If you are a steak-lover, I hope that the title of this post + the 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 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 cheaper cuts of steak 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 the best way 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 2 times 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 cheap 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!!!
Why This Steak Method Totally Kicks Butt
- Tenderizes Like a Boss: Salt works like a meat tenderizer, turning tougher cuts into buttery, tender bites.
- Flavor Town Road Trip: We’re not just sprinkling on top; this salt gets deep into the steak, making every bite insanely flavorful.
- Juicy Business: Salt pulls out the steak’s juices, mixes in, then the steak sucks it back up. It’s like a juice spa for your steak.
- Pick Your Player: Works like magic on any cut – cheap, pricey, whatever you’ve got. It’s like the Swiss Army knife of steak methods.
- Flavor Level: Epic: Wanna get fancy? Throw in your fave spices or rubs. This method’s like your flavor wingman.
- No More Cooking Guesswork: This steak won’t give you any drama on the grill or pan. It cooks evenly, making you look like a pro.
How to Make the Most Tender, Flavorful Steak Recipe
The Steak Secret: salt your steaks 1 hour before cooking for every inch of thickness.
Here are 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 with kosher or coarse sea salt. If you are used to using regular table salt, this may look like a ton of salt, but just remember that kosher and sea salt flakes are 2-3x the size of table salt.
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 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 touchpad 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… B-B-BUT!!! What about 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”).
Professional chefs 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 muscle fibers 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.
FAQs I Know You’re Going To Ask
- How does salting affect the steak’s tenderness and flavor? Salting, or “dry brining”, works wonders by breaking down tough muscles and connective tissue in the steak. It’s an easy way to make sure every bite of your steak is juicy and flavorful. The salt draws out moisture initially, then dissolves in it, creating a natural brine that’s reabsorbed, seasoning the steak throughout.
- Can this method be used on other cuts of meat, like pork chops or beef brisket? Absolutely! This technique isn’t just limited to transforming a budget steak. It can also work well on other meats like pork chops or beef brisket. The key is adjusting the salting time based on the thickness and type of meat.
- What’s the best type of salt to use for this method? Kosher or coarse sea salt is the way to go. These types of salt don’t dissolve as quickly as table salt, allowing for a more controlled and even absorption into the meat fibers.
- How long should I leave the steak at room temperature before cooking? After salting, let the steak rest at room temperature for the prescribed duration (1 hour for each inch of thickness). This ensures the steak reaches an even internal temperature.
- What are some effective ways to add extra flavor to the steak? Alongside salting, consider rubbing your steak with your favorite rub, fresh ground pepper, or a little bit of olive oil. These can complement the natural steak taste and elevate your budget steak to taste like a tender cut of prime steak.
- Can I cook the steak using methods other than grilling? Yes! While a hot grill is a popular and effective way, you can also use a cast iron skillet or even try sous vide cooking for precise control over the internal temperature. Each cooking method offers its own unique touch to your steak experience.
- What should I look for when buying steak from the local grocery store for this method? Look for thicker cuts like chuck steak or flat iron steak. These cheap cuts of beef often have great deals at grocery stores and respond well to this salting method. Avoid cuts with too much visible salt and tough cuts of meat.
- How can I tell if the steak is cooked to my preferred method? Using a meat thermometer is the best way to check for the desired internal temperature. Remember, the right amount of time on a high temp grill or skillet varies depending on steak thickness and your personal preference for doneness.
- Is it necessary to rinse the steak after salting? Yes, it’s crucial! Rinsing removes the excess surface salt and ensures the steak doesn’t taste overly salty. Pat it dry thoroughly afterward for the best sear.
Side Note: This is another great use for my herb butter!
Notice the consistency in ingredients (first photo and the one below): the perfect steak always goes 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
How to make cheaper Choice steak even more tender and flavorful
Ingredients
PER STEAK
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt or sea salt
- 1 piece steak
Instructions
- Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of kosher salt PER side of steak
- Let salt: 1 hour per 1" thickness of steak. For example, if steak is 1/2" thick, then let salt for 30 minutes.
- Rinse all salt off. Pat very dry with paper towel.
- Season steak with pepper or other seasoning (do not add any additional salt)
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
Stay in touch with me in our 
nice article, thanks for sharing…
Right on Jaden. The kosher or rock-like sea salt tenderizing of steak works like a charm.
I believe I first heard of this from Bobby Flay.
Thank you for your exactness and the slightly profane tongue-in-cheek humor.
DMK
Thank you for this valuable posts, just thanks again for this great insight
meat super blog thank you
nice recipe
let me try it, right now Eid al-Adha
very good blog post, nice
Thank you for sharing your expertise!
nice recipe, i will try
you can turn a cheap “choice” steak into a restaurant-quality “prime” steak. The key is to season the steak well and cook it at high heat to achieve a crispy, golden-brown crust. Basting the steak with butter adds flavor and moisture to the meat, while cooking it in the oven ensures that the steak is cooked evenly throughout. Enjoy your delicious and affordable prime steak!
i like your blog
Thanks for this beautiful Recipe
Its like mouth watering situation for me. will surely gonna try this one. Thanks for sharing
Thank You So Much for sharing.I have found it extremely helpful.
Your cooking Style is good, I will definitely try this method at my home.
Thank you for your article
My Husband and I have been buying our slippers from The Leather Works for years.
I visit your site for the very first time and I must say that you are proving very good data. very well-written post and very informative to me. you are doing are great work through your blogs.
The blog is great. The content is informative and well written. I would recommend this blog to anyone looking for quality information on a variety of topics.
After read your full content I was try this dish at my home. I was surprised I got the actual test and my all family member love this dish. Thank you for your recipe.
Would this work on a pork steak?
You could certainly see your enthusiasm in the article you write.
Good app, I have used and enjoyed.
A shot blast machine is an important piece of equipment that you need to understand how it
works. The machine itself is comprised of several parts that need to be functioning properly. The
machine’s electrical system controls the temperature and humidity levels inside. If the system is
not working correctly, oxidation can result. It is essential to have an air-wash separator and good
dust collection before using the machine. The following steps will help you understand how your
shot blasting machine works.
Love this! I know what I’m gonna be making tomorrow.
Thanks for the amazing recipe. Learning to cook after marriage, never had the time to cook before, hope I can cook for my husband.
I am thankful to you for sharing this plethora of useful information. I found this resource utmost beneficial for me. Thanks a lot for hard work
Superb! You are doing your job very well… I enjoyed everything… Thanks for taking the time to talk about it… The person who wants to visit Turkey needs a Turkey visa to enter the country, there are many types of visas. Travelers can choose as per their requirement.
Very nice blog post
wow nice article thanks for the sharing please keep posting
This is an interesting method, which I will try! I usually salt my steak after frying (dried and oiled steaks, very hot, dry pan
So it is interesting and very good written and see what they think about other people. Very good topic, similar texts are I do not know if they are as good as your work out.
Very nice blog post. I absolutely appreciate this site.
I liked this post very much. Thank you for amazing information.
Fantastic post! Such great tips.
As a steak lover, I appreciate your steak tips. I’m truly amazed at how simple it is to prepare a prime in this manner. This will be one for my books.
Love this! I know what I’m gonna be making tomorrow.
Thank you for the wonderful information on how to make a cheap cut tender I gave it a try on a chuck eye steak which is normally kind of a tough cut of beef but it’s a poor man’s ribeye because it’s cheap. I did just exactly as suggested and each and every one of the steaks that I cooked came out juicy tender and not over salted at all thank you so very much
Good Blog Very Informative And keep it up For Your Future
Its a Really fabulous blog post with rich excellent information thanks for sharing it
Cricut Design Space is a software setup you can download and install on your systems via cricut com setup. The software brings forth the exceptional designs and images you can use to create beautiful craft projects.
Very nice. Love the post! Humor is always a plus while cooking. Great job I’ll be sure to look you up for more tips n tricks.
The main objectives of office 365 are exchanging/ sharing files online using office 365, attending business meetings using Skype, analyzing the data, enabling office security, live communication, and so much other work related to business work. Applications like Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, etc.
Ij.start canon is a platform for getting the canon printer driver. You can easily download the driver according to your model as ij start canon is designed with a user-friendly interface.
I love everything about this!
wow amazing work i like it, carry on guys..
It not only reduces your efforts in performing the cutting jobs but also gets the job done in fewer minutes. Overall, it is a time and energy savior that serves you with its versatility
Such a lovely pieces of meat you have there. “So tender, so juicy, so full of flavour…… will make me hunger for more.
Very Nice Information
Thanks for sharing with us
Hi! this is a nice article you shared with great information. Thanks for giving such wonderful informative information. I hope you will publish again such type of post
Good to see such info
Your article is very interesting. I want to read it every day.
cooking on Himalayan salt blocks is a unique and trending method. food become more delicious. your article is more informative then others thanks for sharing with us.
We’ve known Canon for several years now and it has quite the reputation when it comes to imaging products, industrial products, and/or optical products. The list compiles cameras, printers, scanners, lenses, medical equipment, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
The Cricut setup or the Cricut Machine is an electric tool designed to cut various material like iron-on transfers, paper and vinyl.
Thanks for the valuable content for more information please visit my site cricut design space so you get more information about cricut design space.
Thanks for sharing your opinion hope you will share more post.
Thank you for helping people get the information they need. Great stuff as usual. Keep up the great work
you are doing a great job, and give us up-to-date information.
to check my blog post
It’s a really beautiful and amazing blog post! Thanks for sharing
I really enjoy the blog. Thanks for sharing this informative blog
its very interesting food blog i am follow these recipes in my restaurant
How do I cook a 10 ounce London broil in a 7 quart slow cooker
nice blog grat job and thanks budy
thank you. very good post
Our customers using Roadrunner Email use it for both personal and professional. If you are facing any issue with Roadrunner email just Call Roadrunner …
I truly appreciate this post. I look for this everywhere! Thanks I found it on Bing, you made my day! thank you again
This is really an amazing article,I really enjoy to read it. Thanks for sharing it.
This article is very helpful, I wondered about this amazing article.. This is very informative.
you are doing a great job, and give us up to dated information.
afyon evinde görüşen escort bayan ilanları
Thank you so much for this detailed and humourous article and photos! I was literally LOLing!! I will definitely give it a try on my next steak. My palate is telling me it’ll be carcasstic!
Enjoyed reading your post keep sharing such amazing post will come back to read more.
Thank you for sharing this meal. I would try to cook it today
Nice recipe! Thanks
Crypter is a hyper deflationary token with great utility. Social media platform for Crypto with the potential to be the next Shiba Inu or Next Safemoon.
HP wireless printer is a versatile printing device that helps you print, scan, copy and fax your documents as per the requirement.
Select device settings and click OK. Then choose Device Settings> LAN Settings and press “OK†button LAN Settings> Wireless Network Setup and press “OKâ€. Your printer will now search for an access point. Make sure your WiFi router is turned on. Now the WiFi flash light will blink on the printer.
For setting up a successful network connection,press the Wifi button which you will easily find on the printer’s operational panel.ij.start.canon setup Now,go to your router and identify the WPS button.Within a period of two minutes,press the WPS button.
This will open a pop-up window, click Install to start the download. Now depending on the browser you are using, save the downloaded installer and run it. Once the installer is downloaded, the installation will begin. Wait for it to finish. It will take a few minutes. Once the installation is complete, a screen with animation and a close button will be displayed.
great information for people like me…thank you!!!
If you want to add Twitch TV to your account, you will need to go to the Channel Store first. Select the Add Channel tab and start downloading the platform. Once the platform has finished downloading, you need to go to twitch.tv/activate and submit the code. Then you can go to the content and start live streaming what you’re playing.
I really enjoyed this post, and it was very useful.
Tomtom Experienced in all aspects of business formation, operation, finance, and management. Visionary product developer with deep education in research and analytics. Effective communicator and motivator who identifies and leverages assets in teammates to reach organizational goals. Relentless optimist who believes there is no failure, only feedback.
You can utilize the Twitch account of another player, but you need to activate it. This process includes a code for activating your computer. To access the code on any device, you’ll need to input it on the Twitch.
HBO Max enables users to stream video on demand including films, shows, series and more all on one platform. You can also utilize the HBO Max app on your mobile device with the hbo max activation code. To learn more details about hbo max setup and register, visit its main website at hbomax.tvsignin and complete the set-up steps.
The downloading of The My TomTom application involves accessing the Tomtom.com/getstarted site, clicking to show that you wish to “Start and then determining the modification that you want to download from that version of the My TomTom application you wish to download, and continuing Downloading the equivalent.
Garmin.com/Express – Garmin is an extremely mainstream name in the market of the Fitness and Navigation Devices. You can buy Garmin Fitness Watch, Automobile Navigation Device, maps and some more.
Sandblasting is a way of smoothing and cleaning a hard surface by forcing solid particles on the surface of the workpiece at high speeds by using compressed air from the air compressor.
With aggressive blasting, the sand moved against a surface. With shot blasting, on the other hand, small metal balls or beads are propelled or moved against a texture. The beads are often made of stainless steel, copper, aluminum, or zinc. In this case, all of these metals are harder than sand, making shot blasting even more effective than its aggressive blasting equivalent.
The office provides 1TB space in it. It also provides ad-free mails for you. With the help of the office, you can edit and create an idea of your own. It’s also known as a one-time purchase office so that you can purchase it only once and use it for life purposes.
User can activate some of the well-known devices like Smart TV, Roku, Apple TV, Xbox, PlayStation and other streaming media players on their TV. First, you need to visit the official HBO Max web portal and enter the 8-digit verification code during the activation process.
I really enjoy the blog. Thanks for sharing this informative blog
There are several techniques or methods with which to remove stretch marks permanently. At getposttop we have all the information you need.
Nice blog! Thank you for sharing a valuable information and I hope keep posting.
Its an amazing website. It really helpful for me. Thanks for sharing it.
That’s is an amazing and beautiful Article. I really love it.
Thanks for sharing this article
It’s Really an amazing and Informative Blog post thanks for sharing it
I’m just wondering if pink salt will also be effective? Have you tried that out or should it be mixed as an idea?
Thanks for sharing this valuable content love it.
Thanks for the informative post
All I want to say is that your article is equally amazing.
Your article is very interesting. And you have decorated your art beautifully. It inspires people a lot. If the subject is good, then it is also fun to read and this is what people want nowadays, your post is really interesting. Inspired by you, I too think I should write an article on a fun subject.
Its an amazing website. It really helpful for me. Thanks for sharing it.
really an amazing website
That’s is an amazing and beautiful post. I really love it. It makes my day super. thanks for it
really a great blog
great post really love it thanks for sharing
That’s is an amazing and beautiful Article. I really love it. It makes my day super. thanks for it
Mention one thing those thing look wise good. It’s quite taste wise amazing.
It’s a Delicious and amazing Really good recipe I have tried it at home husband likes it very much. thanks for sharing
This is a very informative and funny post. I love it. thanks all
Thanks For Sharing Such An Excellent Post
TY! Tried this tonight on a London Broil. It came out very good. Next time I will rinse it more. It was a bit salty for our liking. It was the best London Broil we have ever cooked. I did sous vide it at 120F for 1 1/2 hours then hit a 500 F grill for a bit. Came out a very nice medium rare all the way thru. When I told the wife we were having London Broil she raised eyebrows with the, ‘Oh really, darn look.’ When she finished her sandwich she said, “you can do that again!”
This is very helpful information author clearly describe this topic.
Office 2019 includes popular productivity tools such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint for information visit
You can also uninstall Office Mac by uninstalling it from the user library folder.For information visit our website
Microsoft Office has been the go-to software for any consumer. Being one of the giants of the internet.For information visit our website.
To get started with your Microsoft Office Installation we can help you with our entire process to setup office product online for more information visit
Thank you for sharing this with us.
I encourage you to read this text it is fun described
Steak Recipes are very easy to make any dish. instructions are clearly mentioned in Steak Recipe.
Amazing, I would love to try this. I bet this is going to be amazing.
Using your Microsoft Account associated with office to sign in will take you to the Dashboard for Office installation, If you are new to Office, you can create a New account and enter Product key to redeem and Install Office.
nice post for stake lovers fully added with tips and recipes, each and everything so well explained keep it up.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
thanks for sharing your thoughts with us it was very helpful nd continue to sharing such post with us.
I read the blog about How to Make the Most Tender, Flavorful Steak Recipe. it is a guide for us to learn how to make it. it will be a new experience when I make it. Good job.
Thanks for sharing the “How to Make the Most Tender, Flavorful Steak Recipe” with us all.
Much appreciated..!!
Thanks for sharing the post “How to Make the Most Tender, Flavorful Steak Recipe” with us all.
Appreciated..!!
If you keep writing this kind of post then I will be very happy because this post is very good and I am very happy that I saw this post and today I am very happy to see this post, I have also written a lot of websites and blogs. . I am giving you in the link, you can see if you want.
Without the precise amount of salt and brine duration, it could easily mislead the reader to make the steak too salty. The instruction such as “salt generously with…” doesn’t give any information to the reader and the ingredient at the bottom corner is hard to find. I found many recipes of this kind on the Internet and they all use such word “generous amount salt”!
Yes, this is a good post without any doubts. You really doing a great Job. I inspired from you. So keep it up!!
Nice Post Very Informative and knowledgeable, Keep doing it. Thanks for sharing us.
Thanks for the tips on pre-salting steaks. It’s looks so yummy. I will try it for sure.
Güzel Makale
chat
Nice Steak recipe. I will try it for sure.
Thanks for the tips on pre-salting steaks. What about adding a marinade to the meat before cooking?
I did this tonight with a cheapie sirloin from Wal-Mart! It worked. It was tender and juicy! Thank you! Will be doing steak like this from now on.
Well now I see why I ate a tender but disgustingly salty steak tonight. Thanks for clearing this up- I had an inch thick strip steak. I covered both sides with half a box of table salt! And THEN LEFT IT ON FOR OVER AN HOUR ! Both sides! Lot’s of salt! Long time!  Tender yes but the salt taste was murder yuk.  So thx  I’ll try again tomorrow night.Â
Jaden you are a genius. I found your post on salting steaks several years ago and have enjoyed perfect grilled steaks ever since. I followed the steps listed in your post and every N.Y. Strip, porterhouse,  and sirloin steak comes out tender, moist, and very tasteful. So tonight I decided to try the salt process on a 3/4†Bone in pork chop and it also came out great. I used sea salt but only for 20 minutes. Then I rinsed the salt off and  dried the meat, added pepper to both sides and grilled the chops. They came out great. Thanks for sharing this process.Â
Aww thanks so much Tom!!!! jaden
Good information. Lucky me I ran across your site by accident.
5) The B side. Now here’s where things get weird. By the time you have the perfect crust on one side, heat is penetrating and the center is pretty close to perfect. If you flip the meat and sear the other side dark, you will overcook and destroy the steak. So flip the meat and cook the second side for only 1 minute! That’s more than long enough to kill any contaminants on the surface. Like an old fashioned vinyl record, the B side may not be as good as the Side A, it will be tan not brown, but Side A and the center will be perfect.
I want to try this but I do not have kosher salt or sea salt so this sill end up making my steak extremely salty correct?? Â It sounds like a great idea I plan on broiling my steak in olive oil in oven…Â
Thanks for sharing,
Chris
I always use kosher or sea salt.
So for 1 inch steak 1 hour in salt. 1cm steak should be about 30 minutes. Is that long enough for osmosis to occur? Or is it okay because it’s smaller?
Yes, 30 min is fine.
I believe that salting steaks is a good thing. I also think that one needn’t use the pricey cuts you mentioned. My current meat-in-fridge is a couple of pounds (@$2.49/) of top round, which can be very ‘chewy’. My method is to apply a good coating of K-salt to both sides of (preferably 1+”), along with garlic, powder or fresh chopped, a healthy dose of black pepper, and whatever else I’m of a mind to. After applying this seasoning, I set the meat on a wire rack in font of an electric fan. I let it stand in the breeze for an hour or longer, flipping once. I will now perform the rinse. Back to the fan for 15 minutes per side (and blotting if necessary). I will now put the steaks in a countertop convection oven (fan off) at 250*F. I cook until thermometer inserted through edge reads 120*F. Take out, rest 15 minutes, slice on the bias. Quite rare, which I love, but can also be used in recipes, where it might cook a bit more.
HI Jaden. Love ur technique /Article. I have tried this before with gd results…on steak. I just recently tried this salt method on a 4 lb. Pork Loin. With both gd results & also, bad results. .way too salty. I fixed that problem…with end results being satisfactory. Still have to make adjustments. My question is….can this be done on Lrg cuts of meat/beef…such as Tri’tip, rump roast etc…if so, can u pls advise me on amt/salt & timeframe. I loved the tenderness & the way my Pork Loin sliced, along with juiciness. ..was just too salty. Thank you!#!
Hi Melinda – Yes you can use with large cuts of meat. Use less salt and more time. Just sprinkle the salt like you normally would season the large cut of beef. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
I have been doing this for 30 years. Best steaks in the world!
Bourbon, what kind ? Salt don’t help cheap bourbon. I drink Bulleit myself, neat. Steak rare sides not required. Followed by a nice Cohiba
This is absolutely outstanding! Had some cheaper strip steaks, and they came out amazing!!! Thank you!
Been doing it for years. Another method is to just leave the steak unrefridgerated for 3-4 hrs at room temp. If you have a frozen steak take it out of the refrigerator a d put it in the sink or on the counter in the am or before you leave for work. When you get ready for dinner season and grill. It will melt in your mouth. Dont worry about leaving it unrefrigerated. It will not spoil and will be so tasty a d tender you’ll thank me.
How would one add poricini powder during this process? Should I mix it in with the salt during the tenderizing, or should I wait until I rinse all the salt off, then rub on the porcini dust before cooking?
Hi Chris, rinse salt off first. Rub on porcini dust before cooking.
Read your tenderizing recipe with great interest. I will definitely try this. However, my husband is on a low sodium diet. So, do you know how much sodium is retained after the meat is rinsed? I need to be able to calculate a “deck of cards†sized portion of either chicken or steak based on a 2000mg per day diet.
Hello, I have a question: I marinaded my steak. Can I still dry it up and use this technique? Please let me know. Thanks so much 🙂
Marion
Hi Marion, No, this technique is not for marinated steak. Give it a try next time!
Thank you! Worked great!
I realize this recipe was posted several years ago, but I just had to come back and tell you that I used your suggestions today and ended up with the absolutely best, most tender, tastiest, perfectly seasoned steak I have ever eaten…including high dollar restaurants!!
I don’t have a grill, but I have been cooking steaks in my cast iron skillet for a long time and always thought I made a pretty good steak. Well, they may have been okay, but nothing like what I made today following your technique.
Thank you so much for posting this! I will never cook a steak any other way!!
Thank you so much Sadie! We’ve also been using cast iron skillet lately…it’s too darn hot in summer sometimes to fire up the grill outside (and stand there babysitting the steak). I LOVE the cast iron skillet – it gives an even sear on the steak.
jaden
Jaden,
On the contrary, firing up the grill in the summertime keeps you from heating up your kitchen and running your A/C hard to compensate. And I live in AZ where summertime temps are always in the triple digits. Just place your grill on the shady side of your house–for us that’s the East side since we grill in the evenings.
Oh, we had some grass fed locally raised beef that was just tough enough I thought I’d have to use a tenderizer hammer on it. Used your method instead and you’d have thought those steaks were grilled in heaven.
I hate to be the ignorant one on this post, but I don’t cook steaks and have no grill. What is the next best way to cook the steak and do i put the garlic butter on before or after the steak is cooked?
You can use a George foreman but you have to watch it carefully and make sure its very hot when you put it on. The butter goes on after its cooked! Don’t worry I didn’t know till I started dating my boyfriend whose obsessed with grilling!
You can use a cast iron skillet on your stovetop 🙂
Very nice! Love the post! Humor is always a plus while cooking. Great job I’ll be sure to look you up for more tips n tricks!!
I know this is a steak recipe I’m not a big red meat eater so I tried it with the chicken breast I had divided up and packaged in my freezer. It was my last pack and I salted it and let it sit. I prepared it the same as usual but this time it was unbelievably soooo much better. It was so tender it melted in my mouth. Yay, no more dry chicken breast!!! Big hug and a huge thank you.
Thanks so much Terry! Jaden
I found this recipe today and had to come back and just say thank you! I know you wrote this long ago but thank you! We are a family of multiple anaphylactic food allergies and celiac disease, living on a budget. 95% of our food has to be made from scratch. I buy cheap steak because well food is expensive, its excedingly more expensive when you have to follow multiple special dietary needs. So today I had a package of cheap steak and went searching for recipes figuring it would be the same old dry tough but cheap thing. I instead ended up with amazing steak, a very happy husband and just a huge amount of gratitude for you! So thank you, you changed cheap steaks for us which really does help us!
Thank you so much Cora! – jaden
I have used this technique many times (often with skeptical nay-sayers) and the results are always awesome! Tonight I finally made the herb butter and its great! Plus baked potato and Caesar salad… hey shwanky steakhouse dinner on the deck with my hubby. Date Night thanks you, Jaden!!
Thanks for the steak recipe! My wife and I really want to start home cooking more, but I am not a great cook. I love steak, and I want to be able to cook it really well. I like the garlic butter idea, that looks delicious. I will definitely be giving this a try.
I tried the salting method….followed directions to the letter….IMHO, it would be quicker to just take a tablespoon of sea salt and place it directly into the mouth…I ate salt and hardly no taste of meat at all.
“followed directions to the letter”… sure doesn’t sound like it. I’ve used this method dozens of times and it works great.
Did you remember to set a timer?
Did you accurately gauge the thickness of your steaks and use the timing chart?
Did you remember to rinse the steaks under running water when the salting time was up?
Did you accidentally put more salt on the steak out of habit before you cooked/ate it?
Did you use table salt instead of Kosher salt?
Just happened upon your blog. I am definitely going to try this. I have a swallowing condition that does not allow me to eat tuff steak. As a matter of fact, I have not eaten steak in about 6 months. Am definitely going to try this.
Hi Bob, have you tried Sous Vide for steak? Check out http://www.chefsteps.com and our review of their product. It’s perfect for steak.
I was replying to ropa interior masculina. That was a hot mess. I really enjoyed your post. Tried your recipe ( mostly)! When I told the family I was going to rinse the salt and garlic powder off in a few minutes they said no way, and scraped it off. So I put more garlic and pepper on them. Family was so impressed with the tenderness and flavor. Thanks much.
just wanted to say how much I enjoy your posts – they are so well written and funny that i laughed out loud reading them. And also the recipes rock – will definitely give this a try!
This is awesome. Had me lol literally.
Thank you for the tip. That was the best steak ever! What a difference that salt makes!
We all know meat has a high water content…. So you salt it ahead of time to draw the moisture out. Than you go and rinse ur steak under water, no matter how quick you do it your putting moisture back into the steak.
As your title states, turning a cheap cut into prime cut you are thinking of this all wrong. A cheap cut of steak has no marbling (fat) and is tough. And I can tell just from the first picture it is a good cut of meat. At least AA which is better than average.
Now turning a cheap cut into a prime cut is something totally different. Boiling the steak or not has nothing to do how good it is. All that means is that you will not develop a nice crust. But actually turning that cut of meat into something better than what it is doesn’t mean sucking all the moisture out of it, which in the end most will turn into tasty juices and the rest evaporate. If your cooking your steak on a piping hot pan, which you should be, you will absolutely be not boiling it. And if your going to try and say its bad having all that moisture because when you go and cut it, you plate turns into the Red Sea. Well after cooking you rest your steak for as long as you cooked it for or close to it. Than the fibres suck up all that delicious juices you tried wringing out by pre-salting.
So now to actually try turning that tough cut into a juicy tender piece of meat. There is a couple of ways. The best I find is by leaving your steak on a cooling rack for at least a day. 2-3 is better, and every day just makes it that much better. What it does is tenderizes the meat and also dries it out just a little on the outside because of the cool air circulating around the steak in your fridge, which is almost like your pre-salting. Except it will be just as juicy and more tender in the end. Almost like a quick dry aging the butcher will do. Than this way you can still salt your steak without rinsing it off.
The only downside to this is it will need to be done a couple days ahead of time. If you don’t have the time to do so, put the steak out on the counter an hour per inch before you cook it. Which makes the inside room temp so when you cook it you don’t have to warm up the inside which make a more uneven cooking. Than you can still salt it and pepper after cooking, since the high heat burns pepper easily. Than you have to let it rest!
Just covering a steak hours ahead in salt the rinsing it off with water just baffles me. Even if it is a crappy cut of meat…. Just wrong
100% agree with you. Only person to make sense here. Pretty coincidental that we have the same name too haha. Btw with the fridge dry-ageing technique, how is it done? Do I need to remove my steaks from the vaccum packaging and lay it on a plate in my fridge or will leaving it in the packet do?
Thanks.
You obviously didn’t try this method before deciding that it just can’t work. That’s a shame. I guess Alton Brown, Julia Child and America’s Test Kitchen were all wrong, huh?
David Ferrara Don’t worry about Jordans. He is not well. They agree’s with himself and almost never disagrees with each other. I wonder what the other Jordans thinks. Obviously, these two guy is the only negative opinions regarding this article. I tend to agree with the vast majority here. This article is very well written, very, very funny and educational, too! The method and the reasons why it works are expertly explained in layman’s terms and done with a great sense of humour to boot! Next time I pull some steaks out of the freezer, I’ll be doing this! Thanks!
Very conventional steak tips listed. I’ve dpne steak your way for years. However, the last steak I ate I tried some things differently. Last time I rested the beautifully marbled Ribeye (my mom raised this cow, I help raise food when in town) for an hour at room temp.
Salted just before cooking + large grind pepper. Sear with oil in caste iron.
Flip, add butter, crushed garlic, rosemary.
Turn, lower or take off heat. Baste in juices and herb butter in the pan.
Remove from heat at internal temp of 135.
At this point I had always rested the steak prior to serving. This time I read some food scientists and chefs reporting that this step is not necessary amd doesn’t actually do anything beneficial. The idea being that the steak will continue to heat up while resting (as we know) and the meat may become overcooked or dry itself out in the process. One chef stated; if you just serve at the perfect temp you don’t have to worry about this.
And when you measure the amount of moisture that is “lost” by not resting it is discovered that the objective amount is negligible and has no effect on the outcome. We’re talking about 1 tsp, here.
So, I did this. No resting. Best steak I’ve had for as long as I can remember. The experience was incredible.
Tonight I’m watching the salt slowly leach into my steak. You gotta get experimental and be open minded sometimes.
I’ll report back with results!
P.S. There’s no way that the act of “Rinsing” any meat is going to cause it to absorb any water. There isn’t enough time or osmotic pressure to have any measurable impact. Soaking, on the other hand, might.
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter
to be really something which I think I would never understand.
It seems too complex and very broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!
This recipe is better if you substitute Rum for the Bourbon while preparing it. Thanks for the awesome technique.
I came across this recipe by mistake and I am so thankful that I did. This by far was the best steak I have ever cooked for myself. Although I did use a porter house cut, the only think different I did was add a marinade of spicy brown mustard, olive oil, and a little red wine. I did this for both sides and let it sit at room temp for about another hour after I rinsed the salt off and patted it dry. Oh so good!!!
I almost never create responses, but i did a few searching and
wound up here Steak Recipe: Turning Cheap “Choice” Steak into Gucci “Prime” Steak | Steamy Kitchen Recipes.
And I actually do have a couple of questions for you if
you tend not to mind. Could it be just me or does it look like
some of the remarks appear like they are left by brain
dead folks? 😛 And, if you are posting at additional places, I would like to follow anything new you have to post.
Could you make a list of every one of your communal pages like
your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?
Excellent!! I needed this! I have 2 kids in College and cannot buy Kobe beef. Thanks.
I have a ribeye salting now.
I have one issue with the method. “Just lave it out on the counter.”??!! Obviously you have no pets! I have a herd of cats that would drag that steak off and be fighting over it before you can shake a salt shaker!
billy sharpstick I have cats, too and can’t leave *ANYTHING* out if I leave the room for more than a few minutes. If I need something to sit at room temperature I store it in the microwave or oven (both off of course!).
