I'm looking for ways to get really tender steak and other meats. Besides the usual beating the heck out of it with a tenderizer hammer thingy. We tried marinading it overnight and it helped a little, but not enough. Any other suggestions?

Pressure cooker and crockpot. Both can give you really tender meat.

I guses I should have specified that we usually grill it. George Foreman grill it. Any ways to get the fresh steak tender before grilling it? I'll think about the crockpot and pressure cooker though, thanks!

Marinate your cuts overnight and also with beef you have to have a cut that is somewhat marbled.. like a ribeye..(obviously you want to keep your portion under 6oz) very lean meats will never be as tender as you would like, if you are going to cook on the George.. (I love this thing and I make chicken breast on it all the time)..

We did marinate one overnight. It seemed to help but it was still a bit tough. I think it was a.... I can't remember what type of steak it was, but it wasn't marbled. And it was boneless, I know that. Maybe we will have to use the tender-hammer thingy. At least it's good stree relief!

Depending on the cut of meat and how you cook it really determines the tenderness. When I have steak I usually get it medium-ish, so it's still a little pink inside and it's always been tender for me. Even the day after, it's still just as good as the day before.

Some marinades are more tenderizing than others. Accent is a meat tenderizer (it does contain MSG, though so if you're sensitive to it - if you've eaten chinese restaurant food, you probably would know). Another tenderizing ingredient that breaks down the fibers in meat, making it more tender is pineapple, but it has to be fresh or frozen to work better than wine or other acidic marinade ingredients. Kiwi might work too, because I know you can't add either fruit fresh or frozen to jello because it will never set (because it breaks the protein connections that makes the jello gel).

You might try Google or Ask.com to find meat tenderizing tricks. Whenever I have a cooking question, I can usually find the answer in a few minutes this way.

brining works well for almost all meat. Not so much tenderizing as really juicy. I'll use a brine for anywhere from 2 hrs to overnight.

But not much can save really bad meat. For grilling you need to start with a somewhat good cut. Save the cheap cuts for roasts and stews