families still living in the jungle, wearing loincloths and roasting maggots on the bonfire

Le Creuset might be expensive, but it's the gold standard of cookware.
https://cookwareinsider.com/why-is-le-creuset-so-expensive/

 

[chef jimmyj]

Ooppps...Stupid Auto Correct! I get on a roll and missed the change.
Le Creuset is one of the best Dutch Ovens I've worked with. I would make great use of the 9Qt model, but at $425? That is not a priority. The 9Qt American Made Lodge is $120 and will do EVERYTHING the Le Creuset will do Plus, look good after several hours in a Camp Fire! Le Fancy Frenchy can't do that!...JJ

 

[bjlc57]

made another pork roast last night.. wife pulled it at 170 degrees.. just tough again. cooked it at 225 for 3 plus hours.. I assume that you are saying to have cooked it longer.. 200 degrees minimum? i was not in the room when she removed it.. I put an inch of water in the bottom of the Le Creuset dutch oven.. but this has got to stop..

 

[noboundaries]

Once again, no mention of the cut, just "pork roast." A pork loin will be tough at a 170F final temp because it is overcooked by 30F internal temp. A pork butt/shoulder/picnic will be tough because it is undercooked by 30 and still filled with connective tissue.

WHAT'S THE CUT!

 

[SmokinEdge]

made another pork roast last night.. wife pulled it at 170 degrees.. just tough again. cooked it at 225 for 3 plus hours.. I assume that you are saying to have cooked it longer.. 200 degrees minimum? i was not in the room when she removed it.. I put an inch of water in the bottom of the Le Creuset dutch oven.. but this has got to stop..

Once again,,,,,,,, the internal temperature of the meat must be ~200 degrees F.
170* will always be a tough roast.

 

[noboundaries]

Saying my "pork roast" is tough and it used to be tender is like saying "my car" now gets lousy mileage and I'm using the same gasoline, so what's the problem?

Specifics make all the difference to find the right answers. Grocers can label a lot of cuts as a "pork roast."

 

[jcam222]

I agree with everyone’s comments that the temps you are getting wouldn’t yield fall apart tender meats. The interesting thing however is you apparently used it successfully for year or more prior to having issues. I have to assume during that time you cooked more by time rather than finish temp. I think what your are saying is that those cook times no longer are giving you tender meat. If my assumptions are correct is it possible the lid is warped or cracked and your aren’t getting the same sealed cooking you were before?

 

[bjlc57]

well honestly I stick by my original post.. when we first got this dutch oven from the outlet store ..We could do no wrong.. every thing.. including an old shoe came out tender.. and fell apart.. and now I just can't come up with the same success.. btw .. my kid bought me a Le Cresuet Frying pan from the same outlet and that frying pan has a DEAD SPOT in it.. you can fry burgers and one section DOES NOT HEAT.. dead.. burger does not cook..

 

[jcam222]

well honestly I stick by my original post.. when we first got this dutch oven from the outlet store ..We could do no wrong.. every thing.. including an old shoe came out tender.. and fell apart.. and now I just can't come up with the same success.. btw .. my kid bought me a Le Cresuet Frying pan from the same outlet and that frying pan has a DEAD SPOT in it.. you can fry burgers and one section DOES NOT HEAT.. dead.. burger does not cook..

Answer this, when you were getting good results were you cooking to a time and not a finish temp? If yes and you got a great result for a year and no longer do obviously somethings changed. If you are using the same quality meats, recipes, times etc I am betting your lid is not sealing and you are losing the steam that tenderizes the meat. “Try this tip Trap that steam

When braising meat, one of the keys to good results is trapping steam inside the cooking vessel. Take a cue from cooking legend James Beard to make sure none of that steam escapes. In his recipe for Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic, he recommends making a paste from flour and water to seal the lid. The paste is dabbed around the edges where the lid meets the pot — this ensures that not a wisp of steam escapes, resulting in surefire fork-tender meat.”

 

[kmmamm]

Don’t think it is a cooking vessel problem. Have you calibrated your heat source? If not, you may be cooking at a much lower temperature than you think.....a faulty element/burner is a much more logical explanation for the symptoms you describe. The “dead spot” comment is particularly telling of a heat source issue. If you don’t have the thermometers to calibrate, try to borrow someone else’s stove/oven to do a cook.

 

[bill1]

Saying my "pork roast" is tough and it used to be tender is like saying "my car" now gets lousy mileage and I'm using the same gasoline, so what's the problem?

Specifics make all the difference to find the right answers...

It is hard to control all the variables in the "science" of cooking. You may think you're doing everything the same, and maybe an IT of 170F used to give you a tender roast, but maybe your thermometer was off before? But the more accurately you measure IT (and for me that comes down to using multiple cheap thermometers) the more I think you'll be convinced that 170 is just TOO LOW to let those muscle molecules break up and give you tender meat. And with a Dutch oven (no matter what you pay for it) you should find they DON"T dry out at 200F

Give it another try and let us know.

 

[bill1]

...Le Creuset might be expensive, but it's the gold standard of cookware.
https://cookwareinsider.com/why-is-le-creuset-so-expensive/

This is kinda' going off-topic, and I'm not looking for a war here, but I didn't find that article very convincing as to any quality advantages to Le Creuset? I did find the link to 6qt enameled Lodge cookware very useful...added that to my Wishlist...but what is it about the way that French company casts its iron or applies glaze that makes it better for cooking, more durable, etc? I do find them extremely beautiful finishes...the pictures rarely do them justice...and I'm all in favor of spending money on beauty, but are there tangible advantages? Please teach me.