Don't buy sirloin. Are you buying Prime grade? What state do you live in? I grew up in Illinois and enjoyed great steaks often. They raise them differently in California and steaks are quite disappointing here. After chewing a cut of California steak, you will discover that you still have this cotton wad with no flavor in your mouth. Not good. But locals have no idea what they are missing.

Yep, buy a filet mignon. Costco sells pretty good ones in a 3 or 4-pack--you can freeze the others.

Are you buying sirloin strip steak (like a NY Strip Steak) or is the package marked "sirloin steak" and it's a fairly large steak? There's a big difference between the two.

The sirloin section is made up of two parts; upper or top and lower or bottom. The top sirloin is more tender and flavorful (T-bone, porterhouse, club, filet). These cuts work well grilled, broiled or pan seared. The bottom sirloin is less tender, the steaks are generally larger and less tender. They do better with marinade to break down and flavor the meat.

Personally, if you don't eat a lot of beef and want a good steak, go with the filet, NY strip or tbone steaks.

We had tenderloin for a special treat Sunday night (from Costco)....med rare, very good. Boneless rib or even bone-in rib is a favorite of mine. When I'm watching the budget, we even like the flavor of chuck steak grilled over gas flame, although admittedly it's not as tender. New York is good when that weeks special. Our meat eating habits have changed over the years, and instead of making it the bulk of what's on the plate, I find I can buy and cook one nice steak and we split it at home. I'm fine (more than DH is ;)) with just a very few bites of very good meat, a vegetable and salad - it doesn't take 12 ozs of meat to satisfy me and my taste buds.

I'm not a fan of sirloin, it isn't marbled well enough to be juicy or tender - very easy to get a dry steak when I'm cooking sirloin. I can even manage a dry sirloin roast if I'm not being careful ;)

One sirloin exception has been when Top Foods locally has offered Canadian kobe beef, and they only have it occasionally at a price where I can buy it. The kobe sirloin has been surprisingly nice grilled, but I haven't seen it on sale or even in the meat department at all in many weeks now.

Our favorite is the rib eye, bone in.
Now I want a big steak, and shrimp is on the menu for dinner tonight. LOL

I've been buying sirloin. Today it was Laura's beef (organic, grass fed). Next time I'll try a different cut. Or next time I'll just eat out.

Could the problem be meat or the preparation?

Where are you buying it, how are you seasoning it, and how long are you cooking it/to what degree of doneness?

"Chewy and tasteless" make it sound like it's been overcooked, but maybe not.

Agree with the filet or strip loin. I have to eat antibiotic free meat which is a problem in itself - price wise (heck "regular" beef in Ontario is expensive). We gave up our Ontario Costco membership but the Toronto Costco did not carry antibiotic free or organic meat anyway. In Ontario we can only buy grass fed beef at certain times of the year. In B.C. (Vancouver especially) it is apparently available year round.

Some steaks taste okay - others taste like boiled cotton.

I am not able to marinate or use spices etc. on the beef - so either the beef tastes good or it doesn't - all on its own. It is very hard eating out.

I think sirloin just isn't a good grilling steak anymore...If I want a good one I buy ribeyes or tenderloin...You can count on them being good...some of them are really not what they should be but at least you know it's a decent steak..

Choosing a good cut of beef is only part of the secret to fixing a great steak. You also need to know how to prep it and cook it.

Look for a lot of marbling in the beef. That is the white/fat in the meat. If the meat is solid red, you are not going to get flavor and tenderness.

Organic and grass fed does not necessarily make it "better" . There is definitely a different flavor in grass fed vs. corn fed though.

Do not believe all packaging claims either. Angus beef just means the hide of that animal was black (or a certain percentage of that kill had a black hide).

Organic is not always as great as it is made out to be. I have seen what the inside of an organic beef can look like. No thanks. Abscessed livers and nastiness. No beef can go to market with antibiotic in it. There is a required withdrawal period. I would certainly rather have my beef/chicken/pork come from a healthy herd.

We raise high quality premium beef. It does not go to the grocery store - it usually goes from the kill floor to export and is on a plane out of the country the same day.

