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SubscribeTuesday, August 28, 2007
Steak Recipe: Turning Cheap “Choice” Steak into Gucci “Prime” Steak
How to Make the Most Tender, Flavorful Steak Recipe
If you are a steak-lover, I hope that the title of this post + luscious photo is enticing enough for you to read though the entire article. Because I promise you that it’s worth it. Even if you don’t eat steak, this is a must-read…as you can impress the hell outta your carnivorean friends (and sometimes, when you’re a vegetarian in a herd of carnivores…it would just be nice to have that extra, “dude….you didn’t know that about steak???!” in your pocket.)
My entire family (including the 2 yr old kid) just adores any type of steak recipe…you could probably classify us as professional steak-eaters. In fact, it is my husband’s life-long quest to hone his grilling technique so that our steaks at home turn out charred crusty on the outside and perfectly medium-rare on the inside. With grill marks for show, of course. Seriously, we are too cheap to eat out and would rather cook a nice steak recipe at home. For the past 4 months, we have been experimenting with how to get full, juicy, beefy flavor of a ribeye with butter-knife tenderness of a filet mignon without feel like getting ripped off buying Prime cuts. And after 4 months of eating steak 2x a week, I think we’ve figured it out. So, my friends, I am offering you a very juicy secret, one that will turn an ordinary “Choice” cut of steak into a gucci “Prime” cut (And yes, I know what “Choice” and “Prime” means – it’s the marbling. The salting doesn’t affect fat content – I’m using those terms as a figure of speech and something people can relate to)
Do you know the joy of buying Choice and eating Prime? It’s like buying a Hyundai and getting a free mail-in rebate for a BMW upgrade!!!
The Steak Secret: massively salt your steaks 1 hour before cooking for every inch of thickness.
Notice that I didn’t say, “sprinkle liberally” or even “season generously.” I’m talking about literally coating your meat. It should resemble a salt lick.
Here’s two nice pieces of regular ‘ol supermarket steak. They’re about 1.25 inches thick, so I’ll let them salt for about 1.25 hours.
Season liberally with kosher salt on both sides:
And then just let it sit on your counter.
After 15 minutes, it will look like this — you can see how the meat’s water is starting to come up to the surface — and that some of the salt is still on the surface of the steak.
After 30 minutes, you’ll see more water:
After almost an hour:
And now 1.25 hours – see all that water? You can also see that there’s still salt on the surface of the steak.
The next step is to discard the water, rinse the steak really well to rid of all the salt. Pat very dry. Very very dry with clean paper towels so that absolutely no moisture is left on the steak.
Then it’s time to cook.
Before y’all throw a hissy fit, just hear me out. I first learned of this technique from Judy Rodgers’ The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco’s Beloved Restaurant
Oh, and if the drawings look like a 3rd grader did it, too bad….YOU try drawing with a laptop touch-pad and a glass of bourbon on the rocks.
How Salting Works
All of you who season JUST before grilling – this is what you are really doing to the meat. Did you know that? All the water comes to the surface and if you don’t pat super-dry, you’re basically STEAMING the meat. Plus, your salt just sits on the surface of the steak, leaving the interior tasteless.
Now – note that only a little of the salt gets to go back into the meat. Don’t worry – you aren’t going to be eating all that salt!
Bourbon does that to me too.
I can hear it now..BUT!!! What of all the water that stayed on the surface of the meat? Aren’t you drawing all the moisture out of the meat? Will it taste like a salt lick? (*%!*%!@#!#!!! I DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS STEAK RECIPE!!!
Pull your pants back on and keep reading…
Verification on Technique
Cook’s Illustrated January 08 issue (and you can also find it on their paid portion of their website. Just search for “Improving Cheap Roast Beef”) They salt a 4lb roast beef (big, fat, thick meat) and they are using 4 tsp kosher salt – therefore their steak recipe recommends salting for 18-24 hrs. It’s all related: thickness of meat : amount of salt : time.
