Heard a customer say 'blade tenderized is just fancy for bruised meat'

I was trimming a ribeye last Saturday when this older guy at the counter pointed at our pre-cut steaks and said that. It got me thinking because we do blade tenderize some tougher cuts at our shop in Portland. I looked into it more and found out it can push bacteria deeper into the meat if you aren't careful with temps. Has anyone else had customers push back on blade tenderized stuff, or do you just not mention it?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles_perez6d ago

Labeled all blade tenderized cuts with a cooking temp warning on the packaging. Helped customers understand it's about safe handling, not quality. Sales stayed the same, and nobody complained about feeling tricked.

hannah2406d ago

Real talk, the blade tenderizer thing always sounded more like a marketing gimmick to me than an actual quality upgrade. Most people I know who cook a lot at home just use a meat mallet or even a fork if they want breakdown, so getting all worried about bacteria from a machine feels overblown if you just cook it right. Plus, with how cheap some cuts are this time of year in Portland, nobody really cares about the tenderizing method as long as the price is right. Maybe shop owners should focus on telling customers a simple temp and time to hit instead of making a whole deal out of the process.