Keeping pets in your home is your choice, therefore you have to make sacrifices in order to keep your cats. Don’t impose your choice of lifestyle on others. He is speaking from his experience in his kitchen. Obviously leaving meat out on your counter is not an option for YOU! So why be angry with him! Clearly he did not intend for cat owners to follow those steps so figure out your own way on how to leave steaks out in your “cat friendly home!†Moron
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you writing this article and the rest of the website is extremely good.
Holy cow! I used coarse Kosher salt and it was super salty! I must have used way too much but then again I thought I was being liberal with the amount I was putting in. The steak was about 1.5″ in thickness so I left it at room temp for 1 1/2 hours.
On the other hand the t-bone steak was tender! Next time I’ll just try using less salt. I just re-read the entire article and it seems I skipped over the “herb butter steak recipe” where there is a suggested amount of salt to add. Live and learn but damn tender and juicy steak!
Best steak I ever made! Thank you for the super-clear instructions!! I broiled the steaks since we don’t have a grill.
I tried this and was impressed by the tenderness and flavor of the inside of the meat. I used 2 1″ Choice Ribeyes from Walmart and pan fried them in a cast iron skillet using Alton Brown’s method:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pan-seared-rib-eye-recipe/index.html
Unfortunately I messed up a bit on the salting process. I did the first part right, let it sit about 45 minutes with the recommended amount of salt. I think my first mistake was not fully rinsing all the salt off. Then after drying them I added a bit more salt with the intention of cooking immediately, but I got interrupted for about 30 minutes. (3 year old, go figure.) In the meantime the steaks were sitting in more salt. They tasted a bit too salty but we ate them up greedily regardless. I definitely will try this again the right way now that I know how it should work.
Thank you. I’m excited to try this and to learn that it came from the Zuni Cafe.
good idea! So far the best steaks i ever had were from smartfoodplan.com and stockyards.com.
@jobrazen (and others)
Jon was obviously being sarcastic and taking a shot at those here putting forth the complaint and claiming that this was a horrid idea because they have used this on expensive cuts that don’t need it or have used too much/the wrong salt or let it sit too long.
You did not read the directions properly Jon. Depending on the thickness of the steak the salt (course kosher preferred) should only be on the meat for about an hour. If you left it overnight yes it is going to taste salty.
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular post!
It is the little changes which will make the biggest changes.
Thanks for sharing!
It’s actually best to let it sit for 10 minutes.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/how-to-have-juicy-meats-steaks-the-food-lab-the-importance-of-resting-grilling.html
“Best” is a strong word. I found that I have the best steaks by cooking to medium rare and eating immediately. Moisture loss is kind of a myth.
Will try this tonight. The instructions were LOL hirarious and entertaining, so I have to try it!!
Proven with chuck eye steak. I Was conservative on the amount of kosher salt. Will be more aggressive with it and the pepper and garlic next time.
When you have washed of the salt and dried the steak, do you rub sunflower/ any other oil on the steak or grill as i have seen done in restaurants?
You people complaining about your steaks being too salty are obviously using too much salt. She says that they used 4 tsp. of salt for a 4 Lb roast, that’s 1 tsp. per pound. Use some common sense people.
I don’t know if there’s any reason to try this on an “uber expensive” steak. Also, the instructions specifically say 1 hour per inch of thickness–not overnight!!!
To anybody considering trying this…I recommend trying it on a cheap/on sale cut first, so you won’t be too upset if it doesn’t work out.
And if your steaks turn out too salty, DON’T THROW THEM AWAY! Make a stew or something…cut them into chunks and slow-cook them for a few hours, that salt will come back out into the broth. 😀 Sure, it will be an awfully expensive stew, but at least the meat won’t get wasted!
The sea salt that I have is quite fine. I used kosher salt to be safe. I would only use *really* chunky sea salt.
Also note: it says less time if the meat is well-marbled.
I buy prime steaks and have been using this technique since I first read about it years ago. Be using it tomorrow: no scaling back on amount or timing. But I am a salt freak. I grill on gas and once in a while charcoal. Cast iron skillet works well, too, but the smoke alarms go off and the fire department shows up. Not usually enough steak to feed them. Cheers
I would like to also point out that I used kosher sea salt and not iodized table salt I’m thinking that the people that complained it was too salty may have used table salt.
Tried this it worked pretty good and the steaks were not really salty because I RINSED THEM OFF. I only let my steaks sit for a couple hours if I’d had more time I’m sure they would’ve been even better.
I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your weblog. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility issues? A number of my blog readers have complained about my site not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Opera. Do you have any solutions to help fix this issue?
Thank you. Tried this tonight on a pair of round steaks that weren’t a great cut (it was like 5.66 for 3 of them) and they were moist and delicious. Definetely works!
Seems like some people (above) have trouble following simple directions. I am looking forward to trying this method as we can rarely afford really good cuts of steak. It’d be nice to have a way to tenderize the tougher ones (and putting butter on steak? I never would have thought of that). I have sea-salt, but I have a feeling it is too fine; so, I will wait until I can get some kosher salt to try this as my tastebuds are very sensitive to foods that are too salty. If it works for me, then I will know that the people above complaining about the saltiness didn’t follow the directions correctly (as to type of salt to use and how long to leave it on, washing it off, etc).
The individual that posted this steak recipe knows exactly what the hell’s going on with steak good job. I always let my steak sit out for the time talked about I never salted it first they always did at the end but salting it at the beginning makes a hell of a difference
Tried this on an uber expensive grassfed ribeye. Left it overnight, so salty that it was not edible. $50 down the tubes. I’ll try again with less salt and less time (with a cheaper cut).
A man after my own heart, or at least my “theory” of why my great grandparents and grandparents lived healthy lives. They raised their own (antibiotic, hormone-free)meat, grew own veggies, and ate meat 3 meals per day – with salt! My great grandmother cooked with crisco for 50 years, didn’t know what cholesterol was, didn’t have high blood pressure, diabetes, or anything else. She simply lived until she died….at 96! No health problems! Thanks for an entertaining recipe. I’ve used the method before and it does work well.
I tried this for my steaks tonight and can say without question I will NEVER use this recipe again. The steaks were so salty and still tough. Wish I would have just stuck with turning the steak into jerky….oh wait…the saltiness and the toughness….I guess I did. Well thanks for the jerky recipe anyway.
I JUST TRIED THIS METHOD ON A COUPLE T-BONES. THE WERE ABOUT AN INCH THICK. I SALTED WITH SEASALT AND LET STAND FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF. THE STEAKS TENDERED UP A BIT THEY WERE REALY TOO SALTY.
I BELIEVE I WASHED THEM GOOD. I RUINED A COUPLE OF EXPENSIVE STEAKS
JIM
Hi Peg,
If you need to cut down on the salt, I highly recommend this marinade: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-steak-marinade . I’ve actually compared it to the salt-tenderizing technique on my blog (http://sousvidescience.wordpress.com), and they actually BOTH produced lovely juicy, tender and mouth-watering steaks! The marinade contains some soy sauce and worchestershire sauce, but if you use low-salt soy sauce I think you should be good.
Happy cooking,
Espen
Thank you so much for this article! I’m currently into “sous vid”, but my steaks weren’t turning out perfect despite my fancy cooking. After trying you salt-tenderizing-thingy, I’ve now cooked my hands down best steak ever! I tried your trick with garlic in addition to the salt, and it produced an absolutely brilliant juicy, tender, mouth-watering steak! I’ve written down some of my experiences here: http://sousvidescience.wordpress.com/
Thank’s again Jaden
Espen
Sue, I think the whole point of the recipe is to make inexpensive steaks taste like your rib eyes. I have used it several times and it is amazing what it will do to a chuck eye steak or a top round. Give it a try as you suggested with the cheap steaks and save the good ones for eating without this method!
Good luck
Tried this last night on a couple of nice, 1″ thick, rib eyes. Disappointed, unfortunately. Didn’t do anything that either my husband or I noticed. Was so hoping for something extraordinary. Maybe will attempt on a less-expensive cut to see if that improves it. Thanks for offering the suggestion.
Oh my gosh, I love you, thank you so much.
Great explanation of how salting works,and salting steak recipe ideas. Thanks I will try them for sure.
We have tried this approach 3 or 4 times now and have been extremely pleased with the improved taste and texture. Thank you for your suggestion.
Note: We still treat the steaks with a mechanical tenderizer (multi-blade knife type) after completing the salt process.
Tried this method tonight….ABSOLUTELY the best steak we have ever grilled!!! I followed your instructions to the letter, even adding some Cavender’s Greek Seasoning with the kosher salt. I will use this method from now on. Thank you!
It depends on what you want to season with. Seasonings like Garlic powder can be put on the steak with the salt and will be infused by the actions of the salt. The only thing salting alone does is make for a better steak and add a little salt to the flavor so don’t put more salt on it. Feel free to season otherwise as usual, unless you’re talking marinade and I’m not sure how that would affect it.
Be sure to use coarse sea salt and not fine or table and be careful with your timing, the steak can come out too salty if it’s done too long or with fine salt.
Hi! Your recipe of “salting” sounds great! I am just wondering, since I have to rinse off the already salted meat, should I also seasoned it with other ingredients, does the rinsing washes away the flavor I intended to add into it?
I agree 100% with Kate. I cook only with Kosher Salt…..it’s a must have in my kitchen.
TOO SALTY??? – Like the lady said, DON’T GO FOR THE TABLE SALT! **USE KOSHER SALT, PEOPLE** If you don’t have Kosher salt, go buy some, ask a neighbor, or use this method a day you do.
I’ve been using this method since you posted about it in 2007, so over 5 years.
It absolutely works. Every time I use this method, everyone tells me its the best steak they’ve ever had.
Making it again tonight. And I can’t wait.
For those of you complaining it was too salty:
Did you use iodized table salt? That kind of salt will make anything too salty in a hurry.
I am trying this tonight…but I only have table salt! I salted the steaks quite a bit and plan on broiling them. Should it take more time with just table salt or less time?
Thank you for this delightful article. You’re rediscovery methods of food preparation known quite well by our not so long ago ancestors. Ancestors who did not even have a word to describe a heart attack. Pure natural unprocessed sea salt, grass-fed beef, fat, and real butter go hand-in-hand and always have(until the 100 years or so).
Tried this tonight and found that the tenderizing aspect worked well, just left the salt on too long causing the meat to be very salty.
Tried this method last night. Worked like a charm. Our steaks tasted like butter. Don’t listen to the naysayers; they probably didn’t follow the instructions.
Um, why are you washing off the pellicle formed by salting the meat in advance?
I’ve grilled many a steak which would run laps around a steak grilled with this technique. Two things – 1. Let the steak sit, uncovered, in the fridge for a day or two before cooking it. It WILL lose a little moisture, but it will be much more tender and taste all the more beefy for it. 2. Salt the steak LIBERALLY (esp. the bone if it’s a bone-in steak) the morning you’re going to grill it and put it back in the fridge. DO NOT rinse it before cooking, but take it out of the fridge 30 min. or so ahead of time. A room-temp steak will cook better than a cold one.
I tried this twice before and worked both time and was GREAT! My only problem is using the right amount of salt, because I leave it overnight in the fridge and until I come back from work!
I’m actually doing it again today and used very little salt on both sides. QUITE EXCITED! 🙂
Thanks for tip!
TOTAL WASTE OF TIME. I HAD PURCHASED AN UNCUT SLAB OF RIB-EYE (CHOICE, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SOLD AS SELECT). ANYWAY I TRIED YOUR METHOD. TOO, TOO SALTY AND MEAT STILL TOUGH. WILL NOT WASTE MY TIME AGAIN.
God bless you.
I’ve been eating naugahyde up until now.
Not bad with ketchup.
This is the MOST INTERESTING information I have ever read about salt & steaks! I DID NOT KNOW THIS AT ALL. Going to try to print this all so I can have it to refer to.
Thank you so much!
I’m intrigued by your salting method (I know it’s not “your” method but you explained it really well). I’m having steaks for dinner tonight and our beef here in Peru is anything but tender, although I bought a decent cut. I’m going to photo document and if it works out well, would you mind if I do my own write up, giving you the credit for introducing the method to me? Please let me know.
this really worked! I had steak 2 nights in a row, the other night with the first steak I marinated in a teriyaki marinade sauce for about an hour then fired it. It did not taste good at all. it really did taste like I boiled the meat.
last night, i tried your way by salting it and getting rid of the water in the meat then rinsing off the salt. I then put some steak rub and garlic powder then fried on a griddle for about 3-4 minutes each side (meat was about half inch thick or so) and when finished I poured just a small amount of teriyaki sauce (without cutting the meat) and it was super yummy! the meat was really tender this time and was cooked just the way i like it!
I am going to use this method each time I cook my steaks from now on. thank you for sharing 🙂
Tried this last night and everyone loved it.
Seems counter-intuitive. However methods don’t worry me as much as results–the ends justify the means, as they say. I’ll give this a try next time I’m at the grill. thanks for the tip.
Absolutely Amazing. It really worked!!! The meat was super tender. And that is saying something because it was a cheap cut. WOW!! Thanks so much.
Random question… I also had a Mr. Burke as my science teacher… Did/do you live in Long Beach
Curious, when salting you are drawing the water out of the steak, but by rinsing (the salt off), are you re-introducing water into the steak?
Well, it’s a quick rinse and you’re not soaking the steak in water, just rinsing the salt off.
Gonna try it tonight! Can’t wait! Thanks for sharing!!!! 🙂
No need to use any tenderizer….this method takes care of that and the steak will be so tender you won’t believe it. I use kosher salt when salting and I would recommend that over regular table salt. I’m gonna try the suggested garlic next time I do this. Thanks for the suggestion Furthea.
Hey! I’ll do this tonight, but now another question – to tenderize or not to tenderize. I guess you are saying don’t bother because, well, its not in your recipe, but WHY not? Should I only tenderize certain cuts?
Thanks, Love,
Me!
It works for me, tender, juicy and not salty. Thanks, I’m going to do this every time.
Thank you! Recently Applebees came out with a Roasted Garlic steak that I adore. Well this salting thing with some fresh garlic comes so wonderfully close.
I like eating at Applebees but they never get the steak quite as rare as I like.
I LOVE your drawings and the editorial comments with them! I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time–SADE?! I about died.
This was a complete waste did not tenderize and it was salt beyond belief !
This is the first time my meat is perfect! Thank you very much!
Our steak was super tender, but very salty! Did I just not rinse it enough??
Next time try less salt or less time.
Your right, did not think of that.
Thanks
I plan to try this next time I cook a steak. I love to marinate a steak in moores sauce and I want to know if I did what you said salt the steak for hour or so can I marinate steak in moores sauce? or will that undo the salt brine?
I’ve never tried Moores Sauce, so I don’t know what it tastes like. Try the salt method without the marinating first and see if you like it. If Moores Sauce contains a lot of salt, then salting + marinating will render the steak too salty.
Hi, That was very interesting; my problem though, is that my husband MUST eat a very low sodium diet so I cannot even use salt – he would have a fit. I am right now marinating with honey, barbecue seasoning (from Tastefully Simple) and garlic, pepper, steak seasoning (sodium free) onions and a little – very little barb sauce. I was wondering if I should broil it or fry it up in a pan…if I don’t hear back, i’ll keep checking. Good tip, just probably not for us. Maybe I can use it when I’m at friends’ homes.
This was THEE most hilarious article I have ever read! OMG! Are you sure you’re not a comedian?
I used this with lamb shoulder blade chops, and grilled on my gas grill. It turned out very well, nice and tender. After salting for 1 hour, I rinsed and then applied garlic, rosemary and pepper on both sides, until it was time for grilling. about 3-4 minutes per side, medium rare. Very good, thanks for the technique! I will try this on other cuts.
Well, I was so excited about this, but it did not turn out so well. I followed directions exactly but steak was still a tad tough and WAY too salty. I’m wondering if I should try again with less salt and letting it sit a little longer.
You really want a good steak? Follow these 7 steps and I PROMISE you will never eat at a steakhouse again…
1. Buy USDA Prime bone-in ribeyes about 1 – 1.5″ thick with nice marbling.
2. Salt as mentioned above.
3. ADD SMOKE – even if you have a gas grill you can put hickory or mesquite chips in a tinfoil pouch and get them burning.
4. Use indirect heat, woodchips smoldering on one side of the grill, steaks on the other side on a cold grate (no heat underneath) overall temps should be ~225 F.
5. Smoke for 20-30 min each side (longer for thicker cuts) and remove steaks.
6. Turn the grill up as high as it can go (pref 4-500 F) and sear steaks for 1 min per side – remove from grill.
7. Baste with melted or clarified butter, let rest for 5 minutes and serve.
Thank you so much for this recipe & information!!!
Just want to let you know, after you rinse the salt off, if you save the meat for another day, it keeps really well.
I’m not great at cooking meat…I love steak but am afraid to ruin it. Last week I bought a big chunk of sirloin fillet on sale for $3.99/lb and cut out 1 steak and followed your directions BUT I let it sit too long. The steak was a little too salty but still very good.
The next day I cut up the rest of the hunk and was careful to REALLY follow your directions. :laugh: I cooked one of the steaks immediately and was very pleased–not too salty this time! The rest I dried very well and sprinkled with pepper, rubbed rosemary, garlic powder, and a few drops of Worcestershire sauce. I put them in the fridge.
Well, what with one thing and another, steaks didn’t fit into my plan over the next few days. I was fully expecting them to be brown & spoiled when I pulled them out today; I believe it’s been 5 or 6 days since I salted them. They were still RED and had no off-smell. I just cooked one–one might even say, overcooked it–and it is DIVINE!!! Oh, I am so excited! I finally can make a good steak! 🙂
I tried this tonight on a thin ribeye. I coated it liberally with sea salt and let it sit on the counter for about 30 minutes, rinsed it and dried it off–then heated some olive oil in my cast iron skillet–cooked for 4 minutes on each side, covered it with foil while my corn on the cob was nuking-( corn on the cob cooked in the microwave IN the husks for 5 minutes for 1 ear is perfection) I was just the tiniest bit too salty but I contribute that to my not perhaps rinsing it enough–at any rate it was tender, flavorful and I will absolutely cook all my steaks this way in the future! Yum and thanks!!!! Love the pics and the “science” behind it.
I don’t know if this will help you but it has NEVER failed for me. First of all, I actually use regular table salt. I salt it with maybe just a little more than one would regularly salt their steak, and I also use pepper and onion soup mix (which I put into the blender to make into a powder) for flavor. I leave this sit for about an hour and a half, rinse and then BBQ or fry as usual. Delicious. I know that some people have said that it tastes salty or that they don’t like the taste of the table salt, but maybe that’s because they use more than necessary.
I tried this today – we had some fairly cheap top sirloin steaks from the grocery store – about 1.5″ thick. I used sea salt on them and left them alone for about an hour and 20 minutes. I rinsed them well, patted them dry, and cooked them up on the stove.
First of all, they are AMAZINGLY tender and moist. YAY.
Second of all, they taste like a salted ham but with a little steak flavor. BOO.
Not sure what I did wrong – maybe a tad too much salt? I will definitely try this again, but if it doesn’t work out again I may have to find something else to try. Very close though: these steaks are usually a dismal failure and are as easy to chew as an old shoe!
I am definitely no cook but have done this a few times for friends only. Everyone raves about the texture and taste and insist on setting a date when I will do it again. Fantastic and works perfectly everytime. Anyone who says it did not work clearly is doing something wrong.
I can’t wait to try this tip!
One small point of contention however. You mentioned to leave the salt on the meat for an hour per inch of thickness. However, later you state that for your 1.25″ thick steak, you left it on for 1hour, 25 minutes. Based on your tip, a 1.25″ steak should sit for 1hour, 15 minutes, (which would be 1.25hours) not 1hour 25 minutes.
arrrgh….you’re right!
When my husband goes out of town, I like to experiment…knock it off! Mind out of the gutter. I tried this with two, one inch sirloins and coarse Kosher salt. Due to circumstances beyond my control (lost track of time playing an iPad game) it sat for 2 hours instead of one. (It’s a good game) Grilled them five minutes on each side, let them rest, then thinly sliced them and used ridiculous amounts, I mean, a small pat of herb butter. Absolutely fabulous! Had all the great flavor of a sirloin steak, almost no fat (butter doesn’t count) and was super tender. I’ll definitely do this again when my husband’s home.
So I tried this & it seemed to work well. It was a little bit too salty, but I think that’s probably cuz I used more salt than I should. I believe I left out on the counter for about an hr. It was tender (1 inch thick). My only problem is that the meat smelled funny after cooking it. It is well done, but it had this… raw, meat gone bad smell. Is this because I left the meat on the counter for an hour? I also noted that there was a small part of the meat that had turned brown (just a small streak) in the packaging. But I thought this was due to oxidation? Yes, it’s before the due date.
This works great and love the garlic herb butter, I had it before in a restaurant and always wanted to know how to make it thanks
I usu. don’t like to write comments on blogs but the results of trying your method was too amazing to leave silently without a word of thanks. So thank you for sharing this wonderful idea! Our chuck eye steak yesterday was tender and juicy beyond my expectations… turning a $6.29 hunk of meat into a premium high class high quality dinner treat. I think my husband sees me differently now. I was so proud of myself for having found your website! You’ve gained another fan and you can be sure I’ll visit again for other recipes!!
Tried this on steaks that were cheap at the grocery store…..it was to tender and delicious that I will save my money for other things, get the cheaper cuts and fix them this way. I used flaked Kosher salt and they were not salty at all.
funny guy…thanks for the tip :~)
I have to agree with the good Doctor on this one. I tried dry brining a couple of times on steaks and was disappointed both times. On the other hand, I have wet brined venison (notoriously tough and dry) that came out much juicier and slightly more tender than before. I will try the wet brine on steaks next.
Great article written with both information and entertainment!! I have to say i was extremely skeptical so i used this on 2 prepackaged ny strips i got from costco which had been frozen…let me tell you they were like butta!! (no not butter..butta!!) but they did come out somewhat salty. I did both sides of the steak but when i went to wash them off all the salt on the underside of the steaks had dissolved/absorbed…should i have flipped them half way during the process?? All and all i was amazed at the results!!
OK, let me first say that I haven’t tried this yet but I am tonight (just not for friends). The problem with your defense, R.Vill, is that SteamyKitchen specifically says ‘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.’ So now I’m utterly confused as to the amount of salt to use. The instructions say to salt ‘generously’ and ‘liberally’ like a ‘salt lick'(umm, have you ever seen a salt lick or was that supposed to be a joke?) The pictures look like they are a little more than slightly salted and if you lightly salt the meat then you aren’t really following the instructions. Either way, I cannot pass any more judgement until I actually try the recipe. All I am pointing out is that a LOT of people did not have good reports and I think it may be solely due to the instructions.
Ok, you are absolutely right! Will edit ASAP!
Ok, this was tender. Not prime tender though.
So salty it’s barely edible.
Will not make this way again.
I bought some tough ribeyes and I thought I was stuck with them. I googled my question and I found your blog. I can’t believe the negative comments on here. I have to say if they are negative then they certainly didn’t do this right. Last night I used your method, lightly salted both of our ribeyes and after an hour they looked exactly like your pics. I love your illustration, we know exactly what to look for and what to expect, very nice touch. And the way you wrote this it’s adorable really. So I followed everything you suggested, lightly salted for 1 hour, rinsed all the salt off, dried them very well, and then I put a little olive oil and cracked pepper and fired up my cast iron until it was lightly smoking. MY GOD! I can’t believe this was the same horrid steak I had tried to cook last week. I tell you it was PERFECTION! It was so tender, so succulent and juicy soft as butter. I have never made a steak that good until tonight when I tried your method again on some choice top sirloin. The top sirloin didn’t have much fat or marbling, but some connective tissue at only 1.97 a pound. This sirloin had the kind of richness of flavor you would get from sizzling fajitas. My cast iron’s are my babies, so I get a nice sear going and let them go 4 minutes on each side on a medium high heat, get a nice crisp on the outside and in the inside a beautiful medium after it has rested about 3 to 5 minutes. I haven’t even tried your herb butter recipe, but all of that said I can’t wait to try it. You rock and I am passing this method on to everyone I know. I love your explanation of how salt breaks down the proteins. It is just pure magic! I usually brine my chicken over night whether I am frying it or baking it, but I wonder how chicken would react with this technique too? I’m thinking in particular when I flatten out and pound out my skinless boneless chicken breasts. I will try it and report back here with my results. I have to say I was skeptical to the part where we rinsed off all the salt and dried them, but again every preconception I had of beef was blasted out of the water quickly as misconceptions. Such a treat to stumble upon your blog. I can honestly say this has already changed my dynamic and approach to beef and how to get it an awe-inspiring steak to impress. A million thanks again and congratulations on the success of your blog.
Thanks so much. YES it works on all meats. No need to pound the chicken breasts – just salt the chicken and refrigerate for an hour. I also salt whole chickens overnight (go easy on the wings). Instead of brining turkey, I salt for 1-2 days in refrigerator – it sure beats trying to find a container big enough to hold brine and turkey (just salt, cover and refrigerate). Rinse before cooking, pat dry and season with non-salt seasoning.
Holy buckets, just reading this makes me want to eat raw steak. And your humour is as good as the method used here, how can it be possible that I’m so hungry and laughing at the same time from reading 1 article.
I will have to attempt this, but alas, where I live, cheap store steaks are 1 cm thick if you’re lucky.
I’ve never had a steak the thickness of the images here, unless I go to a restaurant.
Move over chilli dim sims, tonight it’s steak for one. And the garlic herb butter looks like a deadly combination too.
Oh hungerrrr… 🙂
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.
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!
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.
Awesome read dude! very informative and screw all the hating chumps ! From one carnivore to another great skills bro!
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!
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.
By far the very best steak I have ever prepared at home! An absolute winner! Thank you very much for the tip!!!
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 !
I tried it last night and it worked a charm! Just don’t leave it too long and you’ll be fine.
I tried this and ended up with tough salty steak
I tried it on pork, but it didn’t work for me.
Can’t wait to try this with some steaks this weekend! Any idea if this works with pork?
You probably used too much salt or left it too long, hon. It works everytime if once you get it right!
Wow. Did not work at all. Salty and gross!
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!!
Thank you very much for awesome tips and expelling to well!
Love it! That it is so detailed
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.
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.
This website is Hilarious!!! I am salting the steak now! I cannot wait to keep trying this! Thanks so much!!
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.
Thanks for the tips. I will be going home to try it tonight and tell you the results.
Hah!, that’s my grocery store too. Works with cheap pork from The “A” Grocery in Echo Park too.
Used this technique on 3/4″ thick kangaroo meat. Too bad i didn’t follow the salting time (more than 1 hour), and my kangaroo steaks turned out to be too salty.
I guess next time i should either cut the salting time back to 45 minutes or just dilute the salt with a whole lot of spices.
Anyway, great article! I’m a first time steak cooker, and all of this is gonna help build up my skills!
Thank you Matthew, that makes a lot of sense
Actually, table salt in many countries is iodized, which is what changes the flavour. It’s much harsher. Kosher salt will not have any iodine added and its coarse textures lends itself well to this type of work.
Sodium Chloride is sodium chloride! whether its kosher or rock salt or table salt or any other kind of NaCl ! Know what salt tastes like ? Salt! All salt is the same, paying twice the odds for larger crystals is a joke.
Thanks!! The whole article was awesome!! I loved our steaks last night too!!! Thank you 1000 times!
I tried this out tonight but with less than half of the time of exposure to salt, and it came out not bad at all. Next time, however, I will increase the time of salt exposure closer to the recommendation. I’ve even posted not only a photo of the steak being cooked but have recommended this website as well on my facebook food page: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334521533265826&set=a.228574883860492.73654.228447563873224&type=1&theater
ha, pooop.
i just tried this and was very disapointed with the results, it was way to salty, i tried the recipe again but with alot less salt and the results were stunning, so i came to the conclusion that different cuts of steak will require more/less salting we shall have to experiment.
That’s cute!
I regularly look on sites like this for ideas for when im cooking meals, and when i find a good recipe like this I save it to a folder in my favourites, yeah you guessed what i named the folder “cookin shit”……..
p.s I will try this on tomorrow nights steak night.
Less salt sounds good. I have never measured the amount of salt that I use, I just use the salt shaker and “eye-ball” it. I use enough salt to see it (more than I would use if I was just to season it – probably twice as much)
I made this last night with so-so results. I used fairly cheap steak that was 1″ thick. I salted each side with about 2/3 tsp salt and left it for 45 min. I also rubbed crushed garlic and chopped rosemary on. I rinsed it very well and patted dry very well, seasoned with fresh ground pepper, then grilled. They were pretty tender, though definitely not “gucci”, and I think it’s possible they were tender to begin with. They also tasted SUPER salty. Not to the point where it tasted bad, but way more than my liking. Maybe I should cut it back to 1/4 teaspoon? The garlic herb butter was great though! I used that on my baked potatoes as well.
Kosher salt is the salt to use here, kosher salt is big yet flat so that it will stick to the meat better. What you’re doing to the meat is NOT breaking down proteins. Salting is actually pulling out moisture from the meat. This method can be reproduced with your fridge and dry aging but it takes longer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGM5JchxuzI
Also, fuck, shit, bitch, asshole, cunt, dick and fuckwad. Say whatever you want. Readers will come if you give out sound advice
This is the most bad-ass advice on gucci’ing steak ever. I’ve used this method for 4 years now, and nary a complaint from my bad ass family. Thanks!!!!!!!
If any of you are having trouble with this recipe. Try this; marinate your steak the day before or at least a few hours before cooking. Don’t bother buying the expensive marinades. Make your own. And this works on thin or thick cut steaks.
Start with the base. Use 1 cup oil(evoo) and 1/3 cup vinegar and 1/3 cup water. Continue with this ratio if more is needed. Add a pinch or two of salt per steak…Table salt or kosher, what ever you prefer. Pour over steaks and let the vinegar and salt acids break down the fibers in the meat in the fridge. Don’t forget black pepper before you cook it.
Add a pinch or two of each for some fun;
Italian- garlic, basil and rosemary.
Mexican- garlic, oregano and salsa as a garnish.
Asian- Garlic and ginger.
That was gross!yeah the steak was tender I’ll give ya that but it tasted like I was eating salt! My family was so disappointed! I will NEVER do that again! U didn’t say how long to rinse for, I salted it like a salt lick that was the main mistake u want to lightly salt it!
Sounds like a great recipe to try out. Loved the article and it was funny. Has anyone tried the rock salt
I tried it with New York Strip cut. It was great sale – 4pack but meat had little marbling, thus I thought this recipe would work- inky it didn’t. I think the reason was, thickness was 1/2-3/4″ and needed min 1″. I left kosher salt on 45min. I rinsed extra well, and patted extra dry, yet meat still was very tough to chew and extra salty(none added after drying and grilling). So I guess have to use only 1″ or thicker and retry time stated.
Wish there was a way to tenderize thinner cuts without all the salt.
Just tried this with a piece that was cut from our Christmas rib roast that was tough. It was delicious and tender, one of the best steaks that we’ve had (we also used the herb butter.) I don’t use much salt, so I was a little apprehensive, but there was no saltiness.
I just tenderized and barbequed a nicely marbled blade. It was so flavorful and very tender and juicy. Thanks for the great recipe!!
Oh phooey – I like the realness of the commentary! Keep it up, it’s a fun read!
exactly!
Don’t know why you would be offended by the word “shit”. It’s just a word. I am a 65 year old woman and he made me laugh. Maybe you need time to develop a sense of humor!
Jaden, THANK YOU SO MUCH for publishing this salting technique. I am not a very experienced cook, but I was able to make the most delicious steak for my fiance last night. It tasted like something from a very expensive restaurant! So tender and delicious.
I thought the above article is very informative and will try soon. I was going to do this today but my wife beat me to it and put the regular spices on the steaks before I could come down and do them this way.
Will send an email when I get to do it.
Yeah well after reading your response to this wonderful article, I now am going to send it to my 5000 friends just to spite the fact that you are a conservative jack off.
Made this at home last night with some pretty inexpensive NY strip from the ghetto Von’s in Echo park. It. Was. Delicious.
