ANOTHER Fajita failure..

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ANOTHER Fajita failure..

Postby Chasdev » Thu May 23, 2019 6:53 pm

Last time I cooked fajitas/shoe leather I tried to figure out what went wrong and one of the things I learned was that I needed to find "inside skirt steak" instead of the lower grade stuff most stores offer.
So I did that, found inside skirts, marinaded them in lime juice, olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, salt, pepper/s and for 7 hours.
Got the big Webber roaring hot let the meat come to room temp and grilled them 3 minutes a side, which left a nice dark sear on both sides.
Covered them with foil for five minutes while the scallions finished cooking and sat down to eat.
Shoe leather, again.
I've got a jar of fajita enzymes that tenderize meat, I guess next time I'll try that.
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Re: ANOTHER Fajita failure..

Postby woodenvisions » Thu May 23, 2019 7:00 pm

May I suggest something ??
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Re: ANOTHER Fajita failure..

Postby Chasdev » Thu May 23, 2019 9:20 pm

Fire away.
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Re: ANOTHER Fajita failure..

Postby woodenvisions » Thu May 23, 2019 9:51 pm

Chasdev wrote:Fire away.
I've recently been introduced to a fairly affordable but delicious cut of beef called a Shoulder Tender.
It goes by quite a few names depending on what zip code you reside in as I found out. First time the butcher knew it as Shoulder Tender, the next time an hour away it was called a Clod !

Anyways, here is a description below ...
Screenshot_2019-05-23-20-03-28.jpg


I'm willing to bet that if you cook it this way I describe and then slice it up against the grain and season it, it will be great for Fajitas.
Who knows, what have you got to lose ??


Anyways, I season it with S&P , that's it !
I imagine Sucklebusters SPG or 1836 would be excellent as well.
Let it sit wrapped an hour or two in the fridge and take it out.
Hit it with some Grapeseed Oil, then Season again Liberally and let it come to room temp.
Get ur coals hot, about 325 and cook INDIRECT till it hits about 130 internal temp and then finish it with a Reverse Sear in a SUPER HOT Cast Iron pan on all sides and let it rest an hour.
I've made this cut twice and both were almost like Prime Rib tender.

I can't see how this would not be great for Fajitas.

Just a suggestion Chasdev.
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Re: ANOTHER Fajita failure..

Postby Copasspupil » Thu May 23, 2019 10:35 pm

Never knew that. Time for a meat hunt for this delicacy...
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Re: ANOTHER Fajita failure..

Postby castironchris » Fri May 24, 2019 5:44 am

If I may offer something, my mother-in-law will not eat any meat with even a hint of red or pink in it. Whenever she is over and we are making fajitas I will sear the fajitas then pull and slice. Even though they are a perfect rare/medium rare for me at this point, I wrap the slices in foil with a few slices of onions and peppers and a good healthy splash of beer and return to the grill for a while. They will literally be falling apart tender and the pepper and onion flavor will be infused nicely. Authentic?? Not by a long shot but it makes her happy and that's all that that really matters in the end I guess.
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Re: ANOTHER Fajita failure..

Postby bsooner75 » Fri May 24, 2019 6:55 am

castironchris wrote:If I may offer something, my mother-in-law will not eat any meat with even a hint of red or pink in it. Whenever she is over and we are making fajitas I will sear the fajitas then pull and slice. Even though they are a perfect rare/medium rare for me at this point, I wrap the slices in foil with a few slices of onions and peppers and a good healthy splash of beer and return to the grill for a while. They will literally be falling apart tender and the pepper and onion flavor will be infused nicely. Authentic?? Not by a long shot but it makes her happy and that's all that that really matters in the end I guess.


This is a good tip right here.

Personally we started to sous vide ours with outstanding results.

Also, are you slicing across the grain? Similar to brisket, slicing fajitas can either make or break the cook.


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Re: ANOTHER Fajita failure..

Postby Chasdev » Fri May 24, 2019 7:05 am

I've been wearing out the google search engine and so far it comes down to tough meat cooked too fast.
My biggest mistake was reaching for the inside skirt, it was OUTSIDE skirt that's not tough.
Seems the outside skirt all goes to Japan and parts east these days due the money it brings there.
So, low and slow is the way to go, followed by a quick sear.
I may use some of the enzyme just for grins.
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Re: ANOTHER Fajita failure..

Postby rexster314 » Fri May 24, 2019 8:23 am

Been cooking fajitas since the craze started back in the mid 70's. Lots of good fajitas, but plenty of failures as well. Costco sells what they call sirloin flap meat. Look like thick fajita meat. This gives excellent results because the meat is thicker and doesn't turn to shoe leather because it's too thin like regular inside/outside skirt steak. Here lately, if I have time, I'll sous vide the meat with Bolner's Southwest Fajita rub for about 4 hours tops, and that will turn out some tasty and tender fajitas after searing on either my gasser or PK grill.
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Re: ANOTHER Fajita failure..

Postby spacetrucker » Fri May 24, 2019 4:51 pm

rexster314 wrote:Been cooking fajitas since the craze started back in the mid 70's. Lots of good fajitas, but plenty of failures as well. Costco sells what they call sirloin flap meat. Look like thick fajita meat. This gives excellent results because the meat is thicker and doesn't turn to shoe leather because it's too thin like regular inside/outside skirt steak. Here lately, if I have time, I'll sous vide the meat with Bolner's Southwest Fajita rub for about 4 hours tops, and that will turn out some tasty and tender fajitas after searing on either my gasser or PK grill.


Rexter you are dead on with the sous vide(daughter gave one for my birthday) my first and only sous vide cook I "cleaned the fajitas" good then in the hot tub for exactly four hours then on the grill for about 5 minutes or so, fantastic out come... call me hooked on the sous vide
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