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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,408
Registered: ‎01-27-2014

Re: What is with all this tough meat?

I am picky about meat. I only buy "prime" from Sams Club.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,845
Registered: ‎10-03-2011

Re: What is with all this tough meat?

[ Edited ]

We get our meat from Costco and everything has been consistently great. They had low inventory and rationing during the worst of the pandemic and I ended up buying chicken at Aldi.  The boneless skinless breasts were huge - AKA pumped with hormones.  I won't be doing that again. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,889
Registered: ‎08-20-2012

Re: What is with all this tough meat?

can't speak to the beef or chicken BUT I do believe that in the past few decades the pork industry made a concerted effort to reduce the amount of FAT in pork meat.  That made the pork more lean so that may be where the tough is coming from.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,195
Registered: ‎04-10-2012

Re: What is with all this tough meat?


@Zhills wrote:

@depglass wrote:

I remember cooking pork chops when I was 12.  My mother worked and this was a meal I could do well, those chops turned out tender every time.  Now days I have to braise them forever to get them tender.  Steak?  I haven't had a really good steak in years, one of those melt in your mouth kinds.  If I don't needle it to death with one of those tenderizers, its barely edible.  We are even running into tough chicken breasts.  What is going on?


I have experienced the same thing lately and, yes, I do buy a good quality of meat.


I have found the same thing in the past year mainly with CHICKEN...........tough chicken breasts.........and i hadn't found the chicken tough during all the years before

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,886
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: What is with all this tough meat?


@Kachina624 wrote:

Try buying your meat from a different source.  I, for instance, will not buy meat from any Kroger-owned store.  The tenderness is determined by the USDA grade that you buy.


@Kachina624, I was wondering about why you will not buy Kroger meat. They have closed here but I stopped buying from them a long time ago  because it seemed that meat and poultry had an odd taste. The chicken breast had such heavy striations that I wondered if it was even chicken.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,391
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: What is with all this tough meat?

@tiny 2   My mother used to shop there.  I think she bought chicken elsewhere but I tried to eat many, awful, tough hunks of beef she bought there.  I bought my meat at Albertson's and got decent meat.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,057
Registered: ‎05-24-2010

Re: What is with all this tough meat?


@JeanLouiseFinch wrote:

We get our meat from Costco and everything has been consistently great. They had low inventory and rationing during the worst of the pandemic and I ended up buying chicken at Aldi.  The boneless skinless breasts were huge - AKA pumped with hormones.  I won't be doing that again. 


I never buy fresh meat from Aldi, but I dfo buy the frozen chicken breast (it is Tyson). They are hormone free. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,845
Registered: ‎10-03-2011

Re: What is with all this tough meat?


@manny2 wrote:

@JeanLouiseFinch wrote:

We get our meat from Costco and everything has been consistently great. They had low inventory and rationing during the worst of the pandemic and I ended up buying chicken at Aldi.  The boneless skinless breasts were huge - AKA pumped with hormones.  I won't be doing that again. 


I never buy fresh meat from Aldi, but I dfo buy the frozen chicken breast (it is Tyson). They are hormone free. 


Things are back to normal at Costco now, but I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks! 🙂

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,318
Registered: ‎03-16-2010

Re: What is with all this tough meat?

My mother wasn't a good cook although she tried. She would make pot roast, it was always tough. I found if you let it sit in the tomato sauce with the vegetables overnight, it would tenderize the meat.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,078
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: What is with all this tough meat?

Yes, i have had the same problem, steaks are just not the tender, hambuger is not tasting good,unless i buy from local source.

When you lose some one you L~O~V~E, that Memory of them, becomes a TREASURE.