Sounds like an excellent process. Have to give it a try! By the way ~ great cooking requires a vast vocabulary of vulgar words. My Mother swore by it 🙂
I have tried this 4-5 times. Every time, the texture and tenderness is great but its just too salty to be enjoyable. I noticed a few others have had this problem. It seems like too much salt “osmosises” its way into the meat and doesn’t rinse off. I’ve used different salts, but its always the same. Am I using too much salt? Too much time?
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I really enjoyed reading it. It is entertaining and very easy to understand!. “Churching it up ” is a recipe for dull and boring.
Refreshing!!
Lost Appetite…try for just one day to stop being a “tight-assed and a stuck-up prick”.
Gahh can’t delete- that was meant for a comment from last August, and other people already addressed them. Whoops. Ah well. Love the post, going to try it tonight!
You, sir, need to work on your comprehensive reading, as it’s clear you didn’t read the article, or at least, didn’t retain anything that you read.
Quote from article:
“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).”
The recipe didn’t work for me…I think the steak was too thin (3/4 inch), and the length of time salted was too long (1hr 20 minutes)…they were inedible they were so salty. I am going to give it a try one more time…this time with a one inch steak for EXACTLY one hour.
This was a great article until you mentioned Christina Aguilera. For future reference, people don’t like the words Christina Aguilera mentioned with food.
And a twit.
The only thing that turned me off was your nose in the air snobbery. I’m glad that he/she told it like it is. Table salt does taste like shit. Why church it up?
It is baffling to see such a wonderful and informative article ridiculed for including the word “shit.†What sort of sensitive and infantile individual do you find yourself in order to become so offended by such a trifle of an utterance? This, my kind sir, is the year 2012. We, as adults, use different words to express ourselves, sometimes even vulgar ones. Oh, and everybody poops.
It is baffling to see such a wonderful and informative article ridiculed for including the word “shit.” What sort of sensitive and infantile individual do you find yourself in order to become so offended by such a trifle of an utterance? This, my kind sir, is the year 2012. We, as adults, use different words to express ourselves, sometimes even vulgar ones. Oh, and everybody poops.
I was definitely a little scared doing this, but this resulted in the best steak I have ever made at home. Thank you!
And a dork
This was a great article right up until you mentioned table salt “tastes like shit”. For future reference, people don’t like the word shit mentioned with food. All the appetizing pics ar now null and void. It’s a shame you have such a limited vocabulary that you ruined what could have been an A+ article that went viral on Twitter. I won’t be passing this one on to my 3023 Facebook friends or my 11,989 Twitter followers.
Yes I am a critic, author and blogger
hi just to clarify.. when salting with herbs, spices etc. wouldnt rinsing the salt off after 1hour+ wash away that? or i didnt understand correctly? i was going to try thing out but kinda got confused? wanted to ask before doing it. i hope you can help clarify. thanks 🙂
Might it be better to use rock salt instead of kosher salt, so as to minimize the risk of over-salting?
Barry,
Kosher salt doesn’t taste any different, the grocery store recipes all call for it because it costs more !…lol
This is an interesting method, which I will try! I usually salt my steak after frying (dried and oiled steaks, very hot, dry pan).
Hello! Can I do this method with dry aged steak or will it make it toooo dry/salty etc…
This sounds great! I’m soooo excited!!
I read the whole thing all the way through!! You are hysterical and had me laughing – my kind of sense of humor!! and I’ll kosher salt the shit out of my steak tonite!
Totally wanted to pin this to pinterest! ðŸ™
Super excited to try this tonight with a sirloin!
I’ve become obsessed with kalbi (Korean BBQ short ribs), made with 100% grass-fed beef, but I’m struggling with tenderizing. Pouding and scoring didn’t do much. And I’m allergic to most ingredients found in traditional Korean marinades. I tried marinating in fruit juice alone, but that, ironically, seemed to make the meat tougher, and diminished the crunchy texture that I so love. I’m quite happy with unmarinated kalbi, so I thought I’d give this method a try. My question is:
How long should I salt the meat if it’s only between an eighth and a quarter inch thick (cut LA-style)?
If I salt it for too long, will it turn out too salty?
Any other suggestions for tenderizing grass-fed kalbi?
Thanks!
For steak that thin, I wouldn’t heavily salt – it would end up too salty. What you can do is salt or season like you normally would – and let it sit for 15 minutes before cooking. That extra time will let the salt penetrate the meat throughout. Better yet, this is what I’d do: https://steamykitchen.com/16463-rosemary-garlic-steak.html
Just an average cook who loves steak who stumbled across this when trying to find a way to tenderize my steak. I’m a little nervous to salt the hell out of my steak …. but after reading where you wrote … “because regular salt tastes like shit” I laughed out loud and knew you are my kind of girl! Who says something like that on their blog??? Cool people that’s who! I’m adding Kosher salt to my steak now – will repost how it turns out if I remember to. (P.S. – your pictures and drawings are totally fine .. 100 times better than I could do and they look good to me)
Followed the directions used strip steak.. I can never grill this cut properly, so tried the technique. I found the finished steak a tiny bit too salty for my taste but I may have used too much [coarse ground kosher salt].. The steak was very tasty and I ate every bit. Just won’t have any salt tomorrow!
Thanks for the article, Freds
Makes sense to me, I have always done this with pork chops but never knew why other than cuz my Great Grandma said to….also keeps the fat ring around the chop from curling.
yes! yes! yes! was delicious! Just returned from Spain where I ate at an Argentinean restaurant and had meat I could practically cut with a spoon. Cooked a steak here in the states and was ever so sad thinking I had been ruined to meat at home forever…until today! This was perfect! Not the same as christmas day in spain, but there are probably other variables at play, I am sure….Thank you! Can’t wait to try your slow cooked salmon next 🙂
I used this method with coarse sea salt and loved the result! If you end up with very salty meat, you’re doing something wrong. My steak was very tasty, very soft and perfectly seasoned. Excellent tip!! Thanks a lot!!
I was looking for info on how to tenderize a pc of steak (to use in a stir fry) for my Dad –(101+) — he just loves steak and it getting harder and harder for me to put a great beef meal in front of him – where he does not complain about “cant chew” the beef — this worked great, but I will say that I did pound the steak down a big before I tried the salt —
Just Fantastic –and it worked — with a wonderful piece of angus serloin — (ps — he still has most of his own teeth) -no idea how it would work for an elder that has a set of denture’s
— Many tks for all this info —
Big John — Maybe you missed the part about Osmosis which is the key to this technique working… and that is certainly NOT junk science
I just wanted to say thank you so much for the great technique, I now never cook my cheap non-aged supermarket steaks any other way.
As for other peoples experiences of it being too salty, I would recommend using sea salt, as it has more minerals and less sodium. Also make sure there is no additional salt in the rub you are using on the steak, I mix my own without any salt for right before I sear.
I also let the meat rest in between a few layers of paper towels, I find that the resulting consistency results in closer results to a proper dry aged steak.
The best trick that I use is using half sea salt/kosher salt and the rest smoked sea salt for the salt rub. The smoked sea salt gives it incredible smoky flavor for most nights when I just feel like pan searing on my cast iron.
What a great post. As an expatriated 4th generation ranch kid away at college, I have eaten a fair amount of beef.
I can tell you my family has literally been preparing steaks with this technique for generations. My great-grandmother would use a ton of kosher salt, leave them out for at least an hour, sear them in a blisteringly hot, well seasoned cast iron skillet, and never cook them beyond medium rare.
Eating your own high quality grass fed beef is just a bonus…
Ive been looking forward to using this recipe, unfortunately I didn’t NOT see the same results as promised in the article 🙠my meat was dry and salty in spots, it seemed to be even dryer and harder than when I do nothing to it :/ very disappointed I was hoping this was the secret method I’d been hoping for ðŸ™
I think that guy was just trying to be funny. I mean he couldn’t have been that stupid, could he?
Best steak hubby ever made–thanks for the prep and cooking instructions!
I followed the recipe exactly. It was unfortunately and overwhelmingly salty. I’ll do something with the meat, maybe a stir fry or something.
Judging by the salt levels in most prepared foods on grocery store shelves, I think a lot of people must have a big tolerance for salt. I guess I don’t, as I only use enough in my cooking to bring out flavor.
The texture was definitely good. There must be a better way to accomplish the goal.
I loved this post! super funny! My cousin bought these steaks and after cooking a couple realized they weren’t good at all! so he tasked me with finding a good way to cook them so as not to waste the money he spent on them. Willin to try about anything, and In bio last semester we just went over pretty much what you just said, and I don’t know why I didn’t just apply the same school of thought. anyway, good post, loved it! happy cooking!
Charles,
I hope that my responses will do Jaden justice.
First, the FDA an any chef will tell you that it’s not safe to leave food out like this. In reality, it’s usually fine for an hour or two. There is ALWAYS the chance that bacteria could get on the food while it is sitting out, but then again, the same could happen sitting in your fridge. The meat COULD spoil in the two hours you have it sitting out, but realistically it is highly unlikely. So in the end, it is your call. But I use Jaden’s method frequently and have yet to get sick. The chances that you will get sick – unless you have a filthy kitchen completely ridden with bacteria – are quite slim.
Secondly, the process by which the liquid/salt exit and enter the meat will draw in additional flavorings on the meat. If these are finely ground spices like cayenne, for example, much more of their flavor will find their way into the meat than you will get by simply laying a piece of rosemary on top. Therefore, be careful that you don’t overdo it with finely ground spices. Anyways, no matter what you add to the salt, at least some of the flavor will be imparted into the meat. You could go on to add more of your favorite rub on the outside of the meat after you’ve rinsed it if you feel it’s necessary.
Finally, half the time I cook my steaks in cast-iron using a stovetop to broiler method commonly used in restaurants. If you have only been cooking your steaks on a stovetop I would highly recommend this method as it doesn’t really add any additional work. I would also highly recommend investing in a cast-iron skillet if you don’t already have one. You can actually find them really cheap at thrift stores. Anyways, you want to quickly sear the steak on the stovetop (2-4 minutes at high heat on a pan that has been preheated for 10 minutes) and then flip it and transfer to a 500 degree preheated oven for the remainder of the cooking time, which will vary depending on the type and size of steak. This transfer to an oven is part of the reason that a cast-iron is very nice. I guarantee you that this method – in combination with Jaden’s salting technique – will give you a (cheap) steak that tastes and feels like you payed $40 bucks for it at a classy restaurant.
Happy eating!
I just tried this tonight for the first time. What a difference! I actually enjoyed the steak I made. I’ve only started eating red meat in the last couple of years and not very often. Up until 2 years ago, I basically had no experience with cooking it myself. In an effort to start learning, without a lot of expense or possible waste, I bought a family pack of 12 steaks. Well, not knowing what to do, I tried pan frying, broiling, marinating(although not very long) and still tough, chewy, in a word, bleeeeh! I’d eat as much as I could, since I was hungry but most of it went untouched. Did I mention that I’ve been going through this pack of 12 for the last year? I was down to 2 steaks with no plans to make that buying mistake again. Over Thanksgiving dinner, there was a chef present talking to some others about cooking and I overheard them talking about brining steaks. So I did a google search and saw you had a post about it. Thank you! I don’t have to be a red meat drop-out. I am going to definitely be using this technique again and again.
I do NOT salt it twice. I also leave my steaks overnight in the fridge without covering them. It dries out the meat really well with a lot less salt. I have never had a more tender juicy steak! YUM! This is not my recipe however, I found it online at another site. But it works and the meat is not too salty. And it is TENDER TENDER TENDER!
I use sea salt because i think the idea of declaring salt (a non-living thing) as kashrut or non kashrut is absurd. Seriously, what an irrational thing to do! Salt is… uh.. salt people, even if it is sea salt, once you wash it and dry it, it is just plain old salt. What I will say is that you must NOT use fine ground salt. That will make the meat too salty even with a lighter rub.
You must use coarse salt.
The process is tempting me to try but I get really upset at all the hoity toities saying use kosher or sea salt. I will admit that the courser salt will probably work better for this but any salt from the ground was dried out from sea water and kosher simply means it has been blessed a Rabbi. I defy anyone to tell the difference.
Brining actually works very well. You have osmosi, the only difference is once all the water comes out then the cell walls absorb the liquid. Wich is what you want. A properly made brine should not only be salty, but also contain lots of aromatics and seasoning like dried herbs and spices. The back and forth process of releasing juice and then reabsorbing really shrinks and then stretches the cell walls which is how you get really tender meat with the combo of lots of aromatic salty brine. Yummyness.
Agreed, mine came out the same way.. To the letter, but far too salty, blech!
I love this explanation and I can’t wait to try it! I have forever been doomed with the inability to cook steaks, although I have had sucess with an olive oil & salt rub/marinade on a bbq. My question is: during the +/- 1 hour that the steak is soaking in the “salt rub” do you leave it out at room temp or do you refrigerate it? Thanks! Looking forward to yummy steaks!!
Epsom salt is for medicinal purposes dont ever put it on your food.
this did not work for me, I coated a 1″ thick rump steak in sea salt and let it rest for 1 hour, then I thoroughly rinsed off the salt before cooking the steak to medium rare, the results were disappointing, yes the steak was nice and tender but every bite tasted too salty, so despite rinsing off the steak the overall flavor was of salt, not steak! and I did follow your recipe to the letter.
Thanks, you saved me $$$. I tried on top sirloin, kosher salt ~ 1.25 hours, rinse, dry and threw on the grill. It was the most tender tastey moist top sirloin I ever had in my life! Thanks, I can’t wait for the next steak dinner.
I just tried this for the 1st time. I had four 3/4″ top sirloin steaks. As mentioned earlier in this article…I was met with much skepticism from family members. So I only treated one. Followed the directions as closely as I could (even the crushed garlic and rosemary bit). I only added crushed pepper prior to grilling. I just took it off the grill (med-rare closer to rare – 6 min total cooking time) The out come…OMG is what my wife and kids all said when I put a piece in their mouths…sounds like a major success to me! Too bad I get to eat the rest and they get the other ones that weren’t done.
Thank you so much!!!
We have tried this several times, with several different kinds of steak, and across the board, it’s been fantastic. Thank you so much!
Umm, Epsom Salt is not really a salt you would want to consume (unless of course you are constipated!) It is mostly used for soaking your body…you would only want to consume it as a laxative and it tastes TERRIBLE! Using epsom salt in place of kosher salt for this dish would be kind of like swapping milk of magnesia for the milk in your scrambled eggs, or using baby powder in place of powdered sugar on donuts! If you do decide to do this, make sure you have plenty of TP for you and all of your guests!
Made this last night using Choice NY steaks from Costco. Came out damn good. Coarse ground pepper to coat the steaks is better than the finer or pre-ground peppers. I normally use montreal steak seasoning and i noticed that although the meat is cooked to a good medium/medium-rare, the outer layer is a bit more dry. With this method, i noticed a consistent moisture/juiciness through the whole steak. Excellent recipe and explanation of how it works!
I tried your recipe today and unfortunately it did not work. my family was very upset because we had to throw all our steaks. they were far too salty. i followed all your steps but it didn’t work. i don’t buy your method.
You know, Johnny boy, sometimes science just doesn’t get it right. When some of the foremost cooks in the world- Like Alton Brown and America’s Test Kitchen swear by a particular method, there is a reason: it has been tried thousands of times and it WORKS.
Working in a food lab and being a good cook are two very different things. Apparently what they DIDN’T teach you is how to thoroughly read an article… later in the piece,it is explained that the meat will reabsorb the briny water and flavor the meat all the way through, as well as tenderize it. This method has been demonstrated on countless cooking shows and in recipe books dating back decades.
Did you TRY this method before shooting it down? Nah, I didn’t think so. Hypothesis – experiment = bad scientist
This is absolute nonsence. I once worked in the wold’s largest fresh mest food lab…we knew a LOT about meat tenderness. Salt most certainly will NOT tenderize meat. It is collagen protein that holds met fibers together, and collagen is not salt soluble. Muscle protein (myosin) is salt soluble but will not affect tenderness. And leeching moisture out of the meat using salt is supposed to aid in tenderness? ridiculous.
Junk science misinformation by the author.
I qualify myself as the family livetockman. Along with fattening the hogs for market, I am the family butcher, who salt cures the hams, bacons and variety meats for the smokehouse. He cuts the hickory too.
A agree with and reccommend the salt rub and rinse as described for meat preparation. Including cut or whole poultry.
Knowledge of the salt is everything. Any non-iodized salt can be used. Canning salt is much more economical than kosher which is the same, except you don’t pay the Rabbi. It is the iodine that is added to table salt, that makes salted meat cook up dry and stringy.
In cooking, use non-iodized salt only. Enjoy.
B: I hope Jaden responds to you, but do not use epsom salt! That is magnesium sulphate, which has neither sodium nor chloride, you will just ruin the meat!
Oh my goodness, I was on vacay and didn’t have chance to respond to everyone! (Thank you Ted, for stepping in)
B: I hope you didn’t use Epson salt!!! Last resort, use regular table salt, but just halve the amount of salt.
I am trying this with rib eyes tonight!!!
One question: Will it be okay to delay the cooking after the salting / rinsing / patting? (I can throw the steaks back in the fridge for one to several hours to no ill effect?)
Yup – I do that all the time
Can you use epsom salt instead? I want to try this out tonight and have checked all my local stores, none of them have kosher salt.
All I have is table salt or epsom salt ðŸ™
Excellent article! I have been frying my rib-eye steaks with Montreal seasoning, but I’m adding the seasoning just before frying. I tried to fry three steaks at the same time yesterday, and ended up with a bunch of water in the pan. This got me thinking, which is how I found your article. I have a few questions, though. First, is it safe to leave the steak out for 1-2 hours? Could you explain how this is safe? Also, even if I add seasoning to the salt, I should rinse it off with water and pat clean, correct? You’re saying that the seasoning should be soaked into the meat through salting, and no longer needs to be present on top of the meat? Lastly, will your method work for frying? Do you have any tips? No lid on the pan? Olive oil okay? I can’t wait to try this, as I have been on a mission to get my steaks right.
Best regards,
Charles
can i still do the salting method even if i have marinated the beef already? If I had found your site earlier I would not have done the marination.
I enjoyed your blog post and want to try this. I recently purchased a grass fed london broil steak. Did not have much time to marinate it about 1.5 hours, and found the steak acceptable, but too bland. I did buy another of these steaks because it was $6 a pound and it is healthy, grass fed beef. It is a lean cut. Not much fat (which I actually like for health purposes). Will this technique work even with the lean cut? I don’t mind the salt entering the beef, it could use the additional flavor.
yes, go for it!
Kosher meat is not perfect, my friend worked for some people who got meat ready the kosher way and perception is not reality. The jews there had the most disgusting work habits I have ever seen, very cruel too. I will never eat Kosher meat. As for this receipe, just a long way to get tender meat that could be done so easily other ways. This is complicating matters. It isn’t that hard and yes the salt is way too much.
This is what is known as dry brining it works well with chicken too but you MUST make sure the surface salt is washed off thoroughly I tend to soak the meat in clean fresh water for 2 hours changing the water every 20 minutes. The point of the salt is to break down the protein strands in the meat which of course then makes the meat more tender.
The point of doing it all at room temperature is also so that you are cooking the steak at room temperature rather than from cold this also means the meat stays hot when resting.
IT says there that ordinary salt tastes like shit.
How does the author know what shit tastes like to compare?
Wow, I can’t wait to try this out on my next steak. Very informative and sounds easy as can be. Thanks for your hard work and sharing. I also like your artwork and sense of humor.
Cheers.
OK, at first I was offended by the “dumbing up” of the science lesson. Then again, I am a well educated, licensed medical professional. More importantly, I am also a recently reformed vegan. That being said…GREAT read! Great steaks! The whole project was fun! Excellent site! Thanks!
Denise- your “belief” does not resemble reality; salt is an excellent anti-microbial, and the beef will be perfectly safe.
Dude, you just changed my life, thank you so damn much.
If you are looking to cook the different style of steaks or any other meat dishes then this is the right collection of recipes for you: http://goo.gl/pLXHk
Great article!
I am a professional pit master. I compete in organized bbq competitions against many of the best pitmasters from all over the US and Canada. Therefore I have LOTS of practice cooking various cuts of meat on the grill.
While I disagree that you can take a choice cut of meat and make it as good as a prime cut, I do agree with your methodology. As far as beef goes, you really DO get what you pay for.
That being said, you CAN certainly improve the flavor and tenderness of ANY cut of meat.
Your preperation is spot on. One of the keys, I believe many of the people above me, are missing is the thickness of the steak. MINIMUM 1.5″ thick, which is a thick cut of meat is required for this to work. You CAN use thinner cuts, but for obvious reasons you would need to scale back the amount of salt you use, greatly.
Another is, that (as you stated) if you’re using butter to finish your steaks using unsalted butter is a MUST!
I prepare my steaks using salt (and other spices, included in a steak rub) and you can either leave them on the counter, wrapped in foil or plastic wrap, for those afraid of contamination, or another method I use is called “hot tubbing” your steaks. I season the steaks with my rub, and use the foodsaver to vacuum pack the steaks. After drawing a “bath” in the kitchen sink using hot tap water, I drop the steaks in and weight them down so they warm up evenly to an internal temp of around 100 – 110 degrees. After firing up the grill to as high as you can get it (for my grill, it’s around 1100 degrees, but can be 600-700), I pull the steaks out of the bags, wash really well, pat dry them, and grind some pepper over them. Put them on the direct heat for 2 minutes per side, and probe for an internal temperature of just (5 degrees) below the level of doneness you want. Which should be (IMO) medium rare. Pull and ALWAYS let your meat rest! Put some foil over them and let them sit for 20 minutes or more to let the juices re-distribute. Then serve… you will have one juicy, flavorful piece of meat!
Love your blog here! I have always said that even the cheapest steak choice can become a great steak if treated correctly! I am working on a quick blog about marinating and am going to include a link back to this blog! Following you now! Follow back please @ http://www.pargasjunkyard.wordpress.com and on facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/PargasJunkyard Thanks!
Ms. Hair et al,
While the initial article is several years old as I write this, I wanted to chime in to say that I first started tying/using this particular technique last summer (2010) and have had mixed results ranging from absolutely awesome to mediocre & salty.
That being said, as of last night, I think I finally nailed it down with a $5 rib-eye (prepackaged from TJ’s with very little marbling) and the result was fantastically tender, not salty and just damn good.
Since it’s still fresh in my head from last night, I thought I would relate some of the details that might perhaps assist others.
First, I used one of Tr*der J**’s ‘cheapo’, shrink-packaged rib-eyes that I think are around $5-$6/lb. Rather than my usual routine of letting it warm up a bit from its cold refrigerated state and then washing, drying and applying salt, I just took it right out of the package, no washing, salted both sides and let it sit.
Next, I changed up my salting technique: instead of using my usual fine-crystal sea salt from the shaker-container and liberally salting and slightly rubbing it in, I instead used rock sea salt which I ground coarsely, and somewhat liberally over both sides of the steak (but did not rub it in). The steak was approx 1.25″ thick and I let it remain in the salted state, at room temperature for approx 35-40 minutes, turning once. I noticed more liquid on the steak than other times past.
After the 40 minutes was up, I noticed a distinct change in the texture of the meat: very tender. I washed very thoroughly, lightly rubbing the surface for about 90 seconds under cold running water and then dried very thoroughly using several sets of paper towels (patting but never squeezing). Before I started to rinse the steak, I had placed my favored cast iron pan on the stove (I don’t have a bbq/grill) and cranked the flame to ‘High’ and let it heat while I rinsed the steak.
After drying the steak, and with it now being very tender, I tied some kitchen twine around the sides of the steak to firm/shape it up a bit (not really tight, per se, but tight enough to bring it together and firm up slightly) I crushed a couple of garlic cloves and rubbed them liberally over both sides of the steak (but not leaving any garlic chunks on surface). With my cast-iron pan now very, very hot, and with no oil on the steak or in the pan, I placed the steak in the center of the pan, covered, lowered heat to medium, waited two minutes, cranked the heat to high for 30 seconds, flipped steak, covered again, reduced heat to medium, cooked for another two minutes, removed pan from heat and let sit in pan for another 30 seconds, removed my beautifully browned (and slightly charred) steak from pan and let sit for another 3 minutes before eating- The result was one of best steaks I’ve ever cooked in the kitchen in 20 years of fooling around with steaks. Thank you Ms. Hair.
That was explained right in the second paragraph. You sir, are a c omplete moron.
And you sir, are an asshole. It hardly sounds like you read the article.
Thank you so much for this detailed and humourous article and photos! I was literally LOLing!! I will definitely give it a try on my next steak. My palate is telling me it’ll be carcasstic!
Cheers!
Frankly, I like the way you sharing this and I really can feel the passion that you want to showed. I’ll definitely will try this and I basically understand the idea….
Common guys, she is sharing her experiences, everyone know it is impossible to satisfied everyone… appreciated the feedback so that we others don’t do the mistake twice. 🙂
Get the idea, try, improvise, modify, leverage from other and if 1 day you get the perfect steaks…do share it with us.
How about the side dishes on the carrot, mushroom, asparagus, broccoli..normally you steam it and then grill it or just grill it??
Many thanks and keep it up…
Thank you so much Moskito!
As for the vegetables, I normally just grill the asparagus, mushrooms on medium-high heat. For broccoli and carrots, I’ll grill on one side of the grill that’s on low heat (while rest of grill is on high or medium-high heat), cover and let roast until done.
A bit more radical salt application than I am used to, but I will definitely try one your way.
Wonderfully written article, thanks for sharing
Actually the salting process for kosher food (a) does not take that long, and (b) is applied to large, wholesale cuts of meat – a kosher butcher (or packing house) slices steaks just like any other butcher, without salting each piece.
So you SHOULD be able to use this technique with individual steaks.
I don’t agree with the part about leaving it set on the counter for an hour, and 25 minutes. Wouldn’t it be loaded with bacteria by the time you cooked it?
@Denise Because a whole cut of meat (as opposed to ground) gets thoroughly cooked on the exposed surfaces, any potentially harmful bacterias that may have flourished on the exterior typically get killed off within a few minutes at a temperature higher than 165ºF. It’s important that the meat be from fresh a clean, trusted source and stored at a temperature no higher that 41ºF shortly after it was butchered up until you take it out of your fridge. At that point the typical rule is not to let it sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. In this case, the generous salting on the exposed surfaces should help prevent bacteria from growing as rapidly as it would on unsalted meat. It takes a significant amount of salt to totally kill bacteria, but a generous coating as shown in this article will at least make it more difficult for bacteria to flourish.
I would also add that while it’s not recommended to let raw meat sit out for more than 2 hours at room temperature, in visiting some foreign countries I have seen raw meat (no salt or other preservation methods used) sit out much longer than that before getting cooked without making anyone sick including foreigners who weren’t accustomed to such lax food safety practices. It’s best to observe proper food safety and sanitation and not gamble with making anyone sick, however. My point is that your steak should be well within the safe to consume range after letting it sit salted on the counter for 1 hour and 25 minutes then immediately cooking it.
What you are describing here is simply using salt to quickly dry age meat. It will make the meat taste better but will still pale in comparison to a dry aged steak. Your usage of the words “Prime” and “Choice” however, is just plain incorrect. The difference between USDA graded Select, Choice, and Prime is the amount of fat present in the meat. Select being the leanest and Prime being the most marbled, to indicate that salt can make up this difference is just wrong and you shouldn’t use words that have specific meaning in the grading of beef. Salt cannot improve the fat content, so your article and recipe gets two thumbs down. Do a little bit of research next time. When purchasing Prime Dry aged beef you are not getting ripped off either. You get what you pay for. You, sir, are an idiot.
I am definitely going to try this. I live in Africa (been here almost 7 years) and just had the toughest ribeye I have ever had in my life. And it was supposedly grassfed. I think it is the way the animal is slaughtered (under a great amount of stress) and it is not aged in any way (to my knowledge). So, anything that will make it better will be great. I have tried salt before, but only as the meat was put on the grill. That did not help much. So, thanks for the advice. I will write back and let you know how it went.
You guys, if you ended up with a salty piece of beef jerky, you did something wrong. This is an excellent idea with solid science behind it. I’ve tried salting a number of different cuts and have had success each time. Many thanks to the author.
This is how I prepare all my steaks. If it tastes overly salty, you’re using too much salt, not rinsing it well enough, or some combination of both.
When you rinse, make sure you vigorously rub all surfaces of the meat, and make sure you get it out of any openings (as would be present in a ribeye or strip).
If you don’t get good results at first, don’t just throw the method away. Inspect. Adapt. Fortune favors the bold.
Hi Jaden, I really enjoyed your article. One question: do you salt one side or both sides of the steak? Thanks in advance for your help.
I tried this, and I would not recommend it. Yes, the technique pulled water out of the steak, but as the blog post itself points out, salt is drawn into the meat.
Normally, I salt my steaks right before cooking. I want a nice crust, but I do not want too much saltiness WITHIN the steak itself. Unfortunately, this is the result I got with this technique. In nice steak houses, they salt the steaks right before cooking the steaks. That way, you get some nice saltiness on the crust, but within, it’s just nice steak-y flavor.
LOLs.
You gave me a good laugh.
I just feel sorry about all the meat that is wasted on trying this.
But never mind my comment, I’m just a cook.
I tried salting the steaks. The salt draws out the juice which contains the flavor. The meat had a funny taste from the sea salt. I won’t do that again.
Sorry….Gene
Thanks Jaden!
I was wondering – does anyone have any input if this works on kosher meat? Kosher meat has already been salted to draw all the blood and so is quitely salted to begin with. Would this process make it any saltier?
I would not do this with kosher meat – it’s already perfect!
Just an FYI, I cook my steaks like this in the oven, right next to the broiler flame. I do it for three minutes on each side. I try to get 1.25 inch cuts.
But if you use prime steak with a lot of fat, watch out for grease fires! Just a warning.
I’ve been doing this for ages. Those two “cheap” cuts are not cheap at all. They look like prime grade, which is the most expensive grade (besides Kobe, obviously).
Does this work on select or choice cuts? I don’t think so.
So you’re headline is deceiving. People still need to buy high-quality steak for this to work right.
Can this method be used to prepare a roast? What would be the modification in technique?
Used this method on two sirloin tip steaks with sea salt and grilled them on a foreman. AMAZING! So tender, juicy and flavorful.
I might try this sometime or maybe not but I definitely gotta give 3 thumbs up for the excellent writing. Quite a riot…
This works great; I’ve done this a half-dozen times with filets. They’re juicier and tastier than without the salt process. It’s weird to wash steak under running water and then dry them off… but that’s what it takes. I roast my steaks in my Micro/Convection (using Convection only, of course) at 390° for about fourteen minutes or until the center is 130°F. Pat dry again if I’m going to pan sear and create a wonderful sauce or sear/char them on the grill; both for no more than 80-90 seconds/side on high heat. The results are steakhouse perfection. The outside has a nice char and the meat is bright pink throughout; no gray areas at all… perfect!
I tried this last night on two cheap steaks (1″ Round Steaks). I did 1 Teaspoon of Kosher salt then put some Dry-Rub I threw together on as well. Let them sit for about an hour, pan-fried them about 4 minutes per side, then let them sit for 5-10 minutes.
It was the best steak I’ve had for the type of cut used, and better than some prime cuts I’ve had as well. I’m considering using this method for a prime cut, but I will probably salt it for less time per inch.
Also, you’re right, even though I rinsed off all of the dry-rub I made, it was bursting with flavor.
Makes sense to me, but regardless if it works or not, I enjoyed your sense of humor!
We tried this idea tonight on some steaks of home grown beef–took an already great cut of meat above and beyond. 🙂 Of course I made a few changes…..no idea how much salt I used, I just used my grinder until it looked like enough (though still not quite as much as you used–we’re NOT salt people), and I also only let it sit for 30 minutes at the most (that’s all the longer I could hold off the starving menfolk.) I used the butter too, and it was excellent. 🙂
Thank you so much!
Don’t try this unless you normally eat a ton of salt. If you are not a salt eater, all you end up with is a horribly salty piece of meat.
Well, I may have been considering trying salting the steak, but I don’t recommend the bourbon part of the note, until I read some of the comments, which were discouraging but I might end up trying it any way and try to use less salt. I had read on another website about salting it, too, so it might work if it’s done with the right amount of salt.
