Cook them low and slow, and do a reverse sear. Meat is like your muscles, rapid temp changes can cause them to tense up and get tougher. Cook them low, like 200-225, and indirect and they’ll stay more tender, juicy, and evenly cooked. Once they get to about 10 degrees below your desired temp (i always shoot for med-rare, so I pull at 120-125. Tent under foil to rest while you crank your grill up to 500-600 degrees. If your grill is gas, wait a while for this so your steaks rest about 10 minutes. Your streaks will do some carry over cooking while they rest, and will get closer to your desired temp. Then slap them back on the grill at the super high temp for about 1 minute per side to sear the. Because they’re already at 125-130, they’ll take the sear much better, and the high quick sear will get you to your desired temp. And because they rested already, and only cooked for 2 minutes, no need to rest again, they’re ready to eat.

Use a temp probe, dont cook by time or looks. Accurate temps are the key to great and repetitive cooking/grilling meat

Wow, Steve, thanks for the good and helpful info!

Smiles,

Sooz

Sous vide too.

A lot depends on how thick your steak is. If it's less than 3/4 inch, you will be hard pressed to get any kind of a sear without over cooking....and over cooked rib eye steak will be tough.
Next time buy 21/2 to 3 pounds of a bone in roast and do it like Steve says....still thinking of the one my son cooked Christmas! Low and slow until it reached about 120......long rest...maybe 2 hours, tented in foil then foil removed and into a blazing hot oven for a short time....will re warm it and give you some crispy ends that some people like.

beat it with a hammer!

Was it nicely marbled? And not thin? And not overcooked?

If yes to all three, buy your meat somewhere else.

Presalt a day in advance

Grill on high heat. Let rest. As long as you don't over cook the steak should be tender. Of course it also depends on the quality of the meat.

In general, there is no way you can tenderize meat. You may be able to make meat not get tougher by not over cooking.

Meat quality has gone down. Even prime grade is not as good anymore.

The two true methods that actually can tenderize meat are 1.) dry aging and 2.) sous vide.

I have for today's dinner a nice thick boneless rib eye in my sous vide cooker (24 hours at 129F). I expect it to be tender, juicy and delicious.

dcarch

Have to say I have never had a rib eye that wasn't tender............always grilled on medium high heat ( after hearing on high )and cooked to medium rare.

I use Alton Brown's method. Works perfectly every time.https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pan-seared-rib-eye-recipe-2131274

We have rather limited and irregular meat cuts here - sometimes it's marbled and thick and lovely, other times, thin, maybe a line of marbling or scarcity of. Fish is the same also... although I can't 'look' at fish and smell it, but I can see discoloration (ugh). No real butchers here, only the grocery store.

Darn you all! Or rather, thank you all! I've got a sous vide on my wish list... along with several other items.

sooz, if it's a good cut (and around my area, good cuts never go on sale) I also pan sear high heat quickly, finish in the oven, let rest. I have fallen for the sales, hoping to make something of nothing... I don't do that anymore as I find it's a waste of money.

I love kitchen /cooking toys but a sous vide gadget is not something I have any desire for. You can tell just from photos when something has been sous vide'd just from the way it looks. The texture is weird. Especially beef and lamb. And why would I want to take hours to cook something that can be perfectly cooked in a matter of minutes.

I do understand that for cooking on a large scale, for a banquet that it would have value.

Many of us have documented our opinions of sous vide (I’m less negative than Ann and less positive than others) but I am curious as to the intent of a long bath for a tender cut like ribeye. What are you going for, DC?

I was thinking of a sous vide for tougher, cheaper cuts of beef... then finishing them off on the cooktop, when I can't find anything better. Would I be wrong in this assumption?

gardengal, if you've never tried the reverse sear on a ribeye (low and slow, then sear) don't knock it. It's widely considered the best way to grill a ribeye by many of the sites I've researched, and for the people in my house. Cooking it all at a higher temp means more of the outside of the steak will be more done than the core. cooking low and slow and searing at the end means it's more evenly cooked to medium rare or rare.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2017/03/how-to-reverse-sear-best-way-to-cook-steak.html

Steve, I have tried it and you are right it does make a good steak. BUT, my preference is still cooked on a hot grill. We like our steaks on the rare side and I can achieve that with this method and it takes considerably less time than the slow and sear method. Whether the slow and sear, the high heat grill or the sear and finish in a hot oven or even DC's sous vide method, they all work. Just a matter of personal preference. There is something for everyone.

Wet aging can also contribute to tenderness, but that is best done on a large cut. I regularly buy whole rib roasts at Costco or Restaurant Depot and age them in their cryovac packaging for several weeks, then cut them into steaks myself. Precut steaks will have too much surface area that has been exposed to bacteria to do this, IMO, even if you have a Foodsaver to cryovac them.

I like my rib eye waved over a very hot grill. My husband will not eat his if there is any pink. His goes on the grill first, seared on one side then the other, then moved to a cool area of the grill. In a few minutes, mine goes on over the coals, flipped over, and then removed to rest. In a minute or two, his is removed and both rest until the plates come out of the cabinet.

He seems to like his and mine is never tough. Mine is also rare to medium rare. If it doesn't run away it is fine.

ETA: If your rib eye is tough, you have a bad steak. Buy at a different store. I bought rib eyes at a big box store that the name starts with a W when we were camping and they were awful. They tasted like a bad roast.

Thanks everyone for weighing in on this!

Smiles,

Sooz