That hour I spent fighting a chuck roast before my dad walked in

I was trying to break down a chuck roast for stew meat and kept getting these ragged, torn pieces. My dad came over around 2 PM on Saturday and watched me for a minute, then told me I was going against the grain on every single cut. He showed me how to feel for the muscle lines first, and now I actually get clean cubes out of a $25 roast from the local market. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple trick completely changed how you handle tougher cuts?

3 comments

3 Comments

blake_cooper7d ago

Dad showing you the grain trick is like getting cheat codes for cooking.

ryanj607d ago

Tried it with rice and now I can't eat takeout anymore.

gonzalez.vera4d ago

Look, I gotta disagree that this is like getting cheat codes. Learning to follow the grain is basic knife work, not some secret trick your dad unlocked. It took you an hour to figure out what most YouTube videos cover in the first five minutes.