First try was a success. 1.8 lb single flank steak (choice), 5 min./side over a full load (single layer of Stubb’s briquets) on a 22.5 in. Char-Broil kettle grill. A little chewy but good flavor. Made sure to measure 1 tsp. salt per side,45 min./side before hitting the grill. Maybe salt choice is critical. Used Diamond Kosher (supposedly hollow crystals). Steak sat at least 5 min., maybe 10 min.(martinis, dont’cha know). Technique seems basically sound. Will try again.
I just had to leave a comment even though i have never before. I was searching for a way to tenderize steak because i am grilling some steaks later today and i really enjoyed reading this page. Regaardless if it works or not-i got a good laugh reading this! 🙂
I’m almost 60 years old and well experienced in cooking, so after reading the science behind this over salting and resting the steak method, I thought I would give it a try.
After following this recipe to the letter, and perfectly grilling the steaks (rib eyes) I ended
Up with two of the saltiest pieces of beef I ever had. It was literally inedible. Ruined, two beautiful pieces of meat we looked forward to. DO NOT use this recipe!
I tried this and it worked perfectly. I will agree that it was a tad bit salty, but I used the garlic butter and it was a match made in heaven.
I would not try this on rib eye, NY or any really good cuts of meat. I used Sirloin. I don’t love sirloin, but I buy it. This made it perfect.
I agree with Kimberly on this one, your using far to much salt there. Unless you want to turn a $10 steak into a $2 piece of jerky.
I tried this out on 2 steaks totaling in price 18.00. I thought it would turn out amazing, I love to take chance on experimental stuff when it comes to cooking. BUT my steaks were 2in thick and I let them sit in the KOSHER salt for 1 1/2 hours and rinsed it well, and patted dry with paper towels, and it just ended up being extremely salty and I ended up NOT EATING MY MEAT. I was very very disappointed. I would NOT recommend this at all.
I gotta say it sounded so good I was hooked! OK wisenhiemer, I did everything you said I should do and now I waiting for my “salt/fresh herbs marinade” to complete! Wish me luck (my kitchen is a mess)……If you don’t hear from me again it means it was beyond great………..Simon 🙂
Tried this method tonight. Coated the steak in salt and let it sit for the recommended hour and fifteen minutes. Came out extremely salty even after washing it all off and chewy as ever. Overall unimpressed. Next time I’ll just pay extra for better cuts of steak.
Love this article. I didn’t want a marinade as I’m going to use this in a stir fry and knew that brining was great for pork chops so that’s what I had googled first. So glad I found you instead! I’ve just decided to bump up my recipe from the old method of cut and saute to bbq, slice and then add to my stirfry. Makes my mouth water already! Love your sense of humour BTW. Your photos were awesome!
Love the tips – but really love the writing style! Sat here chuckling while I read it, sipping on my rum & coke (I’m on vacation – I can drink all day if I want to!). Already bookmarked your site. Cheers!
This was great. I have googled and read so many ways to marinade a steak. Tried a handful to no avail. Tried packed marinade. Nothing works good. Steak cuts are just not like they use to be. I am definitely trying this won. In fact I am going to go do it right now. We talk the same lingo….thanks for making me chuckle. Enjoyed your article a lot.
@SteamyKitchen:
Thanks for the tip! I’ll try that next time.
By the way, I tried this recipe with venison (backstrap, tenderloin and ham steak) and it worked wonderfully! This is my new go-to method.
Hey there! THANK YOU so much for sharing this wonderful tip!! I haven’t tried this…but I am sooooo looking forward to try it. And I love the way you talk, I laughed out loud at work and everyone thinks I’m a weirdo – especially if they peek at my screen that pretty much has salted steak picture zoomed in.
taste like a salty steak. tried it verbatim. my homade marinade smokes this salt lick
Just tried this technique and it worked well! Flavor/level of saltiness was great, but our steak (NY strip) was not as tender as I thought it would be with this technique. Any other tips or ideas for added tenderness?
Try getting your steak from another market OR when you purchase your steak, use your hands to gently touch the steak (while in its package, under plastic of course).
I’ve found that the more tender the steak to the touch, the more tender the steak is to eat. This method works really well esp for filet mignon.
I just finished my steak following this technique. It worked pretty well, but my steak was bordering on being too salty. I tried this on pork for my wife and she enjoyed it, all though we both agreed the saltiness could be less. What can I do to make this less salty? Do I simply add less salt during my salting process or should I let the salt sit for longer in order to even itself out to the center of the meat? I tested it tonight in order to have it done for our party tomorrow.
Hi! I had a quick question! this is my first time trying this recipe, and I would have to say i used alot of salt as well as salt it for around 4-5 hours! Will this effect my steak at all? like making it really salty?! Please respond asap thanks!
ummm, i think i love you!! you are hilarious!!! please never stop blogging while drinking bourbon on the rocks!!!
This is one of my favorite ways to make steak. This also worked very well on Pork Chops!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Do you add the garlic butter before you grill the steak or after it’s finished? I am going to try this method in a day or so, thanks!!
Hi Cora, Add the garlic butter once the steak has been grilled. Since the steak will be nice and hot when serving, the butter will melt over beautifully!
I just took a 1 1/2″ thick 1.4 lb steak, salted for 1hr 15min, rinsed, paper toweled it dry & cooked it to 140. It was phenomenal. Thanks for the information! I think I will always salt & season this way.
Meat in a slow cooker is not the same as a grilled steak, in my honest opinion. I don’t use my slow cooker anymore after I learned how many of the nutrients are destroyed by the over cooking. Personally, I’d rather put in the extra effort with the salting and grilling, keeping the nutrition of the meal I’m eating.
I have tried this with steak, chicken and pork and each one turned out supper tender and flavorful! I have not mastered grilling but with this technique it tastes like I have! I will never cook meat without marinating it in salt first. Thank you so much for this page!
Thanks Crystal!
a slow cooker is the best thing in an apt, you don’t have to salt in advanced, i just put steak on a bed of potatoes and carrots and season with steak spice, let it cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours and its for tender
This is exactly how I’ve cooked my steaks for years, glad to see I’m not the only crazy one! Works great, definitely going to try your recipe at the end of that article. Om nom nom! Great article and wonderful photography!
I just stumbled upon this website a day after I had a steak cooked, and I approve of this! What a coincidence that we used the same method! It was just sooooo simple that my friends can’t believe this is just what you need to do. I modified mine a little bit, though:
After the salting, I placed the steak in a ziploc bag with3 tablespoons of olive oil and massaged it for five minutes and left to marinate for over an hour. Overall the whole process with the salting takes 2 hours, but everyone will thank you for it. I didn’t even use any other flavorings and just let the taste of the steak shine.
Here was the end product in our En Route community page:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=214185745270124&set=a.213029198719112.52981.198205076868191&type=1&theater
Thanks for the info! I cannot wait to try this! And TsunamiJane – do what I did – get a George Foreman grill (countertop model). They work great and no need to light a grill to cook for 1! I cook ribs, steak, and chicken breasts on mine and you even get the pretty grill marks! : )
This really works! I looooove how you wrote this article. I was nervous the first time I tried this, but we’re “salting” right now and I can’t wait for dinner. Tip for anyone who tries this….follow the directions as written!
1. Sea Salt, sea salt, sea salt
2. Rinse, rinse, rinse
3. Pat super dry with paper towels
4. Cook ’em up!
Also: I live in an apartment and don’t own a grill. Any suggestions on baking or frying this? Baking is preferred!
Hi! Haven’t tried this yet. Was wondering if it works with pork as well? I have a bunch o’ boneless pork ribeyes, thick suckers.
I did it! I tried it and oh my GOSH it was amazing!! I had tons of compliments, the meat was nearly falling apart as I was putting it on the grill. It’s delicious and fantastic and the rosemary finished it off perfectly. It wasn’t overly salty (and I don’t much like salty, so that was a relief.. I was worried, no lies) I’m definitely doing this again for our big party.
I’ve been using this method for half a year now and figured it’s about time I leave a comment. This method really results in tender, flavourful steak. I’ve experimented with various additions to the salting process, like Worcestershire sauce and other spices, and in the end I just like using slivers of garlic. Simple and delicious. I find it’s better to season with pepper right before grilling; otherwise it doesn’t seem to permeate the meat so well.
If people are having problems, maybe they’re leaving the steak in salt too long, or not rinsing and drying thoroughly? Any of these things may lead to oversalted steak that lacks a nice crust. I just eyeball my steaks (usually ~1″ thick) for water buildup, leaving them under salt for anywhere from 45-65 minutes; I’ve never had any problems. Thanks!
I’m going out this weekend to get a big vat of kosher salt for this. I am doing a big cookout, and I want to surprise everyone with steak. Obviously you then start researching how to make cheap cuts taste amazing and bam.. here you are. You’re funny and articulate and to the point so I actually understood you. My pants did NOT come off once. I’m testing it out this weekend.. I may be back with questions, so I hope you’re still here
I tried your recipe how to turn cheap steake into
gucci steak. All I got was very salty steak, I rinsed, rinsed, rinsed and it is too saly to eat
hi Jaden. just came across this while doing a search. I am a horrible griller but there have been requests in my cooking classes for steak. Great Instructions! !m I am so excited to try this. Love the drawings and text!!! Will let you know how it goes!! xo, Elana
Maybe I did something wrong, but all I had was a dried out piece of salty steak by the time I was done.
I used a london broil, and followed the instructions to a T. The salty taste was so over powering and there was hardly any juice left in the meat.
I was so excited to try this, but alas, I ended up throwing out my steak.
We got an 1/8 of a cow this year as a new way to buy meat. We received numerous steaks but I have always been disappointed with my steak-grilling dis-abilities. I did a Google search first and then noticed that Xmarks had a ranking in the “steak grilling” category. This post was at the top and I soon learned why. This recipe is superb! Even my wife who is not a beef-eater was drooling. My three sons (11 and under) were all begging for more (instead of hot-dogs. I thinly sliced the leftovers for an omelet or a burrito. Thank you for your lighthearted genius.
Is there a printable version of this? I can hardly wait to try it!
I first heard about doing this in Hawaii. Its their “secret” method for fire pit cooking steak at those fancy luaus and such. Your post helped me get it right for the first time. And let me say… You are now my food goddess. I only used crushed white pepper with the salt, and started out with 3 steaks. By the time my family was done having neighbors and friends taste it, it had turned into a cook out to remember. Total steaks cooked: 16. Thank you so much!
I love this and cant wait to experiment~ one quick question.. when you add flavoring to the salting process, after the salting process is complete.. are you rinsing all of the flavors off as well.. and grilling it without the flavors? THANKS FOR SHARING!
Nope. The flavors of the garlic and rosemary transfer into the steak during salting.
This made me laugh my socks off and really want steak. Good thing my feet were hot and I have steaks in the freezer.
Thanks to a Dutch blog I was directed to your wonderful steak page! Always a discussion with (old fashioned) chefs to salt the meat upfront. I received some Spanish red wine salt lately and that has become my unmissable steak salt. I massage the meat one hour in advance. It does not give a ‘specific’ taste but enhances the meat even more than the ‘fleur de sel’ I used before.
Even ‘cheep’ steaks I sometimes buy for lack of time taste much better.
Glory to the steak!
This is such wonderful directions, and you are so funny, I was hootin all the way thru… ahahhaha great job.. and finish that bourbon..
LOVE the way you talk /write. I’ve never commented on a post before (i swear! + i’m young so imagine) but this is awesome, will email to all my friends!
Great post, can’t wait to try this. Love the illustrations too!
I think I love you.
There is no such thing as a protein cell…
Typo Jaden not Jsden sorry.
Hi Jsden,
Thanks for the tip on the process of the preparation of the steak. It is fantastic. I was impressed. I believe it was the best steak I ever cooked. Thank you. I look forward to seeing more of your recipes. I can’t wait to try it out on chicken too. Thanks so much.
Sincerely,
Bobby
Thanks, i have been brining turkey, whole chicken, and large cuts of pork for some time, but it does not work well with chicken parts, pork chops, and as you stated, steak. I tried this on skinless/boneless chicken breast and pork chops. You only need about 7-10 minutes, but they came out perfect. I plan on trying this out on some steak next.
PS Can I come to your house for dinner 🙂
Okay so I used the Margarita salt and made sure I wrinsed them all very well afterward and while cooking them I seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper and they are sooo good!!!
Okay so I am attempting this on a rib eye with Margarita salt since I don’t have any sea salt or Kosher. I will let you know how it turns out.
Dave try Asda .. I think I saw some in there the other day
I have been using your recipe for over a year now. I use it on top roast, a 2 to 3 inch cut. I spread out the salt on a cookie sheet and add any spices I want to use. I then place the meat on the salt and spices. I spice the top of the meat and then add salt fairly heavily. Let set for 1 hr. Rinse and pat dry. I grill it at about 450 degrees for 40 minutes turning over ever 10 minutes. So that the streak is a nice medium rare.
I used to use sauces on my steak when eating it. Since I have been doing this I never use a sauce. My whole family loves steak done this way.
Thank you.
hi! can i do the procedure above including seasoning the meat/steak and then put it in the freezer for future use? good meat for steaks arrive in our local meat shop every wednesday; i like to cook my steaks on fridays. thanks!
Oh, I forgot to say that I let it sit in the salt overnight.
I used this method with a bottom round roast, then braised it. It came our delicious. I am wondering it will work as well with a chuck roast. If you could answer pretty quickly I would appreciate it,since I need to prepare it for company this Sat., 3/19. Thanks so much!
Hello Jaden –
This sounds delicious and easy, my kind of recipe! How would you go about doing this for a 2-1/2 pound round roast?
Leave it whole?
How long on with the salt?
(yes, I am very cooking challenged):)
Thank you,
dooks
Leave it whole, salt generously (I’d suggest using 1 1/2 times the amount of salt that you’d normally use to salt a roast), cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate overnight.
Next day, rinse off, pat dry. The reason I am suggesting using only a little more salt than you’d normally use is because most people will cook the roast with a sauce in the pan. And the sauce generally contains salt already.
Hi Steamy
Great article and i will try it as soon as…but one question: Kosher meat is salted like you recommend. Does the Kosher salting render the meat more tasty too?
Salt is flavor and brings out the flavor of whatever ingredient are you cooking. So, my answer is yes!
DUDE, ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS YOUR STEAK ROCKED! LOVE IT. I CAN’T COOK WORTH SHIT AND DAYAM, THANKKKKK YOUUUUUUU. YOUR A GENIOUS
I absolutely love steak, but occasionally stumble across that tough steak and since using this technique I do not have this problem anymore. I have passed this wonderful tip to my friends and family. Thank you for sharing your secret and also making it interesting & funny to read.
Great tip, and you are definitely a hottie 😉
Will this work with lamb and other red meats too?
Yes, it sure does.
I’m going to try that…. Thanks for the tip….
WHOA, Jaden, this is amazing! I am a big steak and venison eater (we raise beef and shoot deers) so man!!! This just changed my life! My steaks are never quite that great unless it’s tenderloin, but now I bet they will be! And I love a ton of salt! My best chicken recipes include tons and tons of salt and then there’s this smoked pastrami that I make which of course uses a serious salt brine.
Thank you SteakLady. I have gone 25 years without knowing how to cook a steak.
Thank you for helping me cook the BEST late Valentine’s dinner for my husband. The choice steak (ribeye) was perfectly tender and seasoned. Used garlic and rosemary, your suggestion for those two spices was a winner. Can’t wait to try another type of cut.
You’re so welcome!
I did try a iodized rock salt too and the rump steak (also from the supermarket!) came out rather well. Also, added a few rosemary sprigs when frying. It gave a lovely flavour to the meat!
Gave this a try on the world’s crappiest piece of steak. From one of those frozen boxes at the super market. They’re like a quarter inch think and when I broiled the first one
(without this method) it came out like shoe leather. Gave it to the dogs and they gnawed on it for a solid two minutes. Mmmmm rawhide! Tried this method with iodized table salt- it was all I had and I didn’t think the steak could get worse. What a difference! It was a little salty, but again these are thin steaks, probably already brined in some sort of gross solution and I used table salt. The steak was actually edible though! I can’t wait to try this on “real” meat!
I was sooo excited to try this recipe, as I have been trying my hand at brining with great success. In fact, my google search for “brining steak” is what brought me here. Unfortunately I am sad to report that despite following your instructions to the letter, my steak was ruined and HORRIBLY salty. I realize that “saltiness’ is subjective, but this was waaaaay over the top. I really do not recommend this method. :<(
This is the best article I have ever read about steak! Its written in my kinda language.. Thanks soo much..
I tried this tonight with a 1-inch thick steak, and I actually took caution and used less salt like you recommended because it had a lot of marbling. I followed the instructions to the letter: left it to sit for just one hour, rinsed it twice over, and made sure it was dry. We didn’t add extra salt in the pan, only pepper. I’m sorry but it was just awful and ruined the meat. It was so unbelievably salty, especially the fat, to the point we were taking every forkful with potato or vegetable to cut the saltiness. We fried it in a pan so perhaps this only works if you grill it or something?
Thank you for this…someone just stumbled this post on twitter and I forgot all about seeing this post last year. I need a lot of help on grilling steak so I’m keeping this one bookmarked. 🙂
im a first timer, hope it works for me preparing a candle light dinner for this coming valentine. wish me luck.
I used the salt/rosemary/garlic combo on NY strip today for my mom’s birthday dinner and it was wonderful, or in her words, “ridiculously delicious”. Thanks so much for sharing!
I was wondering…after the salting process is finished and rinsing is done and patted dry – will I be able to marinade the beef for another hour? or will this just make it tough again? By the way your article is hilarious I have read it twice now… 🙂
I’d suggest trying the salting w/o marinade first. Instead of marinating, just add spices to the salt (like I’ve used garlic and rosemary). I would not recommend marinating after salting, there’s really no need to – esp since most marinades contain salt (and then you’d be oversalting)
I’m going to try this tonight! Is it a good idea to use iodized salt?
No, use regular KOSHER salt (you’ll find either the Diamond brand or Morton’s at the store)
So I love the idea of this!! I have some t-bones and was wondering if you thought it would turn out as good if I seared in a skillet and then broiled to finish? Its a lil cold for the grill!
Cook any way you want! 😉
wow! that’s awesome! Works the same way for chicken? Am trying to make chicken breasts (julia childs way) tonight …
PS: love your infographics! 😀
I use this technique for chicken, turkey, pork.
I’m trying the recipe tonight, it sound great. But what is kosher salt! I’m in England and no one here has hear of it. Well not were I live anyway. I have really good Malden Sea Salt, so I’ll use that. Can I make kosher salt?
Yes, just use sea salt!
Is there a way not to use salt for low sodium dieters and healthy freaks like my family, but still achieving the osmosis effect?
Wow amazing – love the 3rd grader pictures 😛 It does the job!!
I read this article the beginning of 2010 and have used it on every steak since! It took some time to really figure out how much salt per thickness of steak. And also how long to leave it on. Typically I coat a 1 – 1 1/2″ steak in kosher salt (and fresh cracked pepper) for about 30-45 minutes. I can tell by how the steak looks and feels when it is ready, too. Weird, I know. At any rate, thanks so much for the article!
Jas
PS
The butter recipe is a big win at my house, too!
This sounds great…will be trying this week. What types of cuts do you recommend for this method?
I like your recipe and I will try it but I have a question.
in case if i want to marinate the steak in teriyaki sauce, which one is first, salting or marinating in the teriyaki sauce?
thanks
Do one or the other – not both! teriyaki sauce has salt it in so your steak will be too salty.
Works.
Did not work for me. So much salt ended up in my digestive system that I am taking an extra blood pressure pill tonight.
This is AMAZING. I’m totally trying this.
This is the third time I’m using this method on London Broil. I LOVE IT!! But even more, I love reading the recipe over and over again. What a way to get some laughs at the end of the day!!
Thank you so much Ria! Happy new year to you.
Thanks for a great article! It was fun and informative :). I’m going to try this w/tri-tip, though I havn’t decided when to add the balsamic marinade we like. (Shrimp curry next 😉
should this salting method be used on prime grade steaks? or only on choice?
hmmm i will try it tomorrow,off to buy ingredients.im a steak lover too and spending good amount of money eatin’ at resto for a steak:) thanks
Tried but was very salty taste. What did I do wrong?
I am going to try this. I do have one question though, I am so used to having my steaks marinated for flavor or seasoned with steak seasoner… Can these things still be done with your method? And when? The garlic-herb butter just isn’t my thing and there are certain flavors I crave with my steak. But I am afraid if I were to marinate it along with your method, it would defeat the purpose because it would be letting the water back into the steak, or if I were to use steak seasoning, it would dry it out on the grill. Do they just not go hand in hand?
Wow, I tried your method last night, and it worked great! I pulled out a NY steak that’s been sitting in the freezer for almost two months. Usually steak that’s been sitting in the freezer for a while don’t come out as juicy, but after following your method, I was amazed with the results! I should have taken a picture, but I couldn’t wait to eat it! LOL
I’m making a steak dinner for some friends on Thursday. I can’t wait to try this recipe tonight so I can make sure I’m doing it correctly. The method actually makes a lot of sense to me. I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out for me.
This worked great for me!! I tried it on Christmas day with 2 porterhouse and 2 New York strip steaks. One thing I did after I placed the salt on the steaks is wrapped them in some paper towels to help absorb the moisture coming out. For those that are saying the steaks are too salty are apparently not following the steps outlined above correctly. These were the best steaks I have ever cooked and I look forward to using this method again when I cook the next batch!!
Salting A standing rib roast
I cooking Christmas dinner this yesr 16 lb standing rib roast and was wondering if I can salt it the same as the steak and how long befoe I wash and pat dry.
I usually salt the night before, but just use the same amount of salt that you would normally sprinkle on the roast…i.e. don’t over do it.
Hello,
Thank you for your great article. Also the pic is very nice.
Thanks
WOW!!! I have struggled to get the flavor of the different marinades that I’ve used to actually “flavor” the meat but tonight… I used fresh rosemary and crushed garlic… Viola! Every bite…. even a few hours later with a cold bite of steak… the rosemary and garlic permeated the steak. Holy Cow! Thrilled! I will be using this method again… very SOON! Thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing such an informative article.
You Made reading this article funny and cool to read and very
use full thx
For the record, this has nothing to do with osmosis. During osmosis, liquid flows through a semipermeable membrane from the more concentrated side (steak having a higher concentration of water) to the more diluted side (consider the brine as water being diluted with salt.) Osmosis actually draws water out of the meat, but the benefits of salting more than outweigh any drying out the osmosis does.
I also was very skeptical about this method, but I was amazed at how great it worked. I posted the results to my blog: http://engineeringeats.blogspot.com/2010/12/pan-seared-ny-strip-wgarlic-herb-butter.html. =I pan seared the steak after salting it and it tasted amazing.
OMG! I can’t believe I just grilled a steak like this. a ny strip. it was unreal. thank you! i am going to be the star at the next family steak night!
Hi Jaden, I am new to your blog. Steak looks mouthwatering. Could you please tell me how long should I grill the steak to be well cooked on my gas grill?
Looking forward to your reply.
Thanks
Mary.
I’m curious…can you use this salting technique and still marinate overnight with your steak? Thanks for the really interesting post. I’m so excited to try it since my husband has his doubts.
I’d really like to hear how people make this edible. I had the same experience as Nancy Hicks and am returning to my original, overwhelming cynicism about this method doing anything other than creating inedibly salted meat.
I am not a frequent visitor to cooking blogsites, I certainly don’t often leave a comment but I do cook a lot and I must say that I am completely floored by this method! The steaks (medallions really) were out of this world! On par with the finest NY Steakhouses (at least the ones that I have visited, which are quite a few…). They were perfectly charred and deliciously tender. After the salting process I coated the edges in crushed peppercorns, brushed the tops with apple-cider-vinegar, and threw them onto the (very hot!) grill. I took them off at medium-rare, (a little late) and served them with sauteed oyster, shiitake, portobella mushrooms and onions. Yum. Thanks for the amazing tip, I cant wait to try it again.
I tried this last evening with some new york strip steaks. Salted for an hour. Rinsed well, added some lawrys seasoning..which i always do. This was tender but completely inedible due to the saltiness. Perhaps if it were salted for just a small amount of time and smaller amount of salt. Tonight im looking for a recipe for what to do with leftover salty steak. Any ideas?
If this does indeed work, I botched it horribly. I can’t think of what I could have done wrong, UNLESS…
For lack of fresh rosemary (and finding my garlic a bit past its prime), I used dried rosemary ground with a mortar and pestle, and garlic powder. I suppose… the dried seasonings absorbed the water, so that salt was the only thing that could go “back in” the steak?
I don’t know; though, while that explanation doesn’t make sense, neither does this technique. The only thing I did differently aside using the dried spices was that I vacuum-sealed and froze the meat immediately afterward. Once cooked it was (I must confess, as expected) inedibly salty.
Actually, I prefer to salt the steak just after grilling, before resting it for a couple of minutes. I believe it helps to preserve steak juices.
In South America, Paraguay to be exact, they salt their beef like this for grilling. They take a huge hunk of beef and use large salt crystals (not sure what kind but much larger than the kosher salt you mentioned) then they let it set for around an hour and plop the whole thing on a grill. Takes over an hour sometims to cook because of the thickness, but always has a great flavor. Even the worst cuts can come out pretty good. Oh yea, and they don’t wash the salt off either!
Are you supposed to salt both sides of the steak? Or just one?
Both sides
can you salt, not cook and freeze for later?
I haven’t tried that, but I’d try salt, rinse, pat very dry and then freeze.
can you can use a himalayan salt plate, and not have to rinse?
That was entertaining read, but i’m not amused after eating the steak. Other than using sirloin, I followed your instructions to the letter. The meat was overly salty and not any more tender than normal. The steaks I used were from my freezer and from a steer that I raised and had butchered. I only throw that in so that you’ll know that I completely understand the beef that I’m using. Luckily I wasn’t cooking for company. I’m considering using your salting method again with a ribeye, but I seriously doubt that the taste or texture will change favorably. If not, the dogs will just love me that much more. This is the second time I’ve been burned by an internet recipe…gonna stick with what I know from now on.
Great and very informative article. I’d rather buy top of the line steaks too….
http://www.meathub.com/steaks-s/46.htm
Thanks SOO much! Although i didin’t actually cook….;) I used your BEAUTIFUL:P drawings for my bio class packet!:) LOVE IT!:p
Hyundai to BMW, NO THANKS! I’m a proud Genesis owner and Hyundai’s aren’t the dogs of the car industry any more. Get with the times! I’ll try the steak though and BTW I have owned a BMW. I’ll stick with the Hyundais.
Hi,I like your slides and the explanation of why this works. Now I will be try your method.
OMG that was amazing and u are a genius….by far the best steak i have ever had
?
No, because then you’re letting the water back into the meat. Just rinse it off and pat very dry.
After the salt treatment to tenderize it, can you soak the meat in water to remove some of the salt?
I just recently got married and I never really knew about the cuts of meat! I currently have these two meats “Tip Steak thick cut for BBQ- USDA Choice” and “Beef Round Top Round for Rouladen- USDA Choice”. How well will the kosher/ seasalt work on these cuts, and what on earth is Rouladen? They look like steak but who knows!!! What is the best way to cook steak grill or oven? HELP!
I have been using this method for about 8 months now. I was prepared for it to be a disaster the first go-round (OMG, that is a lot of salt!)…
It’s like flash-drying the meat, it’s not too salty and you can clearly see how the texture of the flesh has changed once it’s rinsed off. Like buttah. Gives flatirons the texture of filet mignon.
Love the tip, thanks!
My family and I have been using this method to prepare our steaks for about 6 months. I was surprised at how simple this is and how delicious the steaks turn out. Thank you for the tip and all of your wonderful recipes.
wow…”too good to be true” I thought, and it was. Tender sure, but way, WAY too salty. Sorry, but cheap steak is cheap steak. Will never do this again.
O-M-G….I rarely cook steak at home; When I do cook steak it’s either seasoned too much or not enough! I was so scared to try this, but I did and……
my t-bone oven broiled steak came out DELICIOUS with no seasonings AT ALL! O-M-G! I bought a 1 inch thick t-bone from Jewels, I layered both sides with sea salt on a plate with a spoon underneath (so that I could watch the water leak out) for about 40mins because I was scared of getting the steak too salty like other before me. I put the steak on the the broiler pan on HI broiling in the broiler and it cooked on both side for a total of 18 mins. When I took the steak out of the broiler, the steak looked so plain and unattractive. But when I tasted the steak, it was wonderful! I could not believe it! I sprinkled some pepper on a piece and it was okay so I tried the garlic butter on another piece (with no pepper) and this tasted even better than any of the previous pieces. THANK YOU so much for sharing your “cheap steak” secret! I will never be afraid to cook another steak at home again!
Good article, but for ever “source” you find recommending this technique you will find 10 others that state not to let the salt sit because it draws out moisture. How about someone post real life results in video format? The more tender steak should be visible.
The bottom line is you cant change nature, and prime is prime for a reason.
WOW! KAPPPOW!!! I’m STILL on a high and I ate that thing 12 hours ago! Best steak I’ve EVER done myself – and I worked at a fancy schmancy steak place back in the day. …Then I became veg because I could never cook any meat as well… Not sure I’ll ever go back now… 🙂
Though I did augment a little… after the salt trick, the washing and patting… I put a splash of red wine and Tamari, garlic + rosemary on it and let it sit in that for a couple hours. Then onto the grill… then resting time… then lemon butter. Then… ahhhh…. 🙂 Powerful goodness.
THANK YOU! – M
Mary, I love your enthusiasm! Just made my day! 😉
my husband hates fat (filet guy all the way) and hates salt. Filet is in no way in our budget but his 40th birthday just passed and we didn’t get to do anything so I saw this and thought maybe he and the kids would enjoy this..it is the salty taste that scares me.. he does hate salt..comments?
If he *hates* salt, then I’d stay away from using salt.
Yes, same method works for broiling or grilling.
Holy crap.. I just read through all the comments, hoping to draw on some of the successes and fails- I just bought some cheap steaks this weekend with this article in mind (I read it originally a few months back), and now I can’t wait to try. That’s pretty awesome that after 3 years, this article is still going strong 🙂
Question.. I think someone asked this before, but I’m not sure that I saw an answer- does this method work pretty well for broiling too? I live in MN and it cooled down pretty early this year- I’m not looking to grill at this point.
It worked! My girl friend thought I was the best steak chef ever. I almost for a second forgot I was cooking for her it was so good! Thanx alot
It’s taken me a week so i don’t even remember how i got here, but 800+ comments/amusements later and i WILL BE tryin’ steak for the first time in over 12 years-as long as i’ve been in Indonesia! Daddy used to fire up a mean grill back home and i can still smell the steak charrin’…No grill now but a stovetop and a countertop oven for sure…I don’t quite know how yet but i’ll find the way. I’ll have to admit, when i first read your article i thought you were the funniest GUY i’ve read for awhile-musta been the language! But i especially loved the green centipede and i tried your method out immediately on a whole chicken to roast in that countertop oven…i used FISH SALT. That’s right!! It’s coarse sea-salt (lowest grade, i’m sure) from the Aquarium Shop used to keep aquarium fish healthy…
I KNEW you wouldn’t mind if i shared that!!!
And BTW, the whole, roast chicken was totally, crispy, golden, moist YUM.
You are a great gal. I’ll be back, for sure. Thank you.
I used this method last night, and the result was great. I used three 24-oz. cuts of 1¼” choice Angus sirloin, sprinkled coarse sea salt liberally on both sides and let sit for about 40 minutes, rinsed and patted dry. Threw them on the backyard charcoal grill for about eight minutes on each side. The steaks came out medium rare and delicious. The only problem I had was that I couldn’t get the grill quite hot enough to really carmelize the steaks the way I wanted. But everyone who partook commented on how great the steaks tasted, and that is, after all, the real test, is it not? —Rob
It’s probably been said a million times already, but this method really works!!! I first heard about it on a local radio cooking show in Los Angeles and being a steak lover just had to try it. I was truly amazed at how good the steak was. I just patted dry, salted with Kirkland sea salt, wrapped the steaks loosely in parchment paper and let them sit for a few hours or up to a day in the fridge. That’s it. I didn’t even rinse, just patted them off again. Then I’ll throw some cracked pepper and garlic powder on with some olive oil and throw them on a hot grill. 2 1/2 to 3 minutes per side and I am done! They end up being only as salty as they normally would had I not cured and just seasoned and cooked as usual.