Salting Steak Recipe Key Points
- Use kosher or sea salt, not table salt <– that is important. It will not work well with tiny tiny grains of table salt. Plus, table salt tastes like shit.
- Use steaks 1″ or thicker.
- Follow my timetable (below)
- If you are Harold McGee, a member of Alton Brown’s research team or Mr. Burke my high school chem teacher…..and think I’m full of B.S…. please let me know. But guys, none of this was in your books. I had to formulate, extrapolate, hypotholate and guesstulate based on your stuff. Highly mental activity.
- I know this sounds awfully like salt-curing, which dries out meat (like beef jerky). But with salt curing, you use A LOT more salt and leave it salting for A LOOOOOONG time. We’re talking about a little tiny nap here – not weeks – just enough to break down the proteins and flavor the steak throughout.
- Again, don’t worry about all that salt. Just enough of it gets absorbed into the meat. Most of it gets washed down the drain when you rinse off. Really.
- I know you’re going to ask…so I’ll answer it for you. Why not brine? You could if you really want water-logged diluted-tasting crappy steak.
I understand that this method will cause chaos, confusion and controversy in your household. But I encourage you to experiment: try adding spices, crushed garlic and rosemary sprigs to the salt, which will then act like Christina Aguilera dragging its entourage of flavors with it into the meat. If confusion in the household becomes unbearable, just whack’em with the hunk of salted steak..
Grilled Steak Recipe with Garlic-Herb Butter
Revised 9/13/10 to make salt ratio and timing easier to remember
1. Buy a good sized Choice steak. I like mine 1.25 to 1.5 inches thick. Any cut of steak: Filet, Sirloin, Rib Eye, Porterhouse, T-Bone and NY Strip – they all work. Though, please remember to get steak that you’d normally buy to grill. Don’t go buying some weird cut like the cow armpit and expect it to taste just like a NY Strip. You can do this with steaks less than 1″, just really watch your timing. If your steak is already superbly marbled – cut back on your timing and your salt! The fattier (more marbled) the meat is, the faster the salt works its way through the meat.
2. Sprinkle 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of kosher/sea salt PER SIDE. Use the photos at beginning of the post as guide on how much salt. For every inch thickness of steak, let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Less than 1-inch steak: 30-45 minutes
- 1 inch thick steak: 1 hour
- 1.25 inch steak: 1 hour and 15 minutes
If you don’t have that much time — well then, add more salt, cut back the time it sits. It’s all related:
Thickness of meat : Amount of Salt : Time
And vice-versa, if you need to stretch your time, use less salt. Example: the above steaks that are 1.25″ thick – I should salt for 1 hour 25 minutes. But if my timing works out that I’m not grilling for 2 hours – then I’ll cut back on the salt and let it sit for 2 hours.
If you want to salt for more than 2 hours or overnight – sprinkle the steak with 1/2 the amount of salt that I’ve instructed (look at photos for reference), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
3. Rinse all salt off on both sides, pat very dry with paper towels on both sides <- that part is important. Season with fresh ground pepper (no more salt is needed). Grill to your liking. Top with Garlic-Herb Butter immediately to let it oooooze and aaaahhze all over the steak.
Garlic-Herb Butter Recipe
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened (not melted, just softened)
handful of fresh herbs (any combination is fine. My fav is basil and parsley)
1-3 cloves of garlic, smushed in garlic press
To make the Garlic-Herb Butter, combine all ingredients. Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap. Spoon butter mixture on wrap. Roll and shape butter into a log. Refrigerate to firm up for 30 minutes. Slice into 1/4” disks to top the grilled steaks. You can make butter up to 3 days in advance. Make sure you use unsalted butter – the steak is seasoned perfectly already.
Another use for herb butter? 
Notice the consistency in ingredients (first photo and the one below): perfect steak always go so well with homemade shoestring fries or homemade potato chips. The green stuff is just to give color to the plate. Unless it has garlic-herb butter slathered all over it too.
