Blade Tenderized Meat from Costco

[AlphaPapa]

My wife was showing me a post on a forum she watches for Costco deals about them having “blade tenderized” ribeye beef caps for sale. Someone in the forum posted that the process they use could introduce bacteria into the center of the meat and therefore it must be cooked to an internal temp of 145. The meat packaging has a note about this as well.

What do y’all think? Is this true of all their beef?

 

[Jim6820]

The blade-piercing technique does introduce pockets that could harbor bacteria. That means it should be cooked (temperature-wise) just like ground meat (hamburger, etc.). So, in my book, ground meat and blade-pierced meat should be cooked to at least medium doneness (145F internal temp minimum). Personally, I’d probably go to 160F just for safety’s sake, and I’d want to hold it at that temperature for at least 5 minutes before serving.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I've been buying their Prime. I'll take a look at the packaging for that label. I recall it on the Choice grade, but I haven't bought Choice in a few years. I don't think they're blade tenderizing on their Wagyu steaks, they've been carrying in the past year or two.

We're lucky in that we have a Costco and a Sam's Club literally back to back. I like the pork and briskets better at Sam's. They also started carrying Prime steaks in the past year or so.

 

[AlphaPapa]

Thanks @Jim6820. I’ll keep this in mind. I guess it doesn’t matter with brisket since we cook it to such a high temperature. But, I don’t think I’ll buy any blade tenderized beef that I only want medium rare.

 

[Jim6820]

Correct! Sub-primal cuts can be safely cooked to lower internal temperature due the minimal level of bacterial incursion into solid meat. Once you open routes to bacterial incursion, you have to cook to a bacteria-killing temperature. That’s about 160F-165F.