Unbelievable tips here. Never thought to salt the steak to lock in that flavor! Going to try this tonight!!!
woulda rather chewed for 5 minutes on a rough cut than ate that salty crap. Oh well it was cheap to begin with–and so is your advice.
Buyer beware–sometimes free isn’t free.
I must have used this method dozens of times by now, but the first will always be special.
I have to tell you, Jaden, my wife’s family is cheap–almost pathologically so. They cannot wrap their heads around the idea of USDA prime anything. I like to grill, so I take them to Costco, sweep past all the fancy stuff and pick up a tray of sirloin. “This is less expensive,” I say, “but I think it’ll still be good.” Nods of approval.
I salt the crap out of them while the kettle is getting ready. I hide the evidence in the oven so they don’t see. I rinse the steaks very well and make sure I get them good and dry. Trim the fat, olive oil, pepper. 8 minutes on a screeching hot grill. Little pats of butter while they’re resting. Accompanied with grilled red onion, asparagus, potato wedges.
I’ll never forget the look of surprise on their faces. Over four pounds of steak, gone in minutes!
Thank you.
BTW, I found your site mentioned here http://www.patiodaddiobbq.com/2009/02/steak-average-to-awesome.html by way of http://bbq.alltop.com
Lol! Thank you for a very helpful, highly entertaining tutorial on improving our beef experience at home. I consider myself a fairly accomplished home cook, but the last couple times I tried making steak, it was kinda blah. So I’m armed and ready with kosher salt and a killer sauce recipe (port and mustard reduction anyone?) and hopefully will be whipping up the best damn steak dinner I’ve ever made. 🙂
Excellent read Jaden. And, it was hardly funny at all… 😀 Love the illustrations.
I read this after doing a search for ways to make cheap steak tender. I had read this in Alton Brown’s book, but did not quite trust it. I cater on a very tight budget for 20 guys and of course they always request steak. I bought sirloin and after salting(kosher)up the steaks and making the butter I sat down to read the comments and started panicking when I read that sirloin does not work. Thirty! 8 ounce portions of sirloin were sitting in my kitchen covered in salt and ready to be delivered in an hour. I quickly read the plastic wrap still in the garbage that the steaks had been wrapped in and learned I had purchased “Choice”,(on sale-$2.49/lb). I rinsed a steak off (only 20 minutes had passed), ran to the grill, chugged a shot of bourbon and grilled the steak. OMG – THIS DOES WORK WITH SIRLOIN! At least Choice Sirloin. And it worked GREAT and all the guys I cater for loved it!! They all thought there were eating super expensive steak and are still going on and on. I could taste the salt, but it was not over-powering at all. Perfect in fact. So I raise a glass of bouron to you and your recipe!
Comment deleted due to profanity and rudeness. Happy to let your comment through if you clean it up.
I’m trying this tonight. I came across this recipe a few months ago and keep forgetting it. I want to surprise my wife with good dinner but I’m no chef so I hope it turns out good! My hopes are high. Love the article.
it did not work ,even I followed the reciepe it was very salty
to much so
Reading “too salty” in some comment – rinse it well after – and pat it dry before slapping it on the BBQ. You also don’t need to rub the salt in like a sun tan lotion. Just get it on there. Placing it on paper will help soak up some of the salty juices. I’ll shut up now.
Excellent stuff. Thanks, man.
Shopping around, you can find cheap rib steak cuts that look great, and are nicely trimmed. I often shop at an oriental food store for my meats – not tripple A steaks, but they are trimmed perfectly. I can get them at 1/3 the price on a good week compared to the SALE price of your everage grocery store.
The salt DOES magic. Granted, it will never turn it in to a superb prime/choice cut. BUT bang for the buck? You can’t go wrong… AND you can impress a lot of people for the price.
You can leave the salt on 4 times longer (straight from the fridge). Just make sure the meat is not bathing in juices (just turn it half-way through). Place on a few layers of paper towel (and newspaper in the bottom). DON’T put it back in to the fridge – room temp straight to your charcoal grill. Once off the grill – give it time to rest (the meat doesn’t need to be burning hot on the plate).
The salt works great for all grades of meat. The better the “average grocery store” cut – the better it will work (goes quicker too). Never tried it on a roast – will do that soon.
Again, thanks.
After a delicious, but unbelievably tough attempt at carne asada, I went scouring the interweb for a solution. And here I am. Going to give your salt trick a try for this cheap but tasty piece of skirt steak. Wish me luck!
I defrosted a 1″ top sirloin yesterday, placed it on a bed of kosher salt, added a heavy layer on top of the steak. I didn’t measure the quantity. After about 15 minutes, I rinsed all the salt off and patted dry. Seasoned with pepper, paprika and Worcestershire sauce. It went into the 200*F oven until the meat registered at 95*. Then dumped it on a HOT cast iron skillet for 2 minutes per side. At the end, I put a small slab of butter on top. This was much better (juicier and tastier) than my non-salted reverse sears, will definitely be incorporated into all my steak recipes now.
Kristovsky’s comment is old but hopefully no one is paying attention to it. I felt the need to state – as was already pointed out several times in the article – you are NOT consuming that much salt. MOST of the salt is being washed off the meat, very little of it is absorbed into the meat. If it was, the meat would taste terrible. That’s what makes this method work, that the salt stays long enough to make the meat tender and then gets rinsed off (as it is sitting on the surface). If Kristovsky had read the whole article he/she might understand that. I think it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that consuming several tablespoons of salt in one sitting would be bad.
i ran across this site while trying to find out how to tenderize a london broil. I tried it tonight and OMG it was awesome. My son actually said it was probably the best steak he ever had. This one is a saver.
I love it. It came out awesome. I sent this recipe to my brother . Now I am his best sister.
Article written in 2007, but comments just keep coming. I don’t know even if the original author checks the new ones anymore…
Anyway, I waded through almost 800 comments, taking me upwards of an hour, and pretty much everything here can be summarized into a couple of simple categories.
1. This recipe is awesome! Works like a charm!
2. This recipe is shite! Tastes like a salt lick.
3. The scientists who try and disassemble the article. This last category is popcorn material. This is the true pissing contest…
Expert 1: Ha! Ha! Science says you are wrong!
Expert 2: Asshole! Science says YOU are wrong and here is proof!
Expert 1: Dumbass! My sources are better than YOUR sources. Science says YOU are wrong!
Expert 2: Well, I’ve researched this shit for 100 years! Science says YOU are wrong!
Expert 3: Asshats! Science says you are BOTH wrong!
Repeat as necessary, until Godwin’s Law comes into effect.
Okay, so I exaggerate a bit. Most commenters have been more than civil and courteous…. (I’m just trying to stir up trouble)… But what have I taken away from this? Not a helluva lot. I left with more questions than answers. The only way I’m ever going to get to the bottom of this, is to experiment myself… If I have anything notable to add afterward, I shall. But anyway, here is the gist of what I am trying tonight.
Meat:
Slab of Ribeye. Custom cut to 1.25″ steaks (by me). I don’t like them any thicker. Personal preference.
Grill: Outside. Natural charcoal. Cuz it’s summer and the kitchen looks like a war zone from yesterday’s masterpiece.
1. 2 steaks prepared using Steamykitchen’s recipe (sea salt).
2. 2 steaks marinaded in beer (advice based on word of mouth from an alleged steakhouse chef)
3. 1 steak marinaded in yogurt (a bit obscure for beef — much more common for chicken recipes, but if Steamykitchen can adapt a chicken recipe, so can I. I’ve been reading that apparently dairy tenderizes meat. Note: UNKOSHER as hell! Pro-tip: if you’re Jewish, don’t try this).
4. 1 steak: dry rub (mixed spices, garlic, salt, pepper)
5. 1 steak: control group (nothing)
Evaluation: taste & tenderness testing by me, wife, best friend. The latter two will not know what is happening until after the experiment is over.
Wish me luck!
Cheers.
4.
Of course I read all comments! 😉 Let me know how your testing goes.
Man, I don’t even EAT steak and that recipe had me salivatin’!!! How about my uncle just dropped me off some ribeyes, so I may be trying this tomorrow!!
Hi Jaden! Greetings from Singapore! I just want to say you’ve got the most happening recipe website on the net. You write well, the images are mouth watering and the recipes are incredibly easy to follow.
I tried your steak recipe last week and it turned out awesome!!! Along with my stomach, I was truly satisfied! =)
Anyhow, I did a blog post about my steak with a link to both your website and this page. I hope it brings you the traffic you deserve. Take good care and keep doing what you love!
http://www.noelboyd.com/2010/07/perfect-steak-recipe.html
This was amazing. We just finished eating and I had to get online and let you know that this was one of the best steaks I’ve ever made. Thank you so much for such a wonderful tip. It’s going to take a lot of effort to stop me from doing this again. 😀 And if I have the time to take photos next time, I’ll definitely be posting to my blog as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I could kiss you! Cheers!
I was just wondering after looking at this website and reading it thoroughly, and after drooling over your pictures of the steak and wanting to go out and buy everything right this instant, What do you use to shoot your pictures and with what lens?
for those photos – Canon 40D with 60mm macro (I think — those photos were taken such a long time ago)
I use Canon 5D Mark II with 24-70mm 2.8 lens now.
OMG, this is the best method ever. My Husband and I always buy Ribeye’s, but there’s is always that one portion of the steak that is a little tough. Not with this method, the whole steak in incredibly tender. Thank you so much.
Loving the attitude!
You made me LOL at the ‘table salt tastes like shit’ bit! hahahaha im gona go try the recipe now xD love it
happened by chance to your site and found your salting technique, without realizing it was a blog hit the print button and know am proud owner of a full volume of a classic comedy novel, the comments of some make me laugh the others have me yelling at them out loud, reguardless,the steaks have been AWESOME! (a common word used when done the right way) Anyway, thank you for my new found studlyness behind the grill.
IT WORKS BEAUTIFULLY!!!!
Gave it a shot yesterday with a couple 1.5″ thick steaks. Coated each side with kosher salt….rested in the fridge for one hour. Rinsed thoroughly, re-seasoned with fresh ground pepper and California garlic poweder. Grilled over very high
heat until medium rare. TASTY!
Thanks….I’ll be doing this from now on.
Oh by the way….it worked on a rib roast too.
G. Gwynn
Frederick, MD
This is such a WONDERFUL recipe! I’m not a steak lover but this one was perfection!
I tried this technique and it was perfection! Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I did this technique with a rib-eye and it was sooooo tender. This will always be how I will prepare my steaks from now on.
What a hoot of a post! great tips, love the point where you tell people to pull up their pants! Love the humor and drawings with bourbon, which should be a lesson/post all on its own! Looking forward to more!
Due to a confused butcher, I can say that this method works very nicely for cuts of pork too, haha.
Most delicious pork chop EVER.
Another fan here. Used the techniques described above and grilled the best steak of our lives last night. Steaks were vacuum packed frozen NY strip steaks from Costco. The salting produced a wonderful crust on the meat with a lot of flavor throughout. Grilled good and hot at 1000 deg for about 2-3 min each side – perfection!
Another convert here. Grilled the best NY strip yesterday I’ve ever done in my life! I told my buddy “Yeah, this is how I did it, and it rocked! But I don’t remember where I saw it…”
My buddy just now sent me YOUR link! Now you’re bookmarked! 😀
I thought you were crazy when I first read this post a few days ago, but saw that a lot of people had done it in the comments. It was absolutely fantastic. I bought a few Choice rib-eyes, salted (used more than the chart called for, though), left for 45 minutes, and rinsed. Seasoned with peppercorn (usually I would also use salt, but obviously didn’t this time), and grilled rare.
Definitely the best-tasting steak I’ve grilled so far. I didn’t want to believe this method would work, but it is great.
I admit, I was skeptical at first, and I’m NOT a salt fan. But you have yet to lead me astray Jaden, so I did it. I salted my steaks and they came out AWESOME!
Couple of questions though, should I rinse and pat them dry before I salt them too? Or is it okay for them to be wet when I salt them? Do you salt one side, or both? If I don’t have 45 minutes to let them sit, can I salt both sides and only let them sit for 20 minutes?
Hi Rebecca, I always rinse and pat dry all my raw meats/seafood before seasoning, so it’s a good idea just to start w/clean dry surface.
I salt both sides. I’ve often run out of time and only salt for 20 minutes too.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !!!!!!
I had 3 1-inch Bison steaks that I needed to grill today. I did just as you described and they not only turned out more tender than I have ever had before, but TASTY as well ( we have thrown away our table salt shaker away long ago – this did not have any unpleasant saltiness – I used Celtic Sea Salt and Regular Sea Salt ) Guess what I’m going to use on my Organic, Grass-fed Beef T-bones…I can’t wait !!!!
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY
Sounds amazing! What a great blog.
Am making steak for the family tonight as a holiday treat. I hope I do it justice with your help.
Steamykitchen,
I’m a little confused. You first started talking about cheaper cuts of meat, but then the last section is Porterhouse, T-Bone all the expensive stuff. What cuts of meat that are a lot cheaper would this work with than I can get in a normal grocery store? We’re on a terribly tight budget. Thank you!
-Jeff
I don’t talk about cheaper cuts of meat. I talk about buying choice cut, not prime.
But you can use sirloin steak if you want, which is cheaper.
Great post! My boyfriend and I love grilling rib eyes on the BBQ (we live in HK and it’s a real treat to have a grill so we use it as much as we can). I am definitely trying the Gucci steak recipe next time. You mentioned getting a grilling thermometer — so what is the right temperature to grill our rib eyes for that perfect medium-rareness? Is there a starting temperature i.e. when we first put the meat on and then turning it down during the cooking? How long to cook it if it’s a 1 inch rib eye? Please help.
And thanks again for the post – my boyfriend will love you for it!
Hi Grace – Medium rare is when the steak interior reaches 135F. Here’s a great tutorial for grilling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FlRf0StGiU
Hi Jaden, great tip! I do have a question for you: I also use this method with beef roasts, 2-3 Lbs. Since they can soak in the salt for an hour or more, should they be covered with plastic wrap, or does the process need “breathing room”? What about refrigerating the roast during this time?
Thanks again!
Dave
If you’re going to leave the meat to salt for more than an hour, I’d refrigerate. Just loosely cover with plastic wrap to keep it clean. No need for “breathing room” – the cow’s dead already! 😉 just kidding.
Remember timing is about about thickness – so if your roast is thick, leave the salt on longer.
My favorite way to eat filet is with a salt, black pepper, and garlic powder rub. A decent coatingl amount 30 minutes before cooking. I dont put enough on that i need to brush it or shake it off before cooking, just give it a good push into the steak and let it soak it up. Then grill until youve reached the desired texture (if youre new to grilling use tongs, and push with the tip angled to feel, it wont take you long to learn exactly what the inside of the steak is like by its texture) Then i eat my steaks with Pastene hot pepperoncini rings, which is sooo good, especially if you enjoy hot stuff.
Sounds like a great idea, I’m going to try it, but with some kosher salt.
I’ve been using this method of various cuts for the past 2 months and while in the beginning a few came out too salty (I was massively salting each side) I’ve now perfected it. THANK YOU! While it does indeed make all steaks better it really does filet mignon wonders. The salt for 20-30 minutes I find works best for me. A thorough drying, light coating in olive oil and a healthy amount of course black pepper on the show side. Insanely good.
Thanks again.
I also tried this method with chuck ROAST and was amazed at the results!! I took a roast, trimmed it and cut it into steaks. Let it salt with pepper and garlic for about an hour, then washed, reseasoned with pepper and a tiny amount of oil, then cooked it in my cast iron skillet/oven. AMAZING. It wasn’t quite butter, but turning roast chuck at $1.69/lb into restaurant-quality steak dinner for my family… you just can’t beat that!!
I totally didn’t buy this… but I had a few steaks in the freezer left over from the last time i made fajitas so no harm in trying.
Anyway I am quite impressed!! It was way more tender than any 2 $/lb steak ive ever had. It was salty but not overly so. I peppered it and served it with a merlot butter which masked salt a bit.
Well done!
Funny.. this is how my dad makes steak (just realizing it) and his are possibly the BEST in the country. We are steak eaters at my house, and will definitely put this into practice. My husband usually does about 15 mins of salt.. but this makes more sense. Kudos.
-Sylvia
I’m going to try this tonight with some thick sirloins. Whether it works or not, I enjoyed reading your article. Very funny. Thanks.
Thank you so much!
Your description left me beyond doubt and the test I did of it made me a believer.
Seriously impressive stuff, again, thank you.
I love it when something works right the very first time! We always have rib-eye steaks, USDA choice from Sam’s, in the freezer. My wife and I are both retired. I guess my teeth are not as good as they used to be, because the same rib-eyes used to be tender and tasty now are almost too chewy for me to eat. Seriously, I was about to give up eating steak – and I love steak.
My wife came across your website and found your kosher salt tenderizing recommendation. We tried it. Halleluyah!! (how ever you spell it) Joy – Joy! All of a sudden our steaks were wonderfully tender by simply following your salt tenderizing procedure. My wife left her salt on for 30 minutes – meat very tender cooked rare, but too salty she said – 15 minutes next time. I left salt on mine for 45 minutes -cooked medium (a little salty, but OK) and TENDER PERFECT!. Boy, what a difference!!
This was our first try, but you can bet your booty we’ll try this on other cuts as well. It was such a pleasure to eat a tender, tasty steak again. Who woulda thunk a little kosher salt could do such wonders. Thanks so much.
What do ANY of you think of incorporating a mallet either before or after the salt application to possibly tenderize even more? Comments appreciated!
Amazing trick! Did this last night with 4 sirloin steaks. We have one calf of ours slaughtered once a year and fill our deep freezer with burgers, chops. and steaks. By now we are down to the lesser cuts of steaks and they have been tough and chewy and rubbery. I tried this last night and we were blown away by the change in the quality and tenderness in the meat. I have a few questions for you tho:
I literally drowned the steaks in a pan in kosher salt, let them bath in the salt for 1 hour, and then rinsed them under cold water. While fantastic they were still on the salty side. Should I have rinsed them longer?
Second question: Have you ever tried a salt-water soak? Like a brine? Instead of using dry salt? I wondered if this would make a difference.
Thank you for this incredible tip. The steak was amazing.
How do you avoid having to much salt taste to meat? People have complained about this method.
Try it with less salt if you are afraid of it being too salty – it’s a technique you should definitely try out.
Bought some frozen “choice” steaks -cheap- and feared they would be nasty. Tried your salt method and oh my oh my they were lovely. Buttah! I will use this again. Thanks so much.
Tried on a T-bone tonight… entirely too salty for my taste, but the concept sounds great so later on in the week I plan to try with a little less salt and possibly less time with the salt covering. The Herb butter was amazing!
You Kick@ss big time!! Worked Great and you made me laugh I LOVE IT AND YOU KEEP KICKING @SS…
omg…this was so good…..we all loved it and my son ate it and he doesn’t like steak cause it never has flavor and is so tough..and this was a chuck eye steak….and cheap……yummy…thank you so much….
I bought some strips of chuck on a whim because they were super on sale. Didn’t feel like stewing the meat, and I remembered reading about your method. It really worked. I used salt, smashed garlic and pepper for the salting phase, then washed all that off and added more pepper, then pan-fried in a bit of unsalted butter. The butter gave it a nice browning and I didn’t have to add more salt because it was already in there. We just ate it straight from the pan with nothing else added. My husband took a bite and said, “This. Is. Good.” Thanks for helping me turn super cheap chuck, not even a steak cut, into delicious heaven!
Try out this combo: SALT and FREEZE. Salt the 1 1/2″ steaks and then dry-dry by dehydrating by freezing, and then super heat grill, cook, rest and add your herb butter. Eat.
Yes, I mentioned freezing. I’ve tried the salting technique several times and the resulting rich flavor was so good I was shaking my head as I chewed: Awesome taste and more tender. My wife complained of saltiness so I reduced the salt contact time in half (30-minutes) and made sure I washed the bejesus out of the meat to rid it of the bad salt. Result: Not as tasty. I think she is hyper-sensitive.
So, after washing and drying, I coat with corn starch, place on a breathable grate and place in freezer for 1-hour to further rid the meat of the dreaded moisture. During the surface-freeze I heat grill which has already been cleaned and oiled (shiny black beauty) and I place carefully folded heavy-duty foil on to grates, covering them completely. Super heat grill (Now I know why my gas bill is so high), and fetch the steaks. One more application of oil and I place steaks on grill at a 45-degree angle, “push” them onto the grill surface, and close lid. 2 1/2 minutes later I rotate 90- degrees for another 2 1/2 for the cross-hatch look. Note: Some smoke and fire is desired but not too much so I make sure I trim any superfluous amounts of fat in preparation. I do this because once I read, “What goes in goes on.” Or “Fat in, fat on.” (Wicked irony: 112 Days ago I started THE STREAK, 1-hour a day + cardio and haven’t missed a day. I call it The Absolute Power of a Losing Streak: Winning Through Losing, and guess what? I gained 2-pounds of fat. After 112 freakin’ days of high resistance training. Well, maybe a bit of the 2-pounds is muscle but it doesn’t look like it. My point is, I know diet trumps exercise but with all of the extra energy I now have from the AM cardio when I get home from work I am still energetic so what do I do, I cook and cook and cook. My plan needs an adjustment.)
Back to the steaks: Flip, watch, and monitor temp with a Thermapen, my constant companion. At $96 I had better like it. http://www.thermoworks.com/
Anyway, another 2-3 minutes until 115 or so, place on a warmed plate, introduce herb butter (not too much or you’ll quickly notice the love handles grow), tent with foil for 5-minutes.
The first taste is ree-diculously good.
Good luck.
As a fellow carnivore, I salute you! It really does break up the proteins and make for a tender steak. Look at the steak texture before and study it after the salt is washed off. It is all open, porous, tender and willing. The smooth flesh has had its pores opened, like it’s been at the spa all day. Never would have thought of it and no one ever taught me this. I have a book someone gave me called “On Food and Cooking” which is supposed to be like an encyclopedic version of Cook’s Illustrated that explains all the science behind cooking. I’ll look this up as soon as I finish eating this great sirloin. Kudos!
not to be picky but you said “protein cell”, there is no such thing as a protein cell there are only muscle cells.
What I do not understand is how water can “get sucked back into meat via osmosis”. Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a semipermeable membrane from a low salt concentration environment to the high salt concentration environment. In this case, given the high salt load on the surface of the steak water can travel only in one direction – towards the salt. Salt ions cannot freely penetrate through cellular membranes and only can diffuse into open compartments such as damaged muscle cells. Yet if 2 compartments are not separated by a semipermeable membrane we cannot be speaking of osmosis.
Still, I will have to try this recipe!
Great post can’t wait to try this salt method out. I have in the past not patted my beef dry, and recently became aware of that. -will
Hey, you are funny, funny, funny! I enjoyed your article tremendously and will try your method tonight on a cheap-as-dirt sirloin steak. I’m going to try the bourbon too! Wish me luck….
Ok, you say massively salt and that the steak should resemble a salt lick, but in the photo below that comment, it barely covers the meaty areas between the fat. So what do you mean? Like the photo or like a salt lick?
Trying this tonight with a couple of rib eyes. Looking forward to it.
Turned out very nicely indeed. Tonight we’re trying it with a few drug free, organic New York strips and some chimichurri in place of the butter.
Grilled salted steaks on my new pellet grill. Fantastic! Thanks for the idea.
The Salting method worked amazingly well. Thanks for the method!
I tried the salt method to tenderize a 1″ thick serloin steak, and followed the directions to a T, making sure to rinse and dry the steak before grilling. I found that it did tenderize the steak, but also left it quite dry in some areas, and much too salty for my taste.
*doh* … tsp = TEAspoon, not tablespoon … *sigh*.
Tried it today ….
Tasted great, but I do need to rinse better next time… the steak was a bit … over-seasoned.
better method is to use less salt or less time.
“they turn from tight-assed, stuck up pricks to totally relaxed, fun-loving, socialable dudes…Bourbon does that to me too”
Oh my God. You are my shero!
FINALLY, someone who speaks plain english! (HA HA) – I can’t wait to try this recipe. you made this article such a joy to read, that i’m anticipating the steak to be just as good, if not better.
ps. YOU must be a riot at parties, especially with that glass of bourbon!
Thank You
HI, First visit to your site! You are a scream! Cant wait to try your salted steak technique and herb butter sauce!
thirty years ago, I don’t remember where I read the idea, I would buy ny strips, lightly salt them, rub with olive oil, wrap in plastic wrap, Tightly, and refrigerate over night… Then we would grill them.. I wish I could recall where I got the idea.. They were/still are good. Thank you.
Charles
I was looking for a way to tenderize a sirloin tip roast and found your article… thanks for the laugh! Any idea if the same technique will work on a piece of meat 6″ thick??
Sounds great. But then I read 1/2 teaspoon … and that isn’t what a “salt lick” would like. Is the amount of salt in your chart a minimum? Because if a put the amount on my porterhouse I see a LOT of red shining through.
But thoroughly enjoy your writing style!!!
Would this be good for broiling steaks to? If you are unsure.. I’ll be back to tell you after I have my dinner tonight! 😉
I am going to use your technique. A.) Because you have thoroughly convinced me. And B.) Because you mentioned Sade. AND I DON’T EVEN LIKE SADE!
Also, any one who thinks kosher salt is the same thing as table salt should have their tongue chopped off. Cause really, there’s just no hope for you.
OMG! This by far is the BEST technique I’ve ever used. I made this for my husband for Valentine’s Day and he just raved for hours. The meat was incredibly tender and the flavor for the first time was all the way through the meat not just on top. We both felt like this was one of the best meals I’ve ever cooked. I made it with asparagus (drizzled the garlic butter over this as well) and broasted sweet potatoes. Truly fantastic, thanks so much for sharing!
Salt is salt. As a scientist, I am appalled by your first point in the roundup. Kosher salt, a Jewish tradition, is no different from table salt.
Besides that, I’ve been salting my cheap cuts for years and I can’t say anything but Hurray for your cause
Chris
PS: A mandatory email address is ridiculous
Dear scientist:
Go to any grocery store and buy a box of kosher salt and buy a box of table salt. Then come back and tell me that they are exactly the same.
Salt is not just salt.
Salt from harvested from Atlantic seawaters off coast of France tastes different and has different properties than salt harvested from coast of Japan.
Kosher salt is a lot more coarse than table salt and do not contain preservatives. Most kosher salt does not contain iodine.
Mandatory email addresses for commenting is standard for blogs, websites.
jaden
my husband found this post and sent it to me…and i’m convinced! making beef wellington tomorrow night (2″ filets) and will give it a shot (salt for an hour +) before i sear them. i’m sure filet mignon doesn’t need it, but i like the idea of salt, garlic, rosemary (not centipedes) for flavor. next time i’ll buy cheaper meat and give it a try! thanks!
you’re not breaking down the proteins, you’re just sucking water out of the steak, which is a good thing.
Your photos are stunning !!!!!!!!! as always(*-*)
Good thing that I also figured it out by myself how important it is to marinate generously salt (^0^) But I did not rinse before cooking (-_-) I will try this tip out soon! THANKS so much for your WONDERFUL post!!!!!!!! (it’s been a while since I commented but yours is my most favorite food blog in my google reader! :))
Van- thank you so much!
You on twitter, steamykitchen? If so, what is your twitter account?
@steamykitchen
Does this work with Kosher steaks that are salted as part of the butchering process?
I’d leave kosher meats alone – they’re already salted. The butcher has done the work for you already!
If you wash it in water after the salting process doesn’t that defeat the purpose of drawing out the moisture in the meat, or does the water not penetrate past the surface (or a limited amount of moisture)?
I’m willing to try it because our best cuts normally get sent abroad or are exceeding my budget.
You’re just rinsing the salt off – the water doesn’t have time to be absorbed back into the steak.
Well I don’t know about Mcgeez, Alton, or Mr. Brurnt, but I am an undergraduate biology student, and I can tell you there’s no such thing as a “protein cell”. A protein is a very small molecule, usually contained within cells.
I was just about to post the same thing… x_x
Proteins are molecules, not cells.
haha, my mom told me if i salt the meat that way, it will be soo salty..Well I’m in agreement with this article.
Great tips! This reminds me the Brazilian way of cooking barbecue. It is pretty much the same process, but we use rock salt (big chunks of salt), let it sit for an hour or so (less for steaks, more for big pieces of meat), then rub off the salt before cooking. This is a safe method because the salt won’t dissolve and get into the meat, like fine salt would.
Another interesting method is to fully cover an entire big piece of meat with rock salt right before putting it in the oven. Then roast it with the salt. The salt will melt slightly, forming a thick crust that will salt the meat and also prevent any moist from escaping. The meat comes out very tender and juicy.
Just search for Brazilian barbecue recipes to find more info 🙂
The way I learned to cook Churrasco was via a Gaucho in Porto Alegre. They actually cook the meat with a good portion of the salt left on the meat so that the moisture stays inside and then they beat the salt off when it’s ready to serve. Ummmm! The smell that filled the air during the weekends in Southern Brazil. SAUDADES!
They sure know how to cook their meet in Porto Alegre 🙂 But the secret of Brazilian bbq, besides the salt, is the fat! A thick layer of fat will flavour the meat and keep the juices in. So wrong, but so good 😛
This is brilliant and delicious.
Your directions were funny and well written!
Did the salt, used sea salt. End result was really salty (yet still edible). Maybe a little more tender… but not much.
I will say this, I’ve cooked a lot of steaks, and the key to flavor is definitely salt.
well yes and no. usually stir fries will have soy sauce or other salt – and salting the beef too much will just make the dish too salty. BUT most stir fry recipes will have you marinate the meat in a combo of soy/wine/cornstarch….I’ll have to create another post with explanations and details in another post.
Hi there,
Just wondering would you be able to use this method to make nicer beef for say a stir fry? Would chopping it up in thin slices (after salting,rinsing and patting dry) and then cooking it effect the final flavor/texture?
thanks
This idea works very well. Makes an inexpensive cut of meat taste much better.
Never thought to salt my steaks. I have been salting my beef ribs for years. Lots of course sea salt 30 minutes before grill time. However I don’t rinse or wipe them off, I put them on the grill and have a bag of lemons at the ready. Take a lemon and cut it in half and then fresh squeezed lemon juice on the ribs. Every couple of minutes I squeeze more lemons or each time I turn the ribs and when I am done cooking the salt is mostly gone. Just like salting a steak, I had to prove it to other pit masters how tender and tasty the ribs are. Thanks for the get recipes.
jaden, you rock! i just found your website & you’ve had me laughing out loud & dying to try out all your recipes. i have a 5 month old so my time in the kitchen is limited, but now i’m super inspired – thanks!
I’m showing up late to the discussion — but try the ‘recipe’ from cook’s country. Christopher Kimball’s America Test Kitchen, Cook’s Illustrated, Cook’s County, etc. they try recipes oodles of times and explain what works and why. To take the steak to ‘the next level’ , look up the August 2009 issue of Cook’s Country in your library or search for ‘freeze and steak’ or click . Cooks’ country recommends a rub with equal portions of corn starch & salt and then freeze for up to 45 minutes. Because all three dry out the steak with the benefit of the freeze allowing for longer sear time without cooking. mmmm.
Y’all are the bigidy bomb I tell ya. We had our final Holiday dinner last night with our kids. I did the steaks and both butters, I did the bread. Thank your adorable son for his demo, I wasnt scared at all. All of this was just magic and so good. I can’t wait to do it all again. I almost felt like pinch me cause I know i’m dreamin kinda thing. Love the site thank you both for sharing.
M
it looks like so delicious 😛
Used lightly marbled sirloin, followed to the letter using only sea salt, and the steak was overwhelmingly salty and not at all butter sliceable. Way we naturally made it was beefy and great even if tough.
Sorry but would avoid trying this next time and advise people to only try on the cheapest cuts.
