It would have been MUCh easier to chew if you had sliced it across the grain. Just like the Tri-Tip these have grain and you need to study the piece before you cook it to slice it effectively. The blue is the grain, the green of course cuts. This will reduce the length of the fibers and make it easy to chew. If cut the other way you are putting long fibers into your mouth and cutting them with your teeth..