Other steak recipes you might enjoy:
How to dry age steaks at home with Drybag method
Watch me talk about Kobe Beef Burgers on CBS
Artisan Steak Tasting – taste test of 6 steaks from small artisan ranchers
Skirt Steak Tacos Recipe & Parking Adventures of La Tacqueria
No Knead Bread – so easy a caveman 4-yr old can do it
Negative Calorie Chocolate Cake
Garlic Truffle Shoestring Fries
Tropical Island Salmon: cooking fish low ‘n slow creates the most dreamy, silky fish
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Hah!, that’s my grocery store too. Works with cheap pork from The “A” Grocery in Echo Park too.
Thanks for the tips. I will be going home to try it tonight and tell you the results.
I was laughing so much at the side remarks and comments that I forgot to pay attention to the actual salting process… I had to read it again – for the article this time! Great sense of humour.
Thanks.
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This website is Hilarious!!! I am salting the steak now! I cannot wait to keep trying this! Thanks so much!!
I’m trying to recipe as we speak, with a cheap cut of meat 1 inchish cut. I’m heavily salting both sides with thick pieces of Sea Salt and about a teaspoon of rosemary on 1 side. My idea behind heavily seasoning is to test theories about if it turns out too salty, or if people were just using Table(fine), or not rinsing well enough. I am worried as the salt on the bottom will release the water, but won’t it just re-absorb into the meat? I will post my results later tonight. With salt level, if rosemary made it into the meat.
Reporting back. My first observation was, I wished I had bought a slightly better cut of meat. I’m not sure what the name was, but it was like 4$ a lb so it was cheap. I put ton’s of salt on both sides and was able to rinse it all off pretty easily. I let the meat rest for 5 min after grilling. What caught my eye was there was alot of “water” still on the bottom of my dish even after letting it rest. The salt content was fine for me, but the fiance and daughter said it was slightly salty. The thing I liked about this is, you don’t need to season it, other than with the salt precook, and the cracked pepper afterwards. As for the butter, I didn’t make a roll. I chopped garlic, parsely, and butter. Put in a small dish and just warmed it microwave, and just dipped steak in it. Was great. Overall a success.
Thank you very much for awesome tips and expelling to well!
Love it! That it is so detailed
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I had such a craving for steak the other day that I did this method to a small chuck roast. That was the best roast I ever ate! Thank you for this!!
Wow. Did not work at all. Salty and gross!
You probably used too much salt or left it too long, hon. It works everytime if once you get it right!
Can’t wait to try this with some steaks this weekend! Any idea if this works with pork?
I tried it on pork, but it didn’t work for me.
I tried this and ended up with tough salty steak
I tried it last night and it worked a charm! Just don’t leave it too long and you’ll be fine.
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DO NOT TRY THIS !!!
It was a foolish thing of me trying this ‘salting’ process knowing that it will eventually suck out all the moisture out of the meat.
I regret wasting a 4 kilo chunk of rib-eye by following steps on this site, the meat turned out extremely dry and even harder than the pieces that did not get the salt treatment. Even my little dog wasn’t able to chew on the meat. If you’re intending to throw away your food, try out this method.
Whoever invented this philosophy should be dragged to the street and shot !
By far the very best steak I have ever prepared at home! An absolute winner! Thank you very much for the tip!!!
tried it last night….dismal failure. Used sea salt, rinsed well and patted dry. It was still tough and too salty. Good meat remains good meat. Don’t know if I have the courage to try it again.
If you are in no rush; best results would be ‘Brining’ for 24hrs.
Use about 10% salt to water ratio…for me using ‘Halen Mon’ Salt…I use combination of the Welsh Oak Smoked/Cellery/Plain.
Heat the pan of water, stir in the 10g of salt per 100g of water. Then allow the mixture to cool cold before putting in your steaks.
It’s to taste really but I find this ratio works for me to give a steak that may have additional sauce/jus.
I do go 15% but would say that was if you were serving up a steak ‘as is’…again, its to taste.