I was skeptical — I didn’t think one hour would make much of a difference. I tried it first with an awesome thick cut ribeye. It was marvelous. But that was a ribeye, what about if I try it with a lesser cut?
As I type this, my wife and I are fighting — fighting over a CHUCK STEAK prepared using your method. A chuck steak? I didn’t even know it existed…
You’re description and analysis there was sweeet – very charming. Love it, its definetly usefull stuff
cheers bud
peace -x-
I gave this a try on a New York Strip and the steak was great.
I went another step further and wrapped some hickory wood chips in tin foil, poked holes in the foil, and set in the gas grill till it was all smoky, that steak can only be summed up in one word..
Divine
Are you aware of any reason why cooking the steak on the stove top (I’m thinking in a cast iron pan) would not work as well as grilling?
Andrea – nope! go for it! i’m in florida so we grill year round.
Hi Jaden, thanks for this superawesomeomg blog! Steaks can be so complex and complicated, but then again, maybe that’s why it tastes like no other when it’s made just right.
What you mentioned about patting the steak dry was interesting (“steaming” the steak). If I marinade the steaks in a sauce, would I have to pat it dry just before grilling as well? And what do you think about brushing the steaks with the marinade during grilling?
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!
Annie,
Yes, pat very very dry after marinating. You can brush with sauce after on the grill if you’d like, as long as the marinade has sugar in it (promotes browning) it should be fine. But this is what you want to do:
1) pat dry
2) cook side 1 on preheated, super hot grill or pan until nicely browned
3) flip to cook side 2 until nicely browned
4) brush side 1 with marinade right before you flip again
5) flip to cook side 1 (turn down heat a bit) – now you are looking to cook the interior of the teak
6) brush side 2 with marinade right before you flip again
7) flip to cook side 2 to cook interior of steak until reaches desired temp.
Remember you’re also dealing with marinade that’s touched raw meat so make sure you give enough time.
omg your hilarious … salt acts like a celebrity, well lets see how big a fan i become when i try this tomorrow. I am very interested to see if this works! thanks for the tips
Loved this technique! It really did make my grocery store bought cuts rival some of the tastiest moo-cow creations I’ve had in some upper end Vegas chop houses. Gonna try it with the smushed garlic tonight . . . Thanks!
This does indeed work. I’d never thought to try it with chicken, but I think I will.when i have been the middle east i got the something like that.
Great photography and food styling for your site! I love your “laid-back” description of how salt helps break down the proteins. Keep cooking!
The super serious diagrams and tasty pictures, with your witty commentary left me amused and feeling like I could actually cook this competently. I’ve done the red cooking wine thing with steaks (thin strips and I only soaked them for 10 mins each) following a guideline for various marinades and tenderizers (scientific explanations lol) and they turned out great. I have a positive feeling about your method and will try it out tomorrow. 🙂
I’ll return with the results. 😀
BEWARE – Don’t try this on thinner steak! I did this with two pieces of rib-eye that were 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick for about 30 mins and they were much too salty to eat – even for me and I love salt! I ended up soaking the meat in water for half an hour the next morning (treating it like salt cod) and frying it up for steak and eggs which was fine but it certainly ruined Friday night steak night in our house.
LOL – oh no!
Well, didn’t I warn in the post and recipe….like multiple times not to do this on thinner steaks?! 😉 jaden
Hello
I cooked steak last night, I dry-rubbed 3 pieces, but we only decided to cook 2. So I wrapped the 3rd one using foil and put it into a bag, I don;’t have machine for vacuuming. I am so worried about my steak.
Will my steak go bad?
Thanks
Gaogao
It’s fine. Salt acts as preservative. ~jaden
I am sitting here covering a detention class at a middle school in Portland, OR. I was checking out my e-mail and one routed me to this site. It was a hoot to read your description of making this steak and I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for making my detention coverage so enjoyable!
I loved this post!! Very imformative. Will be checking you out more often. Good stuff for my class.
This does indeed work. I’d never thought to try it with chicken, but I think I will.
have you ever tried using red wine vinegar on a steak? it also tenderizes the meat. we like to put salt, pepper, olive oil and just a sprinkling of red wine vinegar on both sides of a steak and then let it sit in the fridge in a bag for at least 4 hours.
Yes, I use red wine vinegar in my skirt steak marinade along with soy, garlic, salt and pepper -jaden
Lol…just had to say your website cheered me up……after hours of trying to find authentic northern English meat and potato pie recipes for my English boyfriend….I decided to just make some cheap steak (Just craving comfort food right now). Loved the illustrations and more so loved the bourbon induced commentary! Thanks!
Love,
On a beer induced, football Sunday,
Jody
OK- let me get this straight : You’re writing style is like a cool dude from Askmen.com, you totally turned my steak world upside down, and you’re HOT?? What sin have I committed, that I will never know a woman like you?
Anywho, I can’t wait to try this! Unfortunately, I found this site after the fact : I already slathered my cheap steak in marinade, and was looking for tips on cooking it (heard something about high heat- then low). But my next 16 oz. , $4.00 steak awaits this technique. Thanks!
I tried this once with a cheapo piece of meat for like 15 min. and it worked great! The second time I used filet and it was so salty I could barely eat it. What do you think went wrong? Thanks!
Awesome post! Probably one of the best post/ article/ writing about steak and how to marinade it properly for grilling and such!
Thank you!
WTF – in this day and age of health awareness you are advocating the use (or more aptly abuse of salt?) whats up this whis whole thread? Surely there must be a better tenderizing agent for meat such as for example Papain?
Can someone please bring some rationality into this freakin’ blog?
yeah. don’t eat steak.
I agree…then don’t eat it! But unless you’re eating steak every day of the week, a little salt won’t hurt. (Besides, did we miss the part where you wash away the salt before grilling?) Reminds me of Thanksgiving, when some people feel the need to cook healthy for that one day instead of the other 364 and use all kinds of weird substitutes that never work. Use butter! Use real cream! Salt galore! Throw calorie-counting out the door, just for the day, and make it special.
OMG chill out dude! Its not like you’re eating a cup of salt here! A couple teaspoons on a huge steak isn’t insane. Also, like kc said, you’re rinsing the dang thing anyway!
I bet you watch tv shows that you hate instead of just changing the channel! LOL…
Jaden, I’m going to try this tonight on london broil… so excited!
Using this method, my son said for the first time, “These are the best steaks we’ve ever hadâ€. Since then, I’ve never made them because I forgot the recipe and link. Thanks to google, I found the post again. Great explanation and it really works. I have kosher sea salt in abundant supply.thenx you
Thank you! I’m glad Google came through for you!
I tried this tonight and the steak was very tender, I rarely eat steak, I mean rarely like once every three years. I saw this article and decided to try it. It was very tender ,
I also seasoned it with Sazon Completa by Badia and garlic. GREAT STEAK!!!
we made it AGAIN TONIGHT! my husband is sooooo happy works!!!
OK. It’s me again. My challenge on the fresh London broil was a success story. Good flavor, tender, but not as tender as a fresh sirloin.
I had to admit my skepticism did not allow me to go with only the Kosher salt. I used a small spike tenderizer on my London broils, then used around one and a half teaspoons on each side and let is “soak” for 25 minutes. Washed and dried the steaks then grilled them on medium-high heat to kind-of-sear each side, 6 minutes each side for medium taste (pinkish in the middle).
Next time will try with a Porterhouse to confirm.
Best regards and thanks for the tips! 🙂
lol – trust me, it works!!! 😉
I do not see anything about using tenderizer tools. So I guess a one inch thick london broil will not need it, just salt for 30 minutes and “voílá”, sirloin tenderness….
A little skepticism here, but will try tonight. Thanks for the tips.
I don’t use tenderizing tools because it rips apart the meat. Love the salt technique because it’s gentle.
Using this method, my son said for the first time, “These are the best steaks we’ve ever had”. Since then, I’ve never made them because I forgot the recipe and link. Thanks to google, I found the post again. Great explanation and it really works. I have kosher sea salt in abundant supply.
Hey thanks for finding me again!
Well, I’m going to try this tomorrow. I’ve never made steak period, but I’ve never failed a recipe yet, so I’m hoping I can get this right. We have steak in the freezer we need to use soon, and this sounds pretty good! I’ll have to let you know how I do 🙂
Oh mAAaaaAan! :o(
The steaks mentioned in the drawings on the article (t-bone, porterhouse and NY Strip) are already incredibly tender steaks and I’d never salt one of those cuts down before grilling them.
My problem is that my idiotic husband brought home 2 cows worth of London Broil that was on sale at our local grocery market.
London Broil. Now THAT is a steak that needs some major marination or… geez, I don’t know what… But I was so excited to find this article, only to read on that the steaks being salted are awesome cuts.
Anyone have any help for someone with a freezer full of (gag) London Broil? It seriously is a horrible cut of meat in my opinion.
Thanks so much! :o)
Do it with London Broil!! Actually salt any type of cut.
2 cows worth! Wow, that’s a ton of London Broil!!!
Superb.
Take a glass of cognag (a SMALL glass, mind you), pour it over, ignite.
Brilliant!
I’m just finishing up my first dry aging experiment on a prime rib. 32 days dry aged. Would you recommend trying this salt process on dry aged steaks?
I know dry aging tenderizes the meat REALLY well…but is “really tender” ever tender enough? The quest for even more tender makes me want to try this process.
thoughts?
Yes, I use salting on dry aged meat.
Dry aging tenderizes but more importantly creates more complex flavors for the steak.
OMG it really works! I bought an incredibley cheap slab of rump steak and coated it in heaps more salt than instructions said (huge grains too) as I couldn’t really remember what I had read. All along I was trying to convince my husband that this was going to be ok, although I wasn’t really believing it myself. We barbequed the said piece and honestly couldn’t believe what we were eating – the best piece of rump we have had for years! Do try it – freaky method but brilliant!
wat if u bake the steak will this still work?
I have never baked a steak.
I tried this recipe and it was not salty. In fact, I wished I would have added salt as a seasoning after I washed the initial salt off. I must say, the steaks were more tender than the ones I usually make. Now, I don’t know if it was from the salt tenderizing it or if it was the more expensive cut of meat that I usually buy. Nevertheless, adding the other spices and herbs made it more flavorful throughout the meat. I will try it again with a less expensive cut for comparison.
Interesting article. However, I’m always leery of anything that uses a salt “crust” on it, whether you remove it before cooking or afterwards.
The comments are basically split on the taste: some say it was wonderful, some say the steak was salty. I assume the “salty” contingent is like me: we never put any kind of salt on a steak (I always need to specify “no seasonings” at steak houses, or it’s inedible; even then, sometimes it’s salty, so I suspect they use your method to tenderize the meat).
When supermarkets first started injecting “broth” into their meat, I had a very unpleasant surprise with the very first steak I cooked: it was salty! And I knew I had not used salt on it, since I never do. Unfortunately, I’d purchased several packages of meat, and there was no returning them. The upshot was that I had some very expensive stew until I finished all the meat I’d bought (with lots of potatoes to leech out the salt, which were also wasted, since I had to throw them out — yep, don’t salt potatoes either).
All food has sodium in it to varying degrees, and most has more than enough for taste, so there’s no need to add salt when cooking it.
I ordered some certified angus steaks from texasfoods.net they were 10oz new york strips.. i tried one set the regular way i cook them. then i tried 2 more the next night using this recipe it definitely made them more tender. kudos on the tip..
Curious how this technique help a cheaper cut of steak like flank?
It will do the same – add flavor throughout the meat and tenderize. Esp for flank. But you have to still make sure you cut across the grain for flank or skirt steak. I use this technique all the time for flank. ~jaden
This technique is AWESOME. My steak was phenomenal, and the time it took to tenderize the meat, I could prep and cook sides. A+++++++
we made it AGAIN TONIGHT! my husband is sooooo happy. thank you!
Worked like a charm. We tried 1/2 our 4 steaks with and 1/2 w/o. Wife was nervous. Made very good steak better. We used 1″ Black Angus ribeye. My wife said hers was good but mine done with salt was better. I used 1 tablespoon per side for appx. 35 min. Finished mine off with a small squeeze of parkay and sprinkle of mixed seasoning (pepper, dried onion, dried garlic). Thanks for the tip, I’m telling all my steak lover friends!
1 TEASPOON of salt for a 1 1/2 inch thick steak???!!! I don’t think so – look at your own picture. I hardly think the amount of salt on that thing is a teaspoon!!! I’d suggest at least a quarter to half a cup per side!!!
I used 2 teaspoons. It was a porterhouse. Did you read the instructions??? Bigger the steak, more salt. My porterhouse was huge. ~jaden
Tonight I tried this technique for the third time (this time with 1″ top sirloin) and it came out perfect. This is a well written and funny article, but it isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. For my first two attempts I let new york strip steaks sit in the salt for almost an hour. The meat was way too salty even after rinsing thoroughly. Today, I only left the meat in salt for 30 minutes and I rinsed it well. If your grilling something really savory (like a porterhouse) only leave for 15 – 20 minutes tops.
This is way better than those 24 hour marinades. Good luck.
SALTY STEAK!!!
OK, I was all excited about trying this.
I followed the directions EXACTLY and the steak tasted like a salt lick. We could hardly eat it.
Never again.
DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!
I tried this recipe last night and it was delicious! I would recommend it! I absolutely loved the garlic herb sauce for the corn! Thank you!
It is great to see this.
we made it AGAIN TONIGHT! my husband is sooooo happy. thank you!
we made this tonight and it was FANTASTIC!! thanks so very much!
Dude
Try VINEGAR marinade first, vinegar is acetic acid, which breaks down proteins. Allow to marinate for several hours-overnight even, then salt for 1 hour. Rinse and cook, you will NOT taste the vinegar, but will taste the salt. Vingar works on all kinds of meat, ribs are my favorite-marinate overnight for fall-off-the-bone tenderness.
Scott
tekjock that’s the dumbest thing i’ve ever heard. You just put salt on it, of course its going to taste a little salty, you should have tried cooking it, I did two using this method and had various other herbs and spices and they were the best steaks I’ve ever had.
Wow! Great technique for steak. Entertaining recipe to read too…most clever! ha
I tried this tonight with a 1.5-inch steak and one hour resting time with salt. The cooked steak was tender and very good, but noticeably too salty. Any tips?
try less salt or shorten salting time ~j
love the green centipede! will definitely try this technique with the salt and post my results on my site. (sorry, its the only site i have :))
SOUNDS GOOD, BRAH.
Your written words discuss “Masively salting a steak”. Then your recipe calls for 1/2 tsp. of salt!!!!!!! Whoa there. ONE-HALF teaspoon of salt????? The picture of salted steak has more like a HALF CUP of salt!!! Puhleeze – correct your recipe!!!!
Will this work with Buffalo Steak?
Great recipe!! I tried this the other night with a $4.00 steak and it came out great! I think it was a top sirloin or something like that–do not know much about cuts. All I know is that it was big and cheap and usually comes out dry and tough. Using this recipe, it didn’t taste like a cheap steak at all, it was very tender, juicy, and actually had flavor throughout.
I was wondering if this would work for other meats as well…like pork chops or chicken? Have you ever tried it? If so, please let me know. When I cook porkchops, they tend to come out dry and tough. Would salting them have the same effect?
yes, you can do this with poultry, pork! jaden
Hi,
Thank you very much for the post. I am just wondering if soy sauce would have the same effect on the steak as salt. I like to use a soy sauce based marinate for meat. Can I do the samething with a steak? Thank you.
a marinade with salt + acid always works with meat. try it, and let me know how it goes. jaden
Tried this last night on a sirloin and it was delicious. I generally don’t like sirloin, more of a ribeye man. But this was every bit as tender as a ribeye. It was a big one, about two pounds. Salted each side with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of sea salt for 45 minutes, rinsed thoroughly and patted completely dry, rubbed a little rosemary olive oil and crushed garlic into the steak, pan seared, then broiled in the oven. tender, juicy, wonderful flavor. I’ll try it with a ribeye this weekend.
What a way to ruin a a lovely bit of steak. Ive tucked into my salted steak, as recommended, and its as salty as a mouthful of sea water. Never using this recipe again!!
I linked to this post from the timesonline (UK newspaper). Thanks for the tip about salt. Now I can’t wait to try this “salty” steak recipe out with some fleur de sel from Brittany. Your story is an inspiration.
wow! this is awesome… why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?
i had purchased cheap frozen steaks for use in the slow cooker. i usually cook for only my husband and myself so buying a whole roast just isn’t practical for us. generally, this is the best way that i have found to make cheap meat tender for stews, tacos, etc. i tried slow cooking two of these four steaks a few weeks ago & they were so tough that we ended up throwing them away and getting fast food. not wanting to waste the remaining two steaks, i did some research on tenderizing tough meat & found your website. so glad i did!
though the steaks were still a little on the fatty side, the “good meat” was super tender and had great flavor. we are a bit picky when it comes to fat on steaks and i suppose to someone who enjoys good marbling, these steaks would have been superb. thanks for saving these steaks for us; we just finished a great dinner! i’m looking forward to experimenting with this method on better steaks!
also, i made the herb butter using garlic & cilantro. this was delicious on top of the steaks as well as on our mashed potatoes!
Jaden – thank you for that, I’ll give it a go this evening!
Tried it today with strip steaks I’d had in the freezer since November. It worked FABULOUSLY! Really a great result. I can’t wait to try it on rib eye!
Your Gucci Steak recipe made the most delicious steak that my husband and I have grilled at home. In fact, it was better than some of the so-called great steak houses! We used kosher salt and steakhouse seasoning on a one inch sirloin. Tonight we are going to try this same method on a top round london broil. We’ll let you know how that turns out.
So, could this technique be used with the “pan sear” method, or should this be done only the way you describe it?
You can cook the steak any way you want! ~jaden
As David above attests to salting cheaper cuts of steak (rump in particular) can produce some stunning results. Given you recommend only 1 hour with the salt penetrating the meat proteins this should not imbed the meat with too much salt. Great practical idea.
This might be a dumb question but how are you rinsing the steaks – literally running it under a tap to clear off the salt? I cooked sirloin last night for a steak sandwich and while it was nicely cooked it was very fibrous and didn’t really suit being eaten by hand – the meat didn’t tear very easily so it was back to a knife and fork for me – looking forward to giving this a go!
Yes, rinse under tap water.
If you want to use sirloin for a sandwich, you do have to use knife to cut into very thin ribbons. The only way you can break down the fibers so much that you can pull by hand is if you cook low and slow…for a long time. Salting won’t be a shortcut for low and slow. But it will make it more tender and delicious.
~j
…that was a legit/serious “thanks” and not snarky like it probably sounded a minute ago…
LoL dammit. saw the quick post/pic on lifehacker, clicked on thru to your site, got my salt out and proceeded thru the steps. now i’m at the last picture, waiting for my steak to finish it’s salting and i read that i’m not supposed to use table salt?? dammit. maybe a warning at the beginning? *fingers crossed it still turns out edible* thanks!
Hey Jeff- how could you miss the multiple times I mentioned kosher/sea salt!??????
😉
jaden
I tried this last night and it sucked. Perhaps I did something wrong, but the steak was purple looking when I put it on the grill. I did it to medium-rare and it was pretty pink. However, the firmness was like well-done.
I had a steak thaw out for 6 hours (Wanted to eat it that day).
I seasoned it with loads of sea salt and let it sit for 45 min. It was a Tbone, a little over an inch.
When I came back it was all floppy and wet like people say. I washed off the salt (I didnt pat it dry though, perhaps that’s why)
I put some oil and heated the pan (I got it extra hot)
I put some steak seasoning on it and then put it on the grill, I seared both sides to trap heat.
I put a lid on it and let it cook. It had a lot of juice in the pan (obviously because all the juice came out of the steak).
What did I do wrong?!?
Are you f@^%!g kidding me? It didn’t work because you didn’t follow the freakin’ instructions! So yeah, your steak sucked because you didn’t pat the steak dry. Basically, you steamed your steak instead of grilling it. ~j
A local restaurant marinates steaks overnight in canned, diced jalapenos. They similarly wash off all the stuff and pat dry. Their steaks are remarkably tender, while still being nicely beefy. I’m not that much of a steak guy, so I haven’t tried to replicate but you may want to experiment with that as well.
Whoa — you got picked up by Lifehacker!
http://lifehacker.com/5264724/top-10-skills-to-master-your-grill
Hey guys – I just contacted http://www.drybagsteak.com and will be testing their product in the next couple of weeks! I promise to report back.
jaden
Have been trying to replicate the deep beefy flavor of steak house dry aged for awhile. Tried this salt method but it tasted like, well, salted beef. So I gave the Drybagsteak.com thing a try (saw it mentioned here in April). Last week I cracked open the four pounds of boneless ribey I’d aged in the Drybags and steaked it out. OMG! Beautifully clean aged steaks with exactly the flavor I was looking for. Will have to time the aging, but I am thrilled to have a way to age Choice, Select or Grassfed beef to just that perfect rich beefy flavor I was looking for–without the salt lick! Not the cheapest way to deepen the flavor, but a superior solution all around.
I’m a student and I can only afford cheap steaks. I tried this today and OMG.. best steak I ever cooked in my LIFE!!! thank you so much. you made a poor student very very happy..
this is upsetting with you misleading people about salt. the majority of people won’t tell a difference in taste between table salt and sea salt. It is understandable that you recommend such salt instead of table salt with the reasoning being size or something of the likeness, but don’t just degrade salt like that. ponder to yourself where table salt comes from.
hmm….pondering…pondering…
nope.
i still stand behind that table salt tastes like shit.
thanks though. ~jaden
I love this article! I think it’s amazing how you fuse Science and cooking :).
The salt is a GREAT idea; I just got done eating a fairly tough steak – I am going to have to cook my next steak by this article 🙂
Nice article!
I would say that if you need to add any other spicy to the steak besides salt we really need to select better the steak and review the temperature and your salt strategy.
Cheers
We took four cheap steaks and tried this with one. Wow, you could see the difference as soon as they came off the grill! This is how we will cook our steaks from now on.
Thanks!
Thanks for the info. I can’t wait to try and see if I can make my USDA Choice steaks taste more like USDA prime steaks
This is wonderful. Thank you. I salt my meat as well before rinsing and cooking.
Thanks for the post. It is great information about steaks
Tried this tonight – FABULOUS!!!! 🙂
I have to thank you for sharing this salting technique with us. I’ve been using it the last couple of times I’ve cooked steak, and every single time the flavor comes out amaaaaaaaazing. I’m generally terrible at cooking steak and getting it to taste delicious, but with this salting technique and a cooking tip I picked up from another site, I’ve been turning out fabulous steaks like nobody’s business. And my family really appreciates it 😉
Thanks again!
It WORKS!! I’ve tried this method on three diffrent steaks, two filets and a porterhouse. They all were well marbled SELECT, almost choice. I salted as directed and when it was time to rinse there was no juice left behind because the meat re-absorbed it! Even while cooking ( indoor grill ) the juices did not seep out! And this method definetly bumped the meat a grade up, and was more tender / juicy. I just rinsed off enough to get the salt off, no more. There is a saltyer than normal taste, but I guess you could rinse it off more throughly.
I am going to try this tonight, will let you know how it turned out. I so hope it works as I love soft juicy steak and can not always get to my regular butcher (they hang the meat for +3 weeks).
I have been cutting meat for 30 years. I appreciate the way you cut trough the nonsense. I like Alton Brown. I work at a grocery store as a meat cutter and they call me “the counselor” . If you can’t find the answer find CURT, that’s me. I would like to sell steaks on line and I’m not sure how to get started. If you could help me I could help you. Thank you for your time. curt.marwitz@gmail.com
Wow, I just found your article. Its funny and informative at the same time. I have been working on perfecting steak flavor. Taking a lesser cut and turning it into a masterpiece is where the satisfaction is for sure. Have you tried taking an entire striploin or ribeye and dry aging? I found this new way to dry age recently on http://www.drybagsteak.com Have you tried it? I think if you dry age some select cuts you can get the tenderness and flavor of prime, especially following your cooking method.
First time I’ve found a cooking tecnique so amusing (Maybe it’s the Sailor Jerry Rum and Coke). And I have a question. I don’t have sea or kosher so could I use californua garlic salt? Don’t want to risk a dui. Also does this method affect the cooking time?
Method does not affect cooking time. You can use garlic salt if the salt in it is large crystals like kosher. Most garlic salts use table salt – which is very very fine and you’ll end up with steak too salty. ~jaden
As a steak lover, I appreciate your steak tips. I’m truly amazed at how simple it is to prepare a prime in this manner. This will be one for my books. 🙂
Regards,
Rus
Steak House
Hello! Thanks for this tip…I tried it on shoulder steak and couldn’t believe the flavor! It was still a little tough after I left it on for 20 min. tho (less than 1 inch steak), so I was wondering what you’d recommend for a filet mignon timing wise. My parents are coming over for a joint birthday dinner, and I really want to impress them.
Thank you so much!
We noticed no difference, other than a slight salty taste and a cured-pork-like firmness. If you can find USDA Prime cheap (i.e. Costco/Sams), buy it instead, there is no comparison (buttery melting steak versus briney ham steak???)
I would recommend that everyone trys out the “sous vide” method if they are looking for more bang for your buck. It truly works (i.e. turning a chuck roast into a prime rib is real, albeit 24 hours later.) plus you get a great beefy “au jus” all ready inside the bag.
I decided to give this technique a tough–no pun intended–test on a 1.75″ thick “simmering steak.” It worked remarkably well. The resulting steak was tender and juicy, albeit a little salty for my liking. I think I’d be more viogourous with the rinsing or I’ll take off 10 minutes of ‘marinating time.’
BTW – I love your photography!!! Thanks for you sharing your tips.
great info, gonna try it tonight. Article is written very well too. Good to see someone writing, the way that we actually speak. For those who don’t like the language, Well you can go and get Fu#$ed haha
Why offend any of your readers by using inappropriate language? Leaving out the four-letter words won’t take anything away from your “voice,” but will have the positive effect of showing restraint and maturity. Or, you can just continue appealing to 20-somethings. Up to you.
Very nice informative post. Thanks for sharing what you learned through your hard work.
nice article! I’m gonna try this with a sirloin I got today. love the pictures lol
if your kid is old enough to read an article about grilling steak, he’s probably old enough to have heard the words “ass” and “crap.” uh ohhhhh I said a swear! :X don’t let your kids near my livejournal.
I was appalled to read the comment that asked you to sensor your beautiful language. If I didnt fully enjoy your “voice” I wouldnt have read 1000 words on how to salt a steak. All these grilling children will just have to suck up your use of the word Ass.
Very nice and lovely steaks.
it look like delicious. i will try to make this cook.
this is great. thank you for making it so easy to understand.
great recipe!!!!!!! My wife and I love meat!, any meat! But steak, especially filet!
What is all the talk lately about the validity of skirt steak?? Great stuff and to the prudes- swear away!!!!!!
I like the way you blog. love the pics, love the words! Very amusing 🙂
I’m going to try this today. Sounds great!!! I’m excited
Wow, now I am hungry! Those look like the best steaks I have ever seen.
Very nice and lovely steaks.
Beautiful Steaks!!
All I have to say is THANK YOU!
I sat down at my P/C at 5:30 looking how to cook a good steak and I found this website, our steak dinner was ready by 6:45.
I am not a good cook at all and I love to eat out, esp. steaks, but with economy like it is I am trying to cook more. Thanks to this recipe I finally cooked steaks that my kids loved (without ketchup) but my dogs were a little upset because they did not get their usual left overs. I called my entire family and told them I cooked a steak that tasted Wonderful. Now I can’t wait to cook another steak. My Husband and children thank you also!!!!
Thank you for the great explanation and tips! There is this roast I make now and then at Christmas that you rub with herbs, THEN completely cover under over and around with at least an inch of rock salt and bake till the meat thermometer says done. It is a cheap roast, BUT the salt does exactly what you say and the texture is even through and through. It’s one of my family’s favorites!
NOW, I am excited to try some less expensive steaks and see how this little salt trick works. I feel certain that it will!
One of the commentators here didn’t seem to like your language. Let me say this! I LOVE it! You are so funny, genuine, and real! You admit your mistakes, and have very descriptive ways of letting us know how you feel! Wish I could enjoy a glass of bourbon and ice with you on occasion!! Also, what kid reads recipes? Family friendly? Bah!!! Let your amazing personality show! It’s one reason why I come here!
Off to buy some cheapo steaks!!
PM- Salt based on how thick. Experiment with it – so start with a 1/2 hour and see if you like it. It works on any type of meat – if you’re using rump, just make sure it’s cut thin like a 1″ steak (i.e. not a roast)
Hi Guys
Great to hear about this method.
Always looking for tender, lean and mean steak.
Just worried that 1 hour of salting will be too much. 1/2 hour sounds much better.
Also I love Rump Steak
Would this method work with rump?
Lastly any one have any recipe’s for some great sauces that can be placed over the steak once its grilled.
PM
I tried this last night and it made my ribeye steaks so tender! Do you rinse the steak off or really scrub it under the running water? i just rinsed and they were verging on too salty, but DELICIOUS. lots of emphasis on delicious! thank you for the gucci steak! yum!!
This is truly great! I like to spinkle finely-ground brown sugar in while making the butter. It almost acts like a glazing effect when butter melts on the steak. Thanks for the tips and keep ’em coming!!
I’ve cooked meat like for years, but I recently came accross an AMAZING, and I mean AMAZING little device called a Jaccard Meat Tenderizer. What it does it puts 48 little holes into the exterior of the meat that allows flavour to transmit much faster, and speeds this whole process up by about 20 percent.
Oddly enough by poking all those little wholes, you are not losing flavour but actually allowing the outside to caramalize that much faster.
Amazing device.
http://www.amazon.com/Jaccard-Tendermatic-Meat-Tenderizer-Blade/dp/B001347JK6/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1230627255&sr=8-1
Cheers
Gregory
I can not wait to try !
Thanks for the recipe!! I tried it with steak and asparagus for my girlfrieds birthay. She was blow away and it was way cheaper that going out to eat. I would recommend it to anyone.
Awesome post. It all sounds perfectly logical to me, but I read a lot of Alton and McGee. Some of the same principles were used for this Newspaper steak, but I have a feeling your is more consistently reproducible. I’ll be trying this soon – snow be damned.
http://www.gastronomicfightclub.com/blog/food/2005/05/salt-steak.cfm
Found this through pure desparation, bought an eye of round roast on accident instead of rib eye steaks. Having my boyfriend over for mushrooms and steak stirfry and didn’t want to disappoint him. I do not doubt this will turn out excellent. Thank you for the best website I’ve stumbled across in a long time.
hey, great article, I can’t wait to try it. BUT— can’t ya keep the language family friendly? Do you think you get extra points for being crude and crass? You will limit your readership wich your foul language. I see no reason to expose kids to such talk, so THEY won’t be on here. Which means the family won’t be very often. Clean up your language. You can convey the wonders of your craft and remain family friendly. Honest. And NO ONE will miss the fould stuff. Honest.
Thanks for the tips. I am a little bit worried about the effect of all that sauce but it is certainly worth a try.
Wow! That is a great explanation!
The next step would be to marinate in Soy Sauce. Soy Sauce is high in salt and glutamates, which is part of umami (meaty delicious flavor). This increases the beefy-ness of your steaks, and a 15 minute marinade will leave you with the most intensely beefy steak. I would then brown some butter and olive oil and then pan-sear to a nice crispy crust and finish in the oven. I’ve been making my steaks like this since I was 12 and I’ve never realized the science behind it til I picked up the latest cook’s illustrated.
this method will cause chaos, confusion and controversy
Here’s my video of doing your steak. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkCcDy6vGDM
Thanks for inspiration.
hi buddy thanks for the recipe of the salty steak i did what u told and it works but not any wonders the steak had taste but lost a lot of moisture became a bit dry while on the other side i tried it with a freshly salted and peppered minutes before cooking piece of meat that worked wonders and i added a bit of garlic and herb also that my friend turned out marvelous try that and lemmme know……
great…now i’m absolutely starving.
Salting Steaks a success!!!
THank you so much for the process for salting steaks. I grilled two rib eyes last night – unbelievable!!!
Interesting indeed, thank you!