The steak you buy in the grocery store was probably cut hot - the beef was never aged. Ageing is what helps develop tenderness and flavor.

Maybe you can find a butcher shop that dry ages its beef.

We too have been disappointed in sirloins. Porterhouse and T-Bones are great. Small section is filet and larger is strip steak. Much less expensive than filet or strip steak individually. Also good is rib eye.

I marinate in Dales Steak Seasoning for 1/2 hour or so then grill. Yummy for sure.

Chuck Steak, Round Steak, T bone, Porterhouse, Filet, London Broil, Rib Eye, Sirloin, all come out delicious on my plate. Whatever is on sale.

"Posted by marita40 (My Page) on Tue, Mar 11, 14 at 16:56

I've been buying sirloin. Today it was Laura's beef (organic, grass fed). Next time I'll try a different cut. Or next time I'll just eat out."

I was going to suggest Mancini's. I used to live at the corner of Nina and Selby.

This post was edited by jmc01 on Tue, Mar 11, 14 at 21:55

Restaurants seem to get the best, aged steaks.
Filet mignon is the most tender.
Costco's are hit and miss.
A butcher will probably have the best steaks.
The more aged they are, the better quality.
The best steak I've ever had was at
Ruth Chris Steakhouse.
Texas Roadhouse is a close second.

Sirloin is not a tender steak these days. What's different now? I don't know, but back in my younger days I bought sirloin all the time and grilled it and was absolutely delicious and tender...NOW, good lord, you need tiger teeth to chew that boot hide. I buy rib eyes or tenderloin if I have a lot of extra cash on hand.

jmc01--I live within a stone's throw of where you used to live!

another vote for ribeye. The fat is the flavor. Look for marbled to get that extra something.

top sirloin was what we used to buy, and had more of the marbling...now, when we want a beef "fix", I buy sam's club stew beef, and slow cook in the oven with veggies...I refuse to pay for fillet...

We had a great NY loin steak last night -- bought at Costco. Choice, not Prime. Three quarters of a pound of meat is enough for the two of us. This steak was an inch thick, flavorful and tender. I broil all our chops and steaks medium rare, merely salting each side while broiling. I don't like 'mushy' meat like filet mignon. I prefer beef liver to calves liver too -- not that I ever cook any with a liver-hating man in the house.

On Maui the very best hamburger meat is grass-fed, from the Ranchers' Cooperative. Wah! Now I'm missing that -- and Roselani's Chocolate Mac Nut ice cream (not together).

I don't eat steak much these days but I never buy sirloin to serve as steak I do buy it to make in a gravy with long slow cooking almost like a roast.

For a good steak I go for a bone in ribeye, boneless ribeye, true porterhouse not tbone, or filet. I do not care for NY strip they are so hit and miss. I have found what they call chuck eye steaks in some stores and they are pretty decent they are from the same area as the ribeye but a lesser cut and not as expensive. I like to squeeze a lemon on the meat and let it set for a little while marinating in it, helps to tenderize it. The amount of marbling is really the key a steak with little or no marbling is not going to be as good or tender as one with it.
Angus beef is one type that is known to have good marbling and is one of the reasons it is popular. Marbling improves flavor, tenderness, and keeps meat moist while cooking. Highest marbling = Prime beef. I don't pay the extra cost for something labeled Angus however. A lot of cattle has some Angus mixed in them. I look for good marbling and the feel and texture of the meat.
Method of cooking makes a lot of difference!

I use Sirloin only for beef stew.

For steaks, it's only Prime tenderloin For a roast - Prime tenderloin only.

Another vote for ribeye!

Also porterhouse or T-bone are good cuts.

Lauras ground beef.....thought it was flavorless...but fixable. :0)

"RE: Can't Get a Good Steak

Posted by marita40 (My Page) on Wed, Mar 12, 14 at 6:23
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jmc01--I live within a stone's throw of where you used to live!"

Marita, When you've posted outside photos of your building....I said to myself......hmmmm, I know that building. I've walked by it hundreds of times! We moved from that house to Lexington just south of Grand....and then 9 yrs ago left MN.