To trim beef tenderloin, remove visible fat, the tough chain muscle, and the inedible silver skin. Use a sharp knife and start at the thick end, working towards the tail in controlled slices. Optional steps include removing a small ear of meat and trimming fat.
To cut beef tenderloin, there are three steps that can be followed in any order desired. The first step is to remove as much fat from the meat as possible without damaging the tenderloin. The second step is to find and remove a long, bumpy strip of tough meat known as a chain, and optionally remove a small piece of meat known as an ear, which disrupts the shape of the tenderloin. The final step involves the removal of a very strong sheet of tendon known as the silver skin. Next, what’s left is the edible portion of the beef tenderloin.
Before starting to cut the beef tenderloin, it is important to have a very sharp knife and towels or napkins to keep the handle of the knife and your hands dry to avoid accidents and leave the meat as intact as possible. The tenderloin has two ends, the larger of which is known as the butt; the thinner end is called the tail. Most cuts should start at the thick end and work towards the tail, usually in short, controlled slices.
The first step in trimming beef tenderloin is to remove any visible fat from the surface. There will be several areas of fat that can be trimmed, sometimes taking a small amount of edible meat with them. In particular, there is a large area of fat just below the butt end of the tenderloin. Some fat cannot be removed from meat without actually gouging the surface, so it is normal for some areas of fat to remain.
Next, there’s an area that has a different texture to the rest of the meat; this is known as the chain. The chain is a very tough, thin muscle that runs the entire length of the snaffle. Starting at the head, the top of the chain is firmly attached and may be difficult to separate; once loosened, the rest of the chain can be removed by hand only. At the tail end of the tenderloin, there may be a long piece of meat that appears to be loosely attached; this is called the ear and can be cut away from the tenderloin and saved for later. These steps are not always performed by butchers who cut beef tenderloin.
The last step required to cut beef tenderloin is to remove the silver skin. This is a thick, translucent, smooth white sheet that covers most of one side of the tenderloin. It is inedible and can shrink during cooking, folding the meat. It can be separated in one place with a sharp knife and then possibly removed with your fingers. If it’s particularly tough, you can use a knife to gently cut small sections of the silvery skin until it’s completely removed from the tenderloin.
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