I’ve been using just a touch of Kosher salt on my steaks and then cooking them ala ‘reverse sear’. My next steak will be with the “massive amounts” of Kosher that you suggest.
This salting process didn’t cause controversy OR confusion in MY kitchen!…..It caused me to be put up on a pedestal with my glass of merlot! Thanks Jaden, you’ve made me “queen of the grill”.
I didn’t even know all that. i’m going to make steak tonight based off your directions. i think i can no longer hold the title of “Addie’s best steak” Congratulations Hayette!
I have to say My sister who can’t cook a thing taught me how to make the best steak ever! She drowns it in salt but not any salt… it has to be Hawaiian salt…the pinky stuff! Wow, it’s absolutely delicious! You truly can turn cheap steak to prime gucci steak 🙂
Wow! I have done this basically to Thanksgiving turkey by brining the turkey with salt water and herbs but never to steak! Thanks for the great tips.
Nice work!
This is laugh out loud, kick butt advice that I can not wait to try! I don’t remember the last time a blog entry cracked me up as much as this one did. Thanks for taking the time to figure all the sciencey stuff out. I think Mr. Burke should be proud.
I read this article last night, and ran out to buy steaks. I’m going to try a meat tenderizer and kosher salt combo. I bought some porterhouse steaks on sale and will be putting them under the broiler tonight. Wish me luck!
I am trying this right now! I mean I am scared about the salt thing but hey, I have screwed up steaks in way worse ways than over-salting. I love experimenting so I will definately post a follow up to let you know the results. Loved your post!
http://www.shesthinking.wordpress.com
Hey there, salting should work the same for elk steaks. Experiment – try one salted and another non salted. Red wine vin, olive oil and garlic make an excellent marinade.
Stumbled upon your website looking for a tenderizing solution for elk steak. Elk steaks are extremely lean and can dry out on the grill. Will the salting process keep the inside moist? Until now I was considering a marinade – red wine, or vinegar and oil – but now I’m curious. Can you give me some advice?
thanks so much! tried it on some 7bone steak I got for .79c/lb. Ha, I thought it was a typo for Tbone steak. Anyhow.. it worked GREAT! the steak was SO incredibly tender.. just a tip to others.. be sure to RINSE WELL! I didn’t rinse one steak all the way and it was incredibly salty.
THANKS again!
Very cute lesson in steak preparation, the bourbon does good things :).
Great post! I’ll have to try out this method next time I grill steaks. We’ve cut down on our steak consumption as we have been having some bad luck with the quality of steaks we’ve been getting (we thought). But maybe it’s our cooking method that needs work. I’ve never pre-salted steaks before as they always tell you this is what dries it out.
My wife thinks I am an absolute butt-munch with this process BUT IT WORKS!!!!
This is the zillionth time I have done it and doing it right now. It makes for a great steak that my picky 3 year old and 15 month old can’t eat enough of! Damn kids..Thanks!
what an awesome article !! excellent, one question can i mix the salt with any other spices ??
Those are great and very helpful tips. I will practice that soon. The steak do look delicious.
thanks for the great recipe – my steaks are sitting in their salt awaiting the grill – I will let you know the results – great idea for a marinade – all others have failed so far with this loin of beef I have bought
hey ))
its very interesting point of view.
Good post.
realy good post
thank you 😉
In a totally unrelated comment, Mr. Burke? Where did you go to school?
My chem teacher (a thousand years ago was named Mr. Burke)…
Julie
Used a london broil, kosher salt, shredded fresh basil and garlic powder. Wrapped it in plastic wrap for an hour. Rinsed, dried, grilled.
PERFECT!
Hey Jaden, I actually used this technique on some 1 1/4 inch thick T-bone last weekend and was thoroughly impressed at how well this worked. Thanks you so much for posting that as well all the other amazing and entertaining posts. I always get a chuckle reading your blog.
Abby -I’ve never tried salting frozen…I don’t think it would be effective.
sorry for the typo error. again, my question is: Will salting time differ if the steak is to be SALTED FROZEN?
Hi,
this is very unusual, i grew up eating steak and my family believed that salt makes the meat tough. for us, to enjoy a really good prime meat, is pay for it… Will definitely try this very soon! i have one question though, will salting time differ if steak is to be slated FROZEN?
Last week I held a bbq party for my best friend’s birthday. I have never done steak bbq previously, usually I prepared asian-style satay bbq. After looking for steak recipe for some time, I found this posting and I decided to try Jaden’s Gucci steak recipe.
I tried 1″ rib eye with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt on each side for 15 minutes, rinse the salt off, put some black pepper and then grilled medium. I prepared this for 12 person.
The result …, voila! It’s magical! The steak was so juicy, tender and the taste was just perfect!
Thanks to Jaden for sharing this amazing steak recipe. Greetings from Singapore.
Very disappointed to see all the praise over a post that just basically tells you to dip a steak in salt and cook it. There is several other very precise methods needed during the preparation and cooking, And it is essentially the same thing as brining. Brining will not waterlog the steak because it is not meant to be done for several hours, using your time table, brine that long and you will have the exact same result. I promise, I have did both methods several times. Take time to learn about proper preparation, cooking and resting of the steak if you want to impress your freinds, and yes, choice will be just fine.
I just found your site and totally agree with this article. With food this good, who needs to go out to a restaurant and spend a fortune. Also, this article gave me a good laugh because of the great analogies you use to explain things. I love this site and it’s now in my favorites!
I know you did not mention it so probably I don’t have to, but I need to ask….Do I use a meat mallet or fork pierce the meat first?
I just loved your blog…so funny!! Thanks for the great info on steaks and butter!
I tried this yesterday with a bunch of ribeye steaks — I was skeptical, but WOW, the results were amazing! I followed the directions exactly (used about 1 tsp Kosher salt on each side of each steak, and let them stand for 45 minutes). I grilled them medium rare — my guests were delighted. I’m serious — the meat tasted tender, juicy, and flavorful. As for the “saltiness question,” yes, you can taste some saltiness. But just remember not to use any additional salt during cooking or eating. Those who simply never use salt (either during cooking or on their food) may find the steak a bit too salty. My guests and I enjoyed the taste very much. Thanks so much for sharing this. I will definitely try it again.
love it!!
Hey! Thank you so much for this post. I brought a budget cut on my way home and am giving it half an hour bathed in salt as I write. Can’t wait. It is the simplicity that is so good about this… and I’m pleased to know exactly what my stake is doing in the other room osmosing away.
I will try this tonight.
Had to come back and tell you I tried and it worked…what was interesting was that I had a piece left over that I did not cook on the day of salting…and used 2 nights later in a curry…it melted in the mouth literally. It was amazing…so thanks for the tip, though I still love a good scotch fillet (at $34.99 a kilo in Australia!!!)
Nathan – thaw until it’s not frozen…i.e. it feels like meat not ice.
How long do I thaw the steak before doing this. My steak is about 3/4 inch thick. Sorry if this is a duplicate post, but My first post didn’t seem to come up.
How long do you thaw the steak before using this method? I’ve got steaks that are about 3/4 inch thick. It’s noon now, and I know that since this article is so old, I probably won’t get a reply, nevermind one from you, but I’ll try anyway. I need an answer quick!
Thanks
Wow. I’m a little late to the table here!
I had checked out your website before, when we had initially spoken (or tweeted) but I didn’t actually get into any depth until today. You have a fantastic writing style and your images are wonderful!
I am also going to try out this recipe. I’m not the best cook because I don’t have much patience… if I’m hungry enough to cook then I’m hungry enough to want it now… but I think I can exert some self control and try to make things decent. Lan and Bonny will probably put your recipes to much better use… they actually enjoy cooking.
So when are we going to start shooting your cooking show? 🙂
OK, trying this one tomorrow, will let you know how it goes! You are such a refreshing read and full of facts too!! Who knew???
Thanks Steamy…your newest fan!
That steak looks amazing. I am definitely going home tonight and preparing this dish because it looks absolutely delicious. The fact that this steak is rare really makes it mouthwatering, I NEED STEAK ASAP.
So I FINALLY did this last night (after posting about it six months ago – http://thecarnivoreproject.typepad.com/the_carnivore_project/2007/09/steaks-and-salt.html) on a gorgeous t-bone from a farmer’s market. I followed your recipe pretty precisely – just smushed garlic, posh sea salt and rosemary. And remembered to wash off all the salt… and it was the BEST STEAK EVER. I mean, wow.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
i tried this tonight and cooked for my very picky, steak-‘connoisseur’ kid brother who goes to school in wisconsin (dairy/beef motherland)and came out with the most terrific steak ever!
it was so juicy and moist inside. i heated a cast iron skillet with grooves til it was very hot and seared both sides for about 4 minutes (for a 1.5in sirloin) and put it in the oven and broiled it for about 7 minutes.
absolutely amazing! love the pictures and descriptions.
someone mentioned doing it to vegetables.. but osmosis doesn’t work the same for plants! because they have a cell wall and have turgor pressure which allows the insides to exand and not really exchange water to create homeostasis… (i’m studying for my dental exams so all this is fresh!)
thanks for this!
Yer not gettin’ off easy there, lady!
I ran across this article recently via a link from another site. I was so intrigued with the steak-salting method that I read not only the article, but all the feedback and comments, too. Regarding some of those comments, a few things stuck with me:
1. If a person can’t stand a little bit of cussin’, they have no business being online, watching television or reading books in the first place. Dammit! 😀
2. I noticed that most who complained of saltiness had either used more salt than called for, a thinner piece of steak than called for, left the salt on so long that it’s amazing there was more than a quarter-size piece of steak left TO grill, or in some cases all of the above. If you’re not willing to fully read and follow the instructions, then don’t gripe about the outcome.
3. To the person who insisted the salt in the photo is table salt vs. kosher salt. Perhaps it’s as simple as some of the salt having dissolved (or being in the process thereof) when the pic was taken? Some of the grains were still pretty large. Regardless, what a petty thing to make a stink about.
4. Some guy had the nerve to say he’d done an unbiased side-by-side experiment (you know, the kind where someone condemns the outcome before trying it, won’t say what cut of meat was used, uses twice the instructed amount of salt for size/portion and then has buddies taste-test the result…that kind of unbiased). No surprise what his test results were, huh?
You’d think someone so interested in disproving this salting method could be bothered to buy two steaks or at least cut one in half for his so-called experiment. Guess he figured that the salting would result in a vertically linear reaction only and that the status of one part of the steak wouldn’t overlap/join/affect the other in any way. Unfortunately, because Experto El Cheapo didn’t use two separate pieces of meat and didn’t properly follow the stated directions, his “unbiased” results have no semblance of accuracy.
What an ass to come to this blog for the sole purpose of picking on the author’s typo, truthfulness of sources and method of salting without even trying it before spouting off. I sense a green-eyed monster, and I know which “occasional-contributor-to-a-food-column” I *won’t* be reading.
5. PETA people, please. I doubt anyone here is an animal-hater (have several rescue cats myself), and I doubt your terror tactics will turn anyone away from a delicious moo-steak. In fact, you might drive some of us to become selective cannibals, you know :::chasing with fork:::
6. The guy who stops at this blog ONLY to take offense at any ass reference whatsoever, I think you need to just shove it. 😀
After all the time I spent reading the comments, I felt like chiming in too! Turning the rant off now, though, so that I can compliment Jaden. Thank you so much for the wonderful article on achieving the most delicious steak. I’ve tried it and, when followed properly, it works like a charm! I love your writing style — smart and funny, with great advice and recipes. I can’t wait to explore the rest of your awesome site! 🙂
Bunny
almost tried the salt thing on memorial day and decided i could not take a chance and ruin everyone’s dinner…plus there was no confirmation on your points as of this am….
when i read all the details written out right down to the nitty gritty…i may give it a shot…but not holdin’ my breath.
Just want to say…..it is all very confusing….too salty, not salty, just right, not so good….too annoying to make a decision to even try it…mainly because of the people who don’t listen and then remark!!! I hate that!!
Try to simplify it again please….that can not be too difficult!
I’m going to simplify it from what u say and just tell me it that’s it….nice and simple
NUMBER 1. no matter what anybody here says….the MEAT MUST BE 1 AND 1/2 inches thick…is that too much for some of these stupid people….if you don’t know what an inch and a half is go back to school.
NUMBER 2. u have claimed you r not even sure about how much damn salt to use…pleaseeeeee give me a break…..if you don’t know how the hell much to use how am I going to know……I’m not gonna go out and waste a ton of money on ribeye…bec. you don’t know how salt to use.
NUMBER 3. you have listed only a select few cuts of meat so for the morons trying it on other cuts……I don’t know….shoot yourself or quit complaining.
NUMBER 4. what the hell is the rinsing problem…..ohhh i didn’t rinse enough…or i need to try this again and rinse better….what r u retarded…RINSE THE FRIGGING MEAT….put it under the faucet and RINSE ALLLLL THE DAMN SALT OFF.
NUMBER 5. pat dry…WTF is that….do u use paper towels, cloth towels, dish towels, bath towels, diapers….Give me a FBREAK!! dry the meat with what lady?
my underware?
NUMBER 6. following all of the above when you properly and clearly acknowledge your steps again…should yield according to you the most tender steak in the world…..let’s hope and when i taste it I will believe it.
I tried this on some 1 1/4″, $4/lb. Select (not even Choice!) ribeyes for dinner tonight. Sea salt for about 20-25 minutes, rinsed, dried, grilled. They came out delicious and not at all too salty. Thanks for the tip!
back from the butcher with a beautiful top round, sea salt and seasonings. Let the experiment begin…………..
Tracy, if you have a therm probe, check out my post on December 14th on tips with a cast iron skillet. It’s a great way to cook steaks, don’t hope it’ll work, it’ll work good!
I’m going to try this for my husband’s birthday steaks tonight! (it’s rainy, and I may cook the steaks in a cast iron skillet–hope that’ll work)
As a side note, I saw your Twitter posting earlier about wondering whether you should be offended about the gift of a size 12 dress. I know I need to lose some weight, but I wear a 12, and hadn’t really thought of myself as a “plus size”–:'(. That being said, it does seem odd the giver wouldn’t have checked on your size first!
AWESOME!
This was a great post. It was humorous and definitely kept my attention. I shall try this for my mother today! I mean…since it is Mother’s Day and all….
I love this post…. layman’s terms, no other way to say it! And who DIDN’T sleep thru biology…. come ON.
Just wondered – would this work for pork chops…can’t ever seem to get them really tender when cooking. Thanks for your help.
Hi – Just wanted to say thank you…..this recipe was spot on. I used a pack of RibEyes and they were good, but I wasn’t really looking forward to them alone because I usually use them as stew meat. I wasn’t in the mood for stew but needed to cook the meat – found this (your) recipe information and *WOE***it really worked. It was the juciest piece of meat like prime rib tasting, and not at all salty. I was a bit afraid it would be. Normally I don’t eat the left over the next day, and it was actually even better. I just placed the left over on the upper part of the grill to warm up, and the jucies came right back out. Thank you 🙂 – Oh BTW – your garlic butter is exceptional!
OMG!!!! This is the best steak that I HAVE EVER made. Thanks so much for the technique. All I can say is wow, wow, wow. After the salt bath for 20 minutes. I seasoned with basil, parsley, rosemary, olive oil, and a few other seasoning (non-salty) for about 3-5 minutes. That’s all it needed, and of course I topped with the garlic-herd butter.
I LOVE IT!! Time to make some stake! Thank you!
Thank you VERY much for the info. This is a great blog post.
Just found you through stumbleupon and loving the blog and the nice clean food pics! The design of the blog is also very simple and impressive! Would love to have some of your photos on my site http://www.ifoods.tv so as they can see a greater audience. Keep up the good work on the blog.
Wow that looks great. I’m going to try this ASAP
Jaden, I tried your recipe on 1.5″ steak, sprinkle 1/2 spoon of salt for each side, and keep that way for about 15 mins, rinse and pat dry with paper towel.
Instead of grilling, using pan and pre heat for 1 min, then put the steak on the pan, let each side fry about 5 mins.
Total time from preparation until sit on a plate about 30 mins, that is fast !
The steak itself, juicy and tender just what people said. Great !
Thank you for sharing your recipe !
YM
Regard from Indonesia …
Just can not wait to try this recipe …
Thanks jaden, will try that!
John
Rinse it off with water and immediately dry with paper towels. Don’t worry. If you rinse it quickly, the water won’t get reabsorbed – it just stays on surface and then you pat very well with dry paper towels. Works very well.
xo, jaden
This is really a terrific method to tenderize a steak. I used to spend so much money on marinates and tried everything I could do get a nice juicy steak before but was never satisfied with the results. This can testify that this technique here works marvellously. My only gripe is that it’s very hard to pat dry the steak completely from salt after it sits on it for 30 mins or so. So the steak was very juicy and tender but also very salty at the same time. Gonna try using a paper towel next to dry it. I think that will work a lot better than pat drying
Jennifer, Try leaving the salt on longer next time. Let the salt do it’s magic longer. It will discolor the steak but don’t let that scare you. I used to be a meat cutter in the 70’s and every so often this guy would come in and buy a NY strip loin. We would hang it on a hook in the walk-in refer with the other meats and let it sit until a fuzzy layer of mold had form over the entire loin. I then had to trim off all the slimy, smelly mold then wrap it up for him. The meat was a real dark color and the meat smelled really “gamey” but not a bad smell. Never tried it but the guy says it was great.
He paid for the full weight of the loin and as it sat in the refer, it would lose moisture (drying out) and when I trimmed it, more weight would be cut off. Good luck on your next broiling session. Hard to make a Mis-Steak with this method!
So I tried this with broiled steak and it was delicious! I can’t believe all the flavor that I put on top of it, and then rinsed off could still be tasted in the steak. The steak was tender, but not as tender as I hoped. I was hoping for a steak that’s so tender it melts in the mouth. But it wasn’t tough. I’m not complaining, it was good, and I will definitely be doing this for now on with my steak. Cuz the way I was doing it before wasn’t working. I could barely chew it. lol
Can you try this technique with broiling the meat in the oven? Tonight I’m going to try it.
Been meaning to try this since I found your page (several months ago). I finally got a chance with a top sirloin that was about 1.5 inches thick. I left the salt on one side only for about 45 minutes. It wasn’t full-on weeping, but the salt had definitely gotten “water-logged.” What I found curious was that the side I’d salted took on a leathery texture and a darker red than the rest of the meat.
The good news is that the steak was totally delicious, and it was very very tender. I can’t honestly say this was because of the salt, since I didn’t do a side-by-side comparison, but I was encouraged to find that it was not overly salty (as some have complained). I may try salting both sides next time, since there wasn’t that much of a salt flavor. If it makes it twice as tender, so much the better!
Thanks so much for an entertaining and informative post.
I’m going to try this myself. I think almost everyone enjoys a prime steak, and people who say they don’t are either a: lying, b: vegetarian, or c: both 🙂
I can’t wait to try this tonight on some of the not so prime pieces of meat I have in the deep freeze. I have 3 little kids and finding a way to eat the steak we want on a budget is definitely something I am interested in.
Your art work is exceptional and I love your frank vocabulary.
I did this with my thanksgiving turkey this last year. Alton Brown had an episode on brining (which is kind of what you are doing here) It was so juicy and flavorful. I will do it from now on with my turkeys. Now I will try it on my steaks. Mmm I can’t wait.
Tried this technique with 2″ cut rib steaks and came out awesome. Along comes Easter, decided to do a rib roast. Light bulb idea, same technique.
Ordered a 7-8 lb. rib roast. Local grocery store had a less than choice rib roast for $5.99 lb.
Challenge, keeping a bunch of salt on a rib roast. McGyver idea, use a nylon stocking. Asked wife for an old pair of nylons, (clean) packed salt on one side of rib roast, slid into nylon, then salted and continued sliding nylon up until all sides covered. Tied off with a knot and massaged the roast until salt was evenly spaced round nylon. Salt stayed on roast, liquid drained from nylon, rib bones left room for liquid to drain. uh, discarded the nylons.
Left in ice box for 12 hrs. Rinsed, dried, seasoned with garlic powder, pepper, basil leaves, thyme, and herbs de provence. no additional salt used. Sprayed with some cooking spray to coat the roast. Cooked in 500 degree oven for 20 minutes then lowered temp to 225 until internal temp reached 120 degrees. Turned off oven and temp eventually hit 136 degrees which was a little more done than I wanted but I lost track of time and it sat a little too long in the oven.
The meat was really tender. could actually cut with a fork with a little pressure.
I’ve used this cut of meat before and it has never been this tender. The roast had very little to no marbling to begin with and there was very little oil/drippings after cooking.
This will be my new rib roast cooking technique from now on. Thanks for this post.
Best post ever. Thank you!
Ryan, sweetheart,
I’ve changed 13,1440 diapers in the past 5 years. I’m entitled to to any butt references.
😉
I wonder what SteamyKitchen’s obsession with anal references is all about?
(See comments 273 and 274)
Hey Ronald,
I wonder how your oil tastes shoved up your bottom.
Quit spamming me.
We are the European division of the LIBERTY VEGETABLE OIL COMPANY, a global leader in the development and production of vegetable oils and fats for specific applications.
LIBERTY VEGETABLE OIL COMPANY is an appreciated supplier to many of the leading and most innovative edible oil distributor, user and companies around the globe.
We supply high grades of, RBD palm olein, palm methyl ester, RBD palm stearin, crude palm oil, Palm Fatty Acid Distillate, Palm Acid Oil, RBD palm kernel oil, RBD coconut oil and oleo chemicals,RDB RAPESEED/CANOLA OIL,USED VEGETABLE OIL.
CONTACT US VIA:
WEBSITE; libertyvegetableoil.com
EMAIL ;libertyvegetableoil@gmail.com
FOR ENQUARIES; info_libertyvegetableoil@yahoo.com.
SALES MANAGER; RONALD FIELD.
TEL; +447024067665
The technique has been in existince for a long time, currently it’s called judyizing. Here’s a Los Angeles times article from 2006 that recommends this salting technique for turkey. http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-calcookrecnov15,0,5369608.story?coll=la-home-food
By the way I’ve been using this technique on turkey (3-4 years) for many years, same with chicken (10+ years) and sometimes with beef.
Also look into salt oven (similar technique except you use a lot more salt and make an oven), works wonders for seafood and smaller cuts of meat.
Hey RKB
I’ve done it with great success, but you should do a test run. I’ve also used less salt + longer time in fridge and that works well too.
Jaden
Steamy Kitchen, and/or whomever may be able to help me,
Could I do this in a restaurant setting? After rinsing the salt off of the steak, could it be kept in a fridge until required? Would it affect the flavour at all?
I just tried this recipe and it was incredible!!!!!!!
Thanks
RKB
THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE FUNNIEST YET MOST INFORMATIVE POST ON STEAKS I HAVE EVER READ. I WAS PRACTICALLY “R.O.T.F.L’N” (rolling on the floor laughing)WHILE READING THIS POST. I HAVE SOME PORTERHOUSE STEAKS WAITING FOR THIS PROCESS, I’M GOING TO GIVE IT A TRY AND HOPEFULLY ALL TURNS OUT TASTY AND JUICY!!!
THANKS FOR THE GREAT TIP!!!!!
OK, I tried this prep trick (it’s not really a recipe) and it worked beautifully. Three steaks, each about 1.25 inches thick. I let them stand on the counter for a half an hour to get the temperature balanced, sprinkled (but didn’t rub) kosher salt on both sides along with a few grinds of peppercorns, and let them sit for 15 minutes. When I came back, the salt was almost completely invisible on the surface. I rinsed each steak thoroughly under cold running water, and they were almost falling apart already. I used paper towels to dry them off and threw them onto a hot (400+) barbecue grill for 1 minute, turned them over for another minute, then turned them back over for 4-5 minutes (for the crisscross marking), and a final 4-5 minutes on the other side.
They were the tenderest, steakiest (is that a word) steaks I had ever made. Now my wife wants them for a Valentine’s Day meal.
OK! I’m a big steak lover and I decided to try this yesterday. I ran down to Costco and purchased a pack of ribeyes… they were each about 1inch + all cut from the same cow the meat was all identical. I decided to prepare 2 steaks one the Salt Method and the other just spicing it with steak seasoning. I was convinced after looking at the 2 different steaks that the one with mega salt was not going to be so good. lol … i was wrong.
After one hour the salted steak was just sopping in water, the other was just the same… no water build up just looked same as when i seasoned it. I picked up the salted steak and the place was full of water, in turn the i picked up the seasoned steak and not a drop of water. I then washed the salt off and patted it dry as described above. I then layed the 2 steaks next to each other, the differnce was clear, the salted steak was a lil thinner then the seasoned one.. the meat had a nice color and was softer to the touch vs the seasoned steak. At this point i was hopefull. I added peper and nothing else. I wanted to see if the flavor of the meat could stand on its own.
I proceeded to cook these 2 under a brolier until medium rare. Sat down with the 2 steaks and first took a piece from the seasoned steak. Tasted good.. mostly the season but as expected, it was a lil tough. The moment of truth… I tried the salted version… OMG.. not only was this thing flavorfull.. more so then the seasoned one (remember only put peper after the salt) but tender! and juicy.. I tried one more seasoned steak to make sure.. bit chewed.. Yup still tough… I went back to salt and I was in heaven. Needless to say the seasoned steak was wasted.. i couldn’t eat it after the experience I had with the salted steak. Thanks for the great post and good recipe!
Hi,
Who tried steak with asian souces? For me it seems not good combination?
But I can be wrong. Let me know you opinion.
Found one recipe here?
http://www.steakhousefinder.com/best-steak-recipes/five-spice-steak/
Simply tantalizing! Love your wit! Thanks for the wonderful blog!
WOW!!!! I’m not kidding, we just grilled some steaks up (in the rain ;-P )using this method.
I’m stunned really! I have never had better steaks at home, and i have been making them as long as i can remember. If you havent tried this, then you need to. Thanks alot for the tip!!
Wow! Thanks for sharing this.
I just tried this with rump steak
The taste was a little salty (I caked that steak in salt and don’t think I rinsed thoroughly enough) but the texture was oh so juicy!
Question:- does denaturing the meat protein in this way prevent or detract from a fully-fledged maillard reaction on the surface? I can’t give an accurate opinion based on my results due to the residual salt.
Hmm…will ponder this more next time I try.
You ROCK!
Jaden, if your husband is still trying to get that perfect medium-rare steak, allow me to recommend steak sous vide. I finally tried it this evening (with a better cut of steak than your technique would call for), and it was mindbogglingly good. I blogged about the process, but the molecular gastronomy blog has a much better description.
I used regular table salt, and while tender, it did leave my “sizzlin steak” a bit too salty.
Thanks for the great write-up.
Food and gardening articles at http://red-icculus.com
Jaden,
I did try your method and it makes for a tasty steak.
HOWEVER seasoning a steak is not the same as aging a steak!
The process of aging is straightforward: complex proteins in beef are broken down by calpain (an enzyme) into BMPs (simple peptides). The reason this improves the taste is because BMP is inherently more flavorful than the original complex proteins. This is a similar process to MSG fermentation from seaweed.
In no way is salt involved in this process. Calpain activity does depend on calcium, but table salt is sodium chloride.
Papain found in commercial meat tenderizer is related to calpain, however, i have yet to encounter a natural tasting implementation.
Adding salt will change the water balance (osmosis), however it will NOT result in BMP formation.
Disclosure: I have a degree in biochemistry and am a physician.
Excellent. Pairing the salting with pan frying(ala Alton Brown) This is an amazingly great steak!
Thanks!
I read about this technique on cook’s illustrated website a while ago, and they have a time-lapsed video that actually shows the process at work. I recommend at least one hour or even more, but 45 mins is good. With the video you can see the water being drawn out, then sucked back in. They also have a method for fool proof pan searing of thick steaks. Give it a try. I don’t cut my steak in half, and I use a polder thermometer inserted at the beginning to monitor for fear of overcooking if using time and then measuring.
http://beef.cooksillustrated.com/recipe.asp?name=Pan-Seared+Thick-Cut+Strip+Steaks&recipeids=4190#topOfPage
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Pat steaks dry with paper towel. Cut each steak in half vertically to create four 8-ounce steaks. Place steaks on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet; transfer baking sheet to oven. Cook until instant-read thermometer inserted in center of steak registers 90 to 95 degrees for rare to medium-rare, 20 to 25 minutes, or 100 to 105 degrees for medium, 25 to 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat until smoking. Place steaks in skillet and sear steaks until well-browned and crusty, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, lifting once halfway through to redistribute fat underneath each steak. (Reduce heat if fond begins to burn.) Using tongs, turn steaks and cook until well browned on second side, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer all steaks to wire cooling rack and reduce heat under pan to medium. Use tongs to stand 2 steaks on their sides. Holding steaks together, return to skillet and sear on all sides until browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Repeat with remaining 2 steaks.
3. Transfer steaks to wire cooling rack and let rest, loosely tented with foil, for 10 minutes while preparing pan sauce. Arrange steaks on individual plates and spoon sauce over steaks; serve immediately.
You should call it a salt nap.
Phil, your “adjustments” are terrible – and who would heed a “clasicaly trained fench cheff” who can’t even spell classically, French or chef? Give me a break.
Anyway, the point of kosher salt is that it has a large particle size, which draws out moisture, rather than melting away and being absorbed into the meat as table salt would. Coarse sea salt, as per the recipe, would work as well for the same reason. There is no need to use anything more upmarket/expensive.
And someone suggested soaking the steaks after salting, which will simply waterlog the meat and ruin it (the salt remaining in the meat will draw water into it like a sponge). Don’t do it.
Someone also raised the question of how it would affect someone, like me, on a low-salt diet. The answer is not at all, as long as it’s a occasional, maybe once a week, treat and you don’t live on the stuff.
Great method which works as advertised – seems to me that most of the failures here are down to getting creative with the method (salting for 3 hours? Good God!).
All the good stuff everyone else said… (me too, ditto)
My only grief..
I printed out the main part of this article for my wife, and those black backgrounds in the .jpgs really hurt! Uses LOADS of black ink, and not necessarry! Any lighter backround would be fine.
Okay, I’m better now (smile)
terrifficcc, marvelous and great! I really dont know what good words should i use. I got it from ur website. my biggest problem is how will i cook tender juicy steak. i certainly know this will help me. now i have it here on my laptop. YOUR website JADEN. thank you.
My husband is a dutch and and enjoy eating great tender foods such, STEAKS!
I love cooking and I know its also an art. But i have to read, surf to learn more…
than you for the good tips once again.
GODBLESS and SAIL ON
terrifficcc, marvelous and great! I really dont know what good words should i use. I got it from ur website. my biggest problem is howwill i cook tender juicy steak. i certainly know this will help me. now i have it in my laptop. YOUR website JADEN. thank you.
My husband is a dutch and and enjoy eating great tender foods such, STEAKS!
I love cooking and I know its also an art. But i have to read, surf to learn more…
than you for the good tips once again.
GODBLESS and SAIL ON
im going to cook some steaks
Loved the idea from the get-go, as I always brine my chicken prior to cooking. The idea makes total sense!!!! Needless to say, my pan-roasted steak turned out beautifully tender.
On another note, I’m also from Nebraska and also Asian. Well, not “your kind of Asian,” Jaden, but a little further west, or east depending on how you look at it. :o) Regardless, if you were raised in Nebraska, well then you can obviously understand how seriously we take our steaks around here. Now, just try explaining that one to my vegetarian fiancee from California…
Always ready to try something new that will help stretch the budget. Cheap, tender steak who would have ever thunk
I did it again! This time using a lesser cut of beef, the texture was less than savory, but the flavor was greatly enhanced, which I further enhanced with a pizzaiola sauce. I suspect I used 1/2 cup of salt this time, quarter cup of finely chopped thyme and a few cloves of smashed garlic. Good Times!
http://sseichinger.blogspot.com/2007/10/steak-pizzaiola.html
Thanks for turning us all on to this treatment.
I’m off to go grab some sea salt! That looks amazing.
I picked up a sirloin steak and tried it out with sea salt, garlic and rosemary. I only let the salt sit for about 15-20 minutes, but I salted and seasoned both sides, and quite heavily – it probably ended up being a tablespoon.
I then rinsed, patted dry with paper towel, and threw it on the grill.
