We eat a lot of tenderloin around here, in fact we probably have some sort of tenderloin almost once a week. For the longest time, the cuts at Big Y were great, and I would happily shell out nearly $20/lb for the steaks. But lately, I have been unhappy with the quality of the tenderloin we have been getting from there. So, I did what I always do and got to studying.
I learned quite a few things in a very short time. Interestingly, I learned that the red liquid that spills out of beef packages is not blood, but rather a red protein liquid designed to keep the meat red (and looking "fresh" as we seem to know it.) Without the red protein liquid, the meat would be brown, and we equate that with old. The liquid is not dangerous but you should at least blot it off before preparing the meat. Who knew?
I also learned that if a beef tenderloin is cut properly, there is no connective tissue on the steaks. Almost every filet mignon steak I've bought from Big Y recently seemed to have a main piece and then some other piece barely hanging on with connective tissue that is difficult to chew. After studying the cut a little more, I realized it is because the butchers there are slicing through the whole tenderloin and not dividing the chateaubriand from the chain and the wing. I'll explain what that is and why that matters, but for now, just know I felt a bit ripped off! But let's start from the beginning...
Whole tenderloins are often sold as "peeled" - meaning most of the connective tissue and silver skin have been removed. This does not mean it is completely cleaned and if you pick one up expect a little bit of work to make it amazing. I picked this tenderloin up from Arnold's Meats in Chicopee. They're getting $8.99 a pound for tenderloin this week and that's a way better price than the grocery store. I like to buy one of the biggest ones I can get my hands on because that means the chateaubriand as well as the wing are larger, and I can pull a few more steaks out of them than if the tenderloin is smaller. I figure, if you have to work, you should at least reap the most reward!
I like to start with a large cutting board and a filet knife. I also get a garbage bowl ready and after I open the package and take out the tenderloin, I give it a quick rinse and pat it dry with paper towels before I begin. You can see that out of the package, there is quite a bit of fat and silver skin.
At this point, I usually take a moment, turn the meat over a few times, and get a feel for where the three parts of the loin begin and end. This gets easier the more you do it, so cut yourself some slack if this isn't readily apparent the first few times you do this. The chain is easy to spot as it usually looks like it wants to come off on its own. Much of the chain can be removed with just your fingers. You can see it in the photo, stretching along the bottom of the meat. It's a thin piece of meat that once it is cleaned up a bit - it is perfect for stew, kabobs or a casserole. The wing is the large piece on the end that is connected with tissue to the chateaubriand. You can pull some of it away with your fingers, but you will need a knife to completely remove it. The wing is also good for stews or casseroles but if it's large enough, you can also pull a few more steaks out of it.
Using the tip if a filet knife is really handy in dividing these pieces as a lot of the connective tissue is stringy and cuts well with the knife tip. The idea is to work on the connective tissue, just gently lifting and stretching the meat section while running the knife tip over the tissue, and only cutting through when necessary. Keep at it until all three of these pieces are free from each other.
Cutting up a whole tenderloin will take some time, so go slow and don't rush. Once all three pieces are cut apart, you can take the wing and the chain and return it to the fridge to keep cold. I found the first few times I cut a tenderloin, it took me a while and you won't want the meat you're not working on to warm up or begin to spoil.
Working on the chateaubriand first, begin cutting any fat away from the meat using the knife tip, lifting the fat as you gently slice and lift. Fat on this cut of meat is totally useless; it will not melt in any way and it will do absolutely nothing for the moisture of the cooked meat, so it's more than ok to ditch as much of it as you can. Continue to trim and turn the meat slowly, moving along the surfaces.
The silver skin also needs to be removed. Although this silver skin is the same as the silver skin you would find on the back of a rack of ribs, the meat it encases is not the same. Although it is ok to pull the skin off ribs with your hands or a paper towel, it is not ok to do this with the tenderloin. It is too fragile and pulling on it will rip the meat.
Your best bet is to get the tip of your knife under the silver skin, trying hard not to be too deep in the beef and gently pull the skin while you run the knife edge along the underside of the silver skin. This will keep most of the beef intact and will avoid a rough or jagged edge on the tenderloin that you would get from sawing it off.
Once all of the fat and silver skin has been trimmed off, you are left with a beautiful, center chateaubriand that is suitable for a holiday roast or could be cut into big, chunky steaks.
A good chateaubriand will have a uniform thickness, or at least a decent shot at uniform thickness. There really are three sections to the center cut, the roast section which lies in the center, and the two tips. If you wanted to cut the whole thing into steaks, there are tricks to the smaller ends, including cutting it thick and butterflying it to cutting it a little thicker and pounding it out. I've also seen folks tie up two pieces with butcher's twine. Any way you want to slice this, no pun intended, you can't go wrong!
I needed a two and a half pound roast for tonight's dinner (Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Port Sauce,) so I cut the center piece first. The two tip ends were still pretty sizeable, so I was able to cut 6 steaks about 2" thick.
I wrapped those pieces up and put them in the refrigerator and then got to work on the chain and the wing.
There is quite a bit more fat, silver skin and connective tissue on these cuts, but the technique is the same. I use the chain and smaller wing parts for Beef Stroganoff, so I trim and cut chunks from these pieces. The wing on this tenderloin was pretty big, so in the end, I was able to pull three more 2" steaks and a pound and a half of cut chunks for Stroganoff.
The process took me a little less than an hour and in the end, we wound up with a two and a half pound roast, one and a half pounds of steak chunks, and 9 thick cut steaks, with no pieces dangling off or chewy connective tissue!
Most of the tenderloin is used in this fashion, too, which is a great value. I work with a garbage bowl close by, so it's easy to discard any trimmings and not have to keep running to the trash or the disposal.
This cut was pretty lean, overall, and my trimmings were fairly small. I'll get at least 5 meals out of this one tenderloin, and so $77 for 5 meals comes to just over $15.00 a meal which is awesome for beef tenderloin! At Big Y, $15.00 would only get me 3/4 of a pound of subpar tenderloin steaks, full of silver skin and fat.
Since I started buying whole tenderloins and cutting them up myself, we've saved money and have had much better cuts of meat and better meals. And with the addition of our vacuum sealer, we can buy whole tenderloins and pack the cut meat so there will be no freezer burn or waste. I highly doubt I will ever buy "grocery store" tenderloin steaks again.
So don't be intimidated by the "whole peeled tenderloin." It's a great value and better meat if you just spend a little while taking care of it the right way.