Same as the salting method, take out the steaks from the brine and pat dry. When steak hits the skillet/pan, flip the steak every 15 seconds (not left each side for the minute or two as some recommend). Do this until you reach the total time given for the thickness of steak you are cooking.
Brining 24hrs will allow the salt do its job to tender and season the steak perfectly throughout.
Hope this helps those that couldn’t manage the heavy salting method which can be hit or miss if you are not used to that way. I must say that heavy salting method could cost you the price of a nice steak if it goes wrong, where as ‘brining’ is a great method that will not cost u a good steak in the bin or jaw ache!
If you are in no rush; best results would be ‘Brining’ for 24hrs.
Use about 10% salt to water ratio…for me using ‘Halen Mon’ Salt…I use combination of the Welsh Oak Smoked/Cellery/Plain.
Heat the pan of water, stir in the 10g of salt per 100g of water. Then allow the mixture to cool cold before putting in your steaks.
It’s to taste really but I find this ratio works for me to give a steak that may have additional sauce/jus.
I do go 15% but would say that was if you were serving up a steak ‘as is’…again, its to taste.
Same as the salting method, take out the steaks from the brine and pat dry. When steak hits the skillet/pan, flip the steak every 15 seconds (not left each side for the minute or two as some recommend). Do this until you reach the total time given for the thickness of steak you are cooking.
Brining 24hrs will allow the salt do its job to tender and season the steak perfectly throughout.
Hope this helps those that couldn’t manage the heavy salting method which can be hit or miss if you are not used to that way. I must say that heavy salting method could cost you the price of a nice steak if it goes wrong, where as ‘brining’ is a great method that will not cost u a good steak in the bin or jaw ache!
Awesome read dude! very informative and screw all the hating chumps ! From one carnivore to another great skills bro!
Thanks Derek, hope you try this next time and would be interested for your feedback, positive am quite sure
…BUT hey, if negative or you find a better brine method then let me know also. I love learning new methods and mine won’t suit everyone, as above like you say 
Don’t know the names of steak cuts compared to UK cuts, but I’ve done this on most. Rib Eye & Sirloin are our favourites and the occasional fillet. However fillet being an expensive cut, some people still manage to ruin a fillet although a tender piece to start. Brine and quick 15 sec sears either side and it’s done.
If BBQ…maybe 30 sec flips on 600′F heat.
I brine as a rule now. Red Carnivores of huge steaks are back in this house purely on brining. Prior to this it was always a hit and miss, steak russian roulette! So stuck to Chicken/Pork/Lamb/Fish only.
Another great method I have just started dabbling in is SousVide…WOW…it’s what God invented cattle for
)
Prep the meat the same, brine 24hrs…vac seal then SousVide a steak for a few hours, you can throw the steak in the waterbath temp set to 131′F and it’s done when you get home 2-6hrs for a 2″ thick sirloin or ribeye…pat dry then flip on a VERY HOT dry skillet afterwards 15 seconds x 4, so 1 minute total and you’re laughing!!
(Or a nob of brown butter thrown in the hot skillet if u prefer just before steak hits it. Butter needs to be sizzling like crazy, or you will end up having the steak soak up the butter and poaching.)
Finish: Slice of garlic butter or whatever butter you like once plated, rub it over so you get a nice glazed looking and mega tasty steak.
Comments from friends when they come round to eat is worth the small time using the prep. Try it and see.
I totally agree with your salting suggestions. It’s a technique I learned from Micheal Symon and it’s makes all the difference in the world. I always plan ahead and salt all/any meat at least overnight. Also bring all your meat to room temp is a simple, delicious tip. Save the water brine for meat you’ll cook on a smoker. Otherwise, the texture suffers terribly!
Brining is a method I learnt from Chef Heston Blumenthal, not restricted to smokers and if the brine is prepped correctly shouldn’t cause the terrible sufferg .
Salting overnight will draw out all juices and tighten the protein.