How To Trim And Tie Beef Tenderloin?

Recipes for beef tenderloin are great for Sunday dinner or holiday menus. But learn how to tie a beef tenderloin so the meat cooks evenly before you even turn on the oven.

Turn to roast beef tenderloin for Christmas dinner, Easter brunch, or any other Sunday dinner you want to feel more like a holiday. It’s crucial to learn how to tie beef tenderloin regardless of how you season or slice it.

Tying beef tenderloin limits the amount the meat spreads while cooking and keeps the meat roughly even from edge to edge, allowing for even cooking time. If you follow these instructions for tying beef tenderloin before roasting, your roast beef will be beautifully uniform in shape as well as succulent and juicy.

Removing the Chain

You’ll notice that the tenderloin has a fat end and a tapered end once it’s on the table. You’ll also find a thin strip of meat running the length of it, only loosely attached to the main portion. For roasting, this is known as the “chain,” and it should be removed. Pull it away from the other meat by grabbing the end closest to the tapered side of the tenderloin. It should be very simple to remove, requiring only a small snip with the tip of your knife to do so.

You can salvage the meat from this chain by carefully trimming away any excess fat or connective tissue. Its great in stir-fries or quick stews.

Removing the Connective Tissue

Now is the time to remove the tenderloin’s thick layer of connective tissue. Starting in the middle of the roast (the precise location is immaterial), slide your knife’s tip under the layer of white connective tissue. In order to reduce the amount of actual meat you cut off, try to keep the knife tip as near to the surface of the meat as you can.

Slide the Blade Through

Slide the blade underneath the tissue to cut it free from the meat once the tip of the blade has emerged from the opposite side of the connective tissue. Pull the connective tissue taut against the blade with your free hand. As you scrape your blade against the connective tissue, it should be slightly angled away from the meat. This will also help minimize meat loss. Continue sliding until the blade emerges a few inches from where you began.

Slide Knife in Reverse

Turn your knife over, pull the flap you just made taut with your free hand, and slide the knife underneath again, this time moving in the opposite direction. The connective tissue flap ought to separate in a single piece.

Repeat this process until all connective tissue is removed.

Trimming Off Excess Fat

Trim the small pockets of fat (located close to where the tenderloin was attached to the interior of the spine) after the connective tissue has been removed.

Trim the Fat End

A substantial meat lobe from the tenderloin’s fat end connects to the main length. There is some connective tissue and fat sandwiched in between these two pieces of meat. Trim it out as best you can with your knife’s tip.

How to Tie Up the Meat

The whole, trimmed tenderloin you have now isn’t quite roasting-ready. First, you must equalize the thickness differences between the fat and narrow ends.

Fold the Narrow End Back

Create a relatively even thickness along the length of the tenderloin by folding the narrow end of the tenderloin back under itself.

Tie the End in Place

Tie the tenderloin at one-inch intervals using butchers twine. Butcher’s knots are the simplest to use for this, though regular square knots will work.

A Whole Tenderloin, Ready to Roast

The entire tenderloin can now be tied and prepared for roasting. A whole tenderloin can serve eight to twelve people and weighs between four and five pounds.

Getting at the Center Cut (Optional)

The center-cut tenderloin, also referred to as the chateaubriand, is a large, even piece of meat that weighs two to three pounds and serves four to six people. Because it cooks more evenly than a whole tenderloin, it is a desirable cut.

By removing the fat and narrow ends, you can reduce the entire tenderloin to just the center cut, if you’d like. Then, those ends can be set aside for use in another dish or further cut into steaks for grilling or pan-searing.

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How To Clean and Tie a Beef Tenderloin like a PRO | Chef Jean-Pierre

FAQ

How do you trim a beef tenderloin?

Tying beef tenderloin limits the amount the meat spreads while cooking and keeps the meat roughly even from edge to edge, allowing for even cooking time.

How do you tie a whole beef tenderloin?

The chateaubriand is the center, bulkiest section of a beef tenderloin. You can either roast and carve this section, or grill it and serve it as individual steaks. In either case, it’s crucial to remove the chain, the skinny, fatty portion that runs alongside the tenderloin.