It came out very nice and flavorful, and very tender, despite my gaffe of leaving it on the grill a little too long. Easily the best steak I’ve done on my own, and right up there with the best
Tried this again tonight, on a cheap top sirloin, and let it sit for about 20 minutes. I used about a teaspoon of kosher salt. Rinsed well, patted dry, and then tossed it in a 250 oven for about 15 minutes to dry more, as Brian suggested above.
Really really good. Not nearly as salty as my first attempt, which I think sat salted for too long. Juicy and tender. One $7 steak fed two of us, with a little chunk saved out for sandwiches tomorrow.
Fantastic!
Thank you so much for this info, Jaden. I’ve done this a couple times now and I’ll never cook a steak any other way again!
I tried this recipie this weekend with very good results. I used a 1 1/2lb 1″1/2 cut of Choice Sirloin
For some reason I thought the salting time was 1-3 hours…..so I went almost 2 hours. I will amend this for future experiments.
The first thing I noticed when I washed the salt off of the steak was how much it had firmed up.
Instead of timing my cooking I hawked the steak pulled it off at about MEd Rare, let it rest, and served it to several people…..everyone really enjoyed the steak. I liked it….can’t wait to do more trials. Only 2 out of 7 people had ever eaten my cooking before so I got a good cross section of unbiased opinions.
One person told me the next day they had enjoyed it so much they ordered a steak out at a restaurant the next night and was then incredibly disapointed with the result.
Thanks for the lesson
Diane- check your email – I just sent you a big…long email with some notes from Cooks Illustrated and Fine Cooking. I’d definitely salt and then follow one of the above techniques/recipes.
I just bought 2 “whole filet mignons” for a party. One was for the party and one was to practice on. When I opened the practice one it was in 2 pieces. The meat store said that they were all in 2 pieces and that they were not the best filet. I put the party filet in the freezer for next month and 1/2 of the practice one in the freezer. I cooked the other half and was so disappointed. I marinated in a wine marinade, then turned the oven to 500 degrees, put it in and turned the oven to 450 degrees for about 1/2 hour (it was 120 degrees inside the roast). Still, it was not company quality. Do you think that the salt method would help? I could marinade, then salt or maybe skip the marinade and salt with a rub or something. I don’t know. What do you think? It seems to be a cheap cut.
Help!
This is the real deal. I am a clasicaly trained fench cheff, and this is one of the oldest tricks in the book.
Back in the days of yor only the wealthy got to eat meat that was by any modern measure even really edible — think revolutionary France and Loius XIV. The lower class people would buy whatever meat they could which was often on the verge of being spoiled or rancid. They would salt and season the crap out of it and then cook it. This made the meat both palletable and safe to eat. The reasoning behind that has been thoroughly exaplined above.
Move forward to the 1800’s and the popularization of the Parisan Bistro. The first thought that should come to mind is Steak Frites. That is Steak and French Fries for us Americans. This dish traditionally uses Oinglette or what we in the US call Hanger Steak. Its tough, grizzly, chewey, and just down right pernicious. But, season it like this and amaizing things happen — it becomes culinary gold. Grille it, serve it with Demi Glace, and there ain’t nothing better.
My adjustments follow:
1) use only sea salt, kosher salt is too flat in flavor and Morton’s tastes like paint thinner (YUK!)
2) Don’t use any herbs or other seasoning during the salt-rest, you don’t want this to taste like meatloaf, just a nice juicy, beefy steak.
3)after the rinse and dry sprinkle; season modestly with salt, mustard powder and pepper then grill away.
4)Always serve with Demi Glace, which is not at all hard to make if your willing to bend the rules a tad…
If that doesn’t come out right you probably let it sit too long, didnt rinse it fully, or over-seasoned it when grilling.
I kinda have to wonder why it is that lightly salting about 15-30 minutes before cooking wouldn’t do just about the same thing.. but the proofs in the taste, of course.
It does seem to my dim recollection, that when I have had the meat seasoned and out on the counter well before the grill is hot enough, the final product is better. Something like a poor-mans marinade, but with a more steaky and less overpowering flavor of marinades.
Thanks for this tip, I’m going to try it as soon as I get my hands on some good meat, or I guess not so good meat 😉
Yes, yes, and yes.
Used a 1 1/2″ thick strip cut and coarse non-iodized salt. Total win. I let the grill heat up nice an hot while it was sitting on the counter in salt-lick mode, so I had nice seared exterior and restaurant-pretty grill marks. The ‘sealing’ effect the denaturing/salt-treatment has really makes a dramatic difference here. It grills clean with little dripping but explodes with juice and flavor when you cut into it.
Tried with thinner cuts closer to 1″ in first tries with good results, but the 1 1/2″ cut is now my default. Going to try this with ribeye next.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I rarely ate steak at home, which has changed since this recipe came out.
Awesome illustration and hilarious to boot – I’m starving to the point of nausea now. Had cheap steaks thawing anyway…can’t wait to try. Good tip to blend up rosemary and garlic together…soak with salt. If this works, we’ll be eating cheap steak every night with loaded taters.
good work! i was just working on my ‘stumbling’ moves and came across this. you may have slept through biology, but you didn’t sleep through lunch.
Rick-I’m sure it will work fine, though I’ve never tried. Let me know how it turns out
Can I use this technique if I buy a Round roast and cut into 1 1/2 steaks. If so this will be great
Well I tried this yesterday, used sea salt, let it sit for 15 minutes, was a small properly sized portion to try it with as about 1.5 inches thick. Rinsed it off really well and patted it real dry, I cooked it a little long than I wanted to, it didn’t seem any more tender than the rest of the untreated steak, but let me tell you I like salt and man I just about spit this back out it was so salty, glad I didn’t do the whole steak!
OK, I tried it and it was a bit too salty for me, but to be fair, I put much more salt on than the article recommends. Why? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a more is better kinda guy…
Anyway, I will try again with a bit less salt this weekend.
Keep it steamy, Jaden!
I read the article in early September, but it’s been a busy month, so I’m finally getting around to trying it out. I bought a couple “Top Of Iowa” Sirloins tonight, and we’re going to try it out tomorrow night. I’m quite excited.
Thanks for the lesson! I can’t wait to try this at home! But—just one question—when leaving the salt-saturated-meat to soak for an hour…does the steak go back in the refrigerator for that hour or soak in room temperature?
Thanks for posting this! I tried it the other night and it worked. What we noticed was the steak was very juicy. It didn’t exactly (obviously) give the steak the flavor of prime beef, but it did enhance the overall enjoyment due to the juiciness factor.
I just used this method last night for my wife’s birthday dinner… it worked amazingly! I can’t wait to have people over for a big barbeque and see the jaws drop. This post alone led to my first ever RSS subscription to a food blog.
Great tips. My husband does the grilling, I just prepare the meat. I will certainly try the salting tip next time. Thumbs up on Stumble!
I tried this on a pork loin last night, and it was delicious! Great tip!
I tried this and it works beautifully! Honestly good!! I just posted it up on my blog. Thanks so much Jaden!! Love it. It’s a keeper.
Hello everyone.
I posted last night about trying this method out for my Dad’s bday and I have to say that it was a total hit (= Dad loved it (“that was good, Rach”). This will be my official method of cooking steak from now on ! Thanks again, Jaden ! And to my fellow commenters who posted their results ! Now off to a movie with Pop..
–Rach
Hi Jaden,
I learned a trick from an old cattle farmer which will make the steaks even more tender. He recommend that when you purchase from your local supermarket, you keep the steak in the fridge for at least a week, turning it over at least once a day. At the end of the week, either freeze it or use it – either way, it will be much more tender than when first purchased.
I can’t wait to combine your salting trick with this one .
Hello All,
I was reading around some of the posts here and I found interesting things that you guys talk about, I just made a blog about quitting smoking resources and ideas that you might want to check out.
If someone is interested in this topic just go to; http://endthehabitnow.blogspot.com and let me know what you think.
Thanks in advance.
(I dont understand the people on here posting anti-meat comments? Do they spend their days finding websites of meat loving people to bash them of their CHOICE to eat meat? How fair is that?)
Anyway, My boyfriend found this website on Lifehacker.com and showed it to me a few weeks ago and I’ve been achin’ to try! My dad requested steak for his birthday dinner tomarrow which gives me a chance to do so! Ill post my result tomarrow night! Thanks to you Ms Jaden and commenters 🙂
Looked llike such a great idea. I did EXACTLY what you wrote – very careful to rinse and dry – I got a salty mess – horrors!!
What did I do wrong?
I’ve enjoyed reading through the responses to this article and found it amazing that it seems about half of the people who said the meat tasted “horribly, unbearably salty” also said they salted the meat for 2 to 3 hours! The instructions clearly said to salt the meat for 15 minutes to an hour, asshats!
I am trying this method tonight and will report back on the results. Of course, a little salt really doesn’t cripple me, anymore than the idea of eating meat and causing all that untold suffering bothers me…
Oh, and I would say you’re hot like the other teenage cellar-dwellers but I just don’t have enough data. Can you take your shirt off?
Honestly, though, this was a very fine article!
I will try this for dinner tomorrow! This is great, you’re like a female Alton Brown! I learned a lot so I dugg it and stumbled thumbs upped it (not sure how to say that, but I guess you get what I mean) and bookmarked it too! Thank you! And my husband will thank you when I cook dinner tomorrow too.
Simple and brilliant suggestion. This technique sure makes a difference 🙂
I really liked one article on this pag So much so that I would like to print just that one article. Your setup makes the difficult. How about adding a link to make a particular article more printer friendly.
Alan
hmmm…that I don’t know. I’ve never tried using my sucker-pucker on the steak.
try and report back? I’d prob cut the salting time in half to start with.
jaden
How would using a vacuum dish (which does a great job accelerating marinade) affect this?
So I was off work and surfing and found this place and thought I would join up. I don’t have much more to say right now except I need to start reading some of the older posts to get up to speed before I can start posting.
Em
Jaden, you are a Sexy, Sexy woman for doing this. So Sexy in fact, I’m almost recommending red meat to my readers… Alas, no… (wipes tear from eye). Cheers!
Tonight’s dinner turned out very wonderful indeed. I highly suggest all skeptics give this process a try immediately. You’ll be delighted and amazed.
In regards to salt, I’ve both sea salt and kosher salt and honestly – I can’t taste the difference. It may be that the rabbi was out the day my box of salt was shipped, but I suspect the two are chemically identical. 😉
now then, as another reader suggested, lets have a post on those fries!
-bp
Thanks for the great post. I blogged about this and linked back to your site. I’m going to try this out as soon as possible. That picture makes me so hungry when I look at it.
I just tried this and my steaks turned out to be the best I’ve ever had. The cut of meat was a thick chuck roast that my wife purchased. I was worried that they wouldn’t come out well but I was excited to find that they were scrumptious. Thanks a million, we’ll be doing this every time!!
I bought a 2 lb. eye of the round roast. Lots of rosemary- three branches worth, 2 cloves garlic, probably 2 tbsp of kosher salt. Mashed it all together. spread it evenly over both top bottom and sides. 1/2 hour exactly. Wash off, dry, stick on BBQ 45 minutes-ish. Heaven. Yes I could still see meat between the salt and the herbs. The salt did not disappear, I washed a lot of chunks off. I don’t know how it worked but it did!! Wahoo!
Sharon
How do you reconcile these 2 statements from your above information?
“Use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of kosher salt per side.”
“I’m talking about taking a small handful of kosher salt and literally coating your meat until you can’t see red.”
I tried using more than a teaspoon but did not use a handful and the steaks were way too salty!
I’m a huge fan of skirt steaks, and I’ve seen them show up a few times on this discussion. I can usually get them for $4-6/lb (better on sale) and it is hands-down one of the tastiest pieces of meat. Here’s how I handle them:
1) I trim off any overly-huge chunks of fat (though i’ll occasionally lay them back on top of the steak just before broiling). Then I cut the skirt steak into manageable sizes
2) Dry Rub: I kosher salt both sides (not as much as above pictures. It’s not going to be removed) and immediately season it generously (usually with black pepper and paprika, sometimes with curry powder or cumin).
2 corollary) Alternatively, I’ve made a dry rub with kosher salt, sugar (another water-sucker), and the above spices and sprinkled it all on together.
3) I let the steak sit on the counter 10 mins while the broiler comes up to temp.
4) I broil, oven CLOSED for 2-3 mins per side. Then it rests for 2-3 mins (i don’t want it getting cold or cooking any more)
5) I cut WITH the grain, at a slight angle to get wider pieces. I don’t cut it all, I eat immediately so it doesn’t get cold.
But tonight I’m trying your salting technique 🙂
Remember kids: If you can make it better at home, don’t order it out.
Hi,
I also tried the method for seasoning steaks and unfortunately had same result as Ian. The steak was VERY SALTY even after rinsing the salt off and patting dry. Maybe I used way too much sea salt? I noticed that sea salt is a lot stronger than kosher salt. Maybe I can use very little and get same effect?
-Ben
I guess a bit of acid does the trick to get salt ions in the meat. In marinades for porc tenderloin, lamb chops or chicken breast, I routinely add a bit of rice vinegar. Works wonders.
When you have the chance, try the salt trick on a shoulder of lamb, then slow braise (1/4 covered) in olive oil+rosemary in a dutch oven.
Hey there Charlie-
I just haven’t tried the other cuts yet. And believe it or not, skirt and flank are even MORE expensive than a strip at my markets here. I only buy steaks when they go on sale – and for $5.99/lb for strip or ribeye vs. $5.99/lb (or higher) for skirt or flank…I’d rather buy the former. I’ve also found that skirt is too thin for salting.
My fav way to have skirt is to marinate in red wine vineg, brown sugar, garlic and some Old Bay. I also love it marinated in Chipotle too. I’ll have to try with merlot next time.
Thanks for visiting.
***
Brian- You’re welcome!
Holy cow! I found this post via Lifehacker today, and you had me thinking about steak all day. I tried your tip this evening, and it’s simply the best steak I’ve ever made. Thanks so much, you may just have redeemed my cooking in the eyes of my girlfriend!
I can’t thank you enough!
~Brian
My only critique of this article is that the guidelines are using prime cuts of beef. (porterhouse, filet, ribeye, etc…) What about flank steak, London broil, skirt steak, butter steak, etc? I would assume the same logic would apply, but when I think cheap steaks, I think the latter, not the former. This process does work well with the cheaper, non-prime, cuts but I’m surprised they weren’t mentioned in the article. Personally I like a skirt steak soaked in Merlot, salt, garlic, and thyme. The wine really breaks down the proteins and fats its super tasty! Still, wonderful recipes I love the no knead bread, its delicious!!
i just step on my steak before grilling… gives it a tender juicyness that salt can not match!
I’ll admit I never heard of this, but I may give it a try. Glad I read to use Kosher salt though.
I like to put a lot of pepper and meat tenderizer – much like you do salt – on my steaks and let them sit for a half hour. They do come out juicy and tender. I will try the salt and see if it works. You got me curious.
cheap way to brine (at least how I do it): soy sauce with meat and garlic, i do lemon for a bit of acid in a ziplock bag…. cheap cheap container that holds up well and can be discarded.
I am used to seeing you on Tastespotting, but I found this link through Lifehacker! Nice one!
I’ll give this a try this week sometime.
You are so funny Jaden!
Tried this method on steaks cut from frozen then thawed bottom round. (not everyone can afford the $5 steak)
Salting for 15 minutes made a huge difference in taste and tenderness. Thanks so much for the tip.
We do have excellent meats in Brazil, that usually dispenses them of any special preparations like these, but at at least in Rio de Janeiro, where I come from, it is somewhat common to do a “picanha no sal grosso”, which can be somewhat of a tri-tip (whole piece) on sea salt (large rocks, not the semi-cracked ones). Basically you take a cooking pan, cover it with 1/2 inch of salt, then you put the tri-tip on top of it, then cover it fully (no exposed parts) with more sea salt. You cook it in the oven for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. When done, the salt will be like a rock, and hard. You break it and the meat is simply great, and not too salty (but remove from the salt before serving). Do a quick google search and there comes a lot of links (in Portuguese, but use translate to view it in English: http://www.google.com/search?q=picanha+no+sal+grosso)
Thank you! The week before I tried this method, I went to a reputable steak house and had a $56 dry aged bone in Rib eye. The next week I made a rib eye as per your recommendations it was much better! Oh and those truffle fries…heaven on a plate with the steak!
WOW! I just finished the last bite of my ribeye steak prepared after reading your post. We used a mortar and pestle to smash up some garlic and fresh rosemary per your recommendation, smeared a bit of the paste on both sides and then added generous amounts of coarse sea salt and let it sit for about 30 min, the result… PURE STEAK HEAVEN. So much for Ruth’s Chris! We will pass down this secret for generations! Thanks!!!!
Sounds awesome…Definitely trying this next weekend.
OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH, my god!!!!
It´s something great what salt does on steaks. And is great what pics are doing in my stomach
Hmm, I tried this and I wasn’t very happy with the results. Although the steak was pretty tender, it was horribly oversalted. I did wash off the salt, but maybe I left it on too long. Salt is a very personal thing, anyway, and I have been trying to reduce my intake. So maybe I am more sensitive to it.
Soy sauce is a good suggestion, Anna. I use low-sodium soy (still plenty salty) and honey to marinate flank steak. Always have one in the freezer, pre-marinated. You can cook onions and mushrooms in the leftover marinade/drippings.
Salt does denature protein, but that does not make protein “tender” to the taste. Cooking meat also denatures protein, but everyone knows that a rare steak is more tender than a well-done steak. See my post at http://futilecycle.com/2007/09/08/pseudo-food-science for more explanation.
The next step would be to marinate in Soy Sauce. Soy Sauce is high in salt and glutamates, which is part of umami (meaty delicious flavor). This increases the beefy-ness of your steaks, and a 15 minute marinade will leave you with the most intensely beefy steak. I would then brown some butter and olive oil and then pan-sear to a nice crispy crust and finish in the oven. I’ve been making my steaks like this since I was 12 and I’ve never realized the science behind it til I picked up the latest cook’s illustrated.
Ryan-
WTF are you talking about? You don’t have to be gay to stick foreign matters up your butt.
sincerely,
beavis, butthead and the entire bungholio squad
You said: “paying up-the-butt”
What does that mean, and do you know how homophobic and bigoted this statement is?
“For hours after the meal, I could feel my arteries and heart straining from all the salt.”
Martha, by “feel” I think you mean “imagine.”
“This throws off the equilibrium of the cells and the cells want to excrete some of the water from within them to help concentrate themselves.”
Aresenio, you do realize these are dead cells, don’t you, that are not actively doing anything?
I think the iodine issue is a red herring. I just checked out my iodized salt and it is .00004 % iodine. Can we really taste a concentration that low? And anyway, non-iodized table salt is widely available and so the issue isn’t iodized versus kosher. The real issue is that the big grains of kosher mean slower absorption into the meat than do the small grains of table salt. It’s called “kosher” salt because it was made for “koshering” meat, i.e., drawing the blood out.
Great post- I’m not sure if the science is right or not, but hey, I’ll buy anything with a diagram on it.
(Also, I’m betting this works – thanks for improving the quality of home steaking everywhere).
Hey Jaden, tried your steak tonight. Check it out. It turned out juicy and lovely. Almost too salty, so I will ease back on the salt and sitting time when I make it next. But there will definitely be a next time. Looking forward to what you find out in your further experiments!
Hey Josh – or you could use less salt and let it sit for less than an hour.
We did a strip steak tonight and for experiment, salted 1 tsp per side and sit for 45 minutes (it was 1.5 inches thick) – it was not as salty but still the effect of salting worked wonderfully. I’m making adjustments based on more testing from myself and from 2 other readers. We are trying to establish the minimum time that you can salt to still have the effect. Since the 3 of us have different salt tolerances, this should make for some good results.
Mmmm…up-the-butt prices!
Can’t wait to try this one out. You’re my Steak Angel candidate! 🙂
Well, I tried it with a strip steak. Let it sit for over an hour with Kosher salt on both sides. Rinsed off, dried well, and applied to grill. Nice steaks, but salty. I think I’ll try it again, but I will rinse the steaks a lot more thoroughly.
THANK YOU JADEN!!!! I bought the cheapest inch-thick fare they offered at my local H-E-B. It was the same I had previously tried and sworn off: $7/lb USDA Select. Using your technique, it came out buttery-er and juicy-er than the 23.00 steak at the best steakhouse in town. For those interested, the USDA grades steaks in descending order as: Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter. I am yet to see a Wal-Mart or HEB stock (or label) anything below “Select”.
Mouth-watering post! I really got to try this. Just recently discovered the “joy” of cooking and I’ve been doing some cooking lately. Got to share this with my wife. Keep it up.
Love this! I know what I’m gonna be making tomorrow.
Tried it last night. Much too salty, even after rinsing.
Very nice post.
I have 4 ribeyes currently ‘dry aging’ in seasoning in the fridge right now for grilling in a few hours. Will have to try this next time.}:P
Although, I’ve never had complaints about my steak grilling yet. Even my bachelor neighbor who’s a cook drools over them and any roasts I smoke, LOL.
Hi,
This is how osmosis works. The concentration of salt on the outside of the cells is larger than inside. This throws off the equilibrium of the cells and the cells want to excrete some of the water from within them to help concentrate themselves. Kind of like reducing a broth. Then, when this happens you often get denaturing of proteins or basically its like a breakdown of their structure. All of the steak is protein right? Exactly, so you’re pretty much tenderizing the meat and “dry aging” through water excretion at the same time.
Great Post! I’m going to add this salting technique to a trick I read in Cook’s Illustrated. They actually provided a great explanation of how to get a great crust on the outside of the meat and describe an old high school chemistry experiment where you put a styro cup with water over a bunsen burner and the cup doesn’t burn until the water has evaporated. This explains why dry, dry, drying the outside of the meat is so important because the energy of the heat is being expended on vaporizing the moisture rather than charring. So CI suggesting a sort par-cooking (drying) the meat in the oven at a low temp for about 20 minutes. When the moisture is absent from the outside of the meat, it stays at a much higher temp and chars much faster. And getting to “browned” asap keep more moisture inside the meat.
So I’m expecting these two techniques to result in an outstanding steak!
Harold McGhee is my hero!
Wow, I’m inspired. I don’t know who you are or where this idea came from but it looks delicious!
I have been doing this for a long time. Its a well known grilling tip that salt will also trap in the moisture while you are slow cooking. For those of us who slow cook ribs, we use a dry rub that is chuck full of salt. My wife and I are students prefer quick and easy. We actually use a variation of your butter herb and melt some butter and Mrs. Dash in the microwave before I grill and baste the steak with it once per side and once before I pull off the grill. Another thing that I don’t think you mentioned was to let your meat sit for 5 minutes after cooking under a tinfoil tent.
Thanks for the tips.
I like the idea of blowing my meat up.
http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc98/6_6_98/bob3.htm
Be Safe! 😉
do you salt both sides?
Jaden, very interesting article Nick sent you. I need to try this because this kind of contradicts something McGee said and I need to double check my notes. The article said to cook to 120 F but I thought the silver skin does not break down at a temperature of 136F(and this was cooked for 48 hours!). And no fat has rendered – although some of this can be accomplished by browning.
This is a post from Nick -I thought I’d share:
Hi Jaden, pretty crazy isnt it!
I’ve found the recipe for Heston Blumenthal’s steak. It’s slightly different to how it’s
printed in the book (possibly copyright issues?) but is the same idea. The timing has
gone up to 18 hours now!
I’d recommend reading up on him as you’re interested in experimental cooking. There
are quite a few recipes on the internet with detailed descriptions. He’s also done a tv
programme (perfection) in england which is interesting. Might find it on youtube or the
like. Here’s the steak recipe.
Nick
Veron-
Yes the flatiron cut, an unsung hero! Did you know this cut was only “discovered” in the nineties at the U of Nebraska? It is supposedly the second most tender cut behind tenderloin, and there are only two per cow. Around here it’s about $5 per pound, a total steal. Apparently most commercial butchers are still unaware of how to extract this cut, and leave it attached to the blade roast. Tragedy!
-Henry
I used the method on boneless pork loin chops that were a little over 1″ thick. It worked like a charm. This method produced meat that was tender, flavorful, and juicy–without the sponginess you often get with brining. I can’t wait to try it with lamb and beef!
Henry – I just thought it would be interesting to experiment but you apparently have done an exhaustive test. 🙂 I do order prime cuts from a chef lady who gets her meat from restaurant suppliers. My favorite is CAB DA NY strip , more than wagyu which is supposedly well marbled or CAB Tenderloin . Another one I just discovered that has that great meaty flavor and texture is the CAb flat iron steak – Now I am making myself reallly hungry !
Jaden,
Your diagrams are hilarious. You go girl. Best chemistry lesson I’ve ever gotten.
Jess
Veron-
I mentioned that baking soda is something used to alter the structure of beef in an earlier comment. If you’ve ever had beef treated with it, you will agree that it is a terrible way to prepare beef- yes, it is easier to chew, but has none of the resilience or mouthfeel that one looks for in good beef. Flavor is also severely affected. It’s a shortcut, again, one of numerous I tried, and in side by side comparison, aged prime grade beef possesses a combination of tenderness, moisture retention, and flavor that just blows away most average grade cuts (choice or select), no matter what trick you try to apply to it. I say that with confidence because I actually cooked and tasted the many different resulting steaks. Steak is a treat – kick in the extra few bucks and know you are eating something special.
-Henry
Hi Henry – I’m not sure if this will help and I have not read all your comments and this has nothing to do with salting… If it is texture you are trying to change, I wonder if you have tried baking soda? This is a trick used by Chinese restaurants to tenderize tough cuts of meat. Although if too much is used it might completely denature the protein walls as the pineapple puree you mentioned.
veron-
I also wanted to mention that in my research I tried many different methods of improving choice grade steak cuts, including wet aging, dry aging, larding, and marination. None equaled the texture produced through thorough marbling. Marinating in pineapple puree, which completely denatures the protein cells, resulted in a mass of grayish goo. Tenderness that we are accustomed to in beef is a product of collagen interacting with muscle cells, not really anything at the molecular level, in my opinion. Juiciness, however, is.
-Henry
veron-
As I’ve stated previously, I have done a sizable amount of research on the specific subject of steaks. I though this post was about making a leaner choice cut closer in taste and texture to a prime cut, but for some reason many commenters continue to bring up poultry and the Zuni Cafe cookbook, for some reason. The research I did was based on myriad sources, and I base my opinions of actual application of method and taste testing my friends with the results. If you read any of my stuff, you’ll see I am very careful about the results I claim. I am not particularly interested at this time in salting per se, I wanted to see if specifically, salting would affect TEXTURE, not juiciness or flavor (which i already know is true). My instinct and research leaned towards no, so I followed Jadens REVISED instructions to the letter, and most importantly, used a valid control for comparison. I don’t see that any other commenter did that. In my case, I used the same cut and divided into salted and non-salted area to ensure consistent texture as a baseline. And for me, the method failed, and produced precisely what I predicted it would. Btw, the friends who taste tested were not told anything about this post or what I was doing, merely to describe the meat they were eating. I don’t know that I care to put any more effort into this, or why you think I should? But I do appreciate your replying, and as Jaden has said, we are all sharing our passion for food, which is great.
-Henry
Henry, why don’t you try Judy rodger’s method for comparison too.
3/4 tsp salt per pound of meat for 24 hours, I tried this with the famous Zuni Roast Chicken, Prime Rib, and especially duck breasts. The results are so juicy and tender it was impossible to dry out even if you cook it to well done.
I have attended Harold Mc Gee’s lecture series and even he does not have all the answers. That’s why at the beginning of the lecture he laid the ground work of how to perform accurate experiments in the kitchen, so we can test stuff on our own in our kitchen.
This is the MOST EXQUISITELY written recipe of types I’ve ever seen or read! Man not only do i want to cook some cheap steak to taste like BUTTAH but I want to hang out with you and your fam! Thanks for making a gal smile and mouth water 😉
By the way I like this recipe so much I did a review of it on my blog
I tried this salting technique with roast chicken and it was fantastic, really tasty, tender and not too salty at all. I stuffed bunch of fresh sage from our garden and garlic in the cavity of the breast which gave it delicate notes.
The skin was deliciously crispy and didn’t need any basting. What a great dish!
oops. I hit submit before I was done..
We eat at Zuni Cafe all the time (about once a month) and always order her famous Roast Chicken….so I KNOW that the dry salting method works fabulously. She salts her chicken for 3 days – 3/4 tsp per pound.
So I can’t see why 1/2 tsp per side for 1 hour would make the steak too salty.
I have the Zuni Cafe book too – but I don’t recall any mention of salting steak. All I remember is that she recommends salting a chicken for 3 days.
Mine wasn’t too salty.
After reading this, I just bought the Zuni Cafe cookbook and now I totally understand the salting method. I cooked our chicken last night after salting for 48 hours (as Zuni directed) and it was delicious. Haven’t tried their bread salad yet though.
We did the steak tonight and salted for one hour. It was absolutely perfect. This is how we’ll make our chicken and steak from now on.
You must have no tastebuds. I tried this with a decent cut, slightly less salt than prescribed and exactly one hour. The result was almost too salty to eat. Buy good, aged meat and forget this salty trick.
Jason,
As long as you feed me Godiva chocolates and Guinness beer, I’ll love you too.
whoever you are….
Steamy
I love you.
Jaden:
Hello. Thank you for writing.
Did you also read the first part of that article “Salt of the Earth I”?
The negative responses to your post are inevitably from people afflicted with what I call “American Food Neurosis” who undoubtedly cling to the mistaken notion that salt is bad for your health.
I address that in the first part of my article on salt.
Salt indeed does cause the protein strands to denature, and thus become more tender. I still favor brining but your position is scientifically sound.
You can find the first half of the salt article and all my other published work at my website:
http://www.foodforthoughtonline.net/
Mark
Is this safe for those on salt-restricted diets?
Have to try that steak sometime soon 🙂
Osmosis happens due to natural forces. Water molecules migrate to make salt concentration the same on both sides of the membrane. Reverse osmosis uses external force to make the osmotic process occur in reverse. Externally supplied water pressure pushes pure water through the membrane, and the salty water remains on the other side to be flushed away.
You’re a stone cold fox with the kind of sharp wit that makes me want to do many foul and fun things to you.
Jaden-
As promised I went ahead and tried this technique before making a final judgement. I used a 1.5″ thick strip steak. I did not use ribeye because that cut is generally tender anyway, regardless of grade. Actually most steak cuts will be fairly tender – marbling as graded by the USDA relates more to juiciness and flavor than tenderness. Anyway, I used 2 tsp of Diamond Kosher salt (smaller grains than Morton’s) per side on one half of the steak, leaving it on for one hour and then rinsing and patting dry. I applied a normal amount of salt to the other half one minute prior to cooking, just so it would be closer in flavor to the heavily salted side. I cooked to medium rare, and served bites from each half to two tasters. Result – no difference in tenderness, and pre-salted steak was too salty, even after rinsing. I actually also cut the steak laterally, to remove the browned surfaces, and noticed that the center of the pre-salted steak wasn;t salty at all. This indicates to me that the salt penetrated only a small distance into the beef.
Sorry – this method did not hold up to side by side comparison for me.
For the record, salt tolerance can build up significantly – we asians are particularly susceptible because we use dissolved salt so often (soy sauce). If you go without salt for a week, you will become highly sensitive – this happened to my mom when she did this to treat her blood pressure. Conversely if you eat a lot of salt, you will become desensitized to it to a certain degree.
Ok,
I just got done with the 1 hour salting I have rinsed and dried the steaks while I was waiting I made the butter getting ready to throw them on the grill now I’ll post again after dinner
everything looks so Yummy!!!!
Michael Cook: that’s my name (sort of); give it back!
Hey,
how did you know i have daddy issues…
my steak tip of the day is that small potatoes make the steak look bigger! 😉
Great Post!
I live close to Gillette Stadium & will try this tailgating at the next Patriots home game.
Tasty, juicy but dear god it’s WAY TOO SALTY! I’m going to pass on trying this one again. Gotta go down a few gallons of water now.
Would this work on baby back ribs? I can’t seem to get my ribs tender enough.
wade (193), Salt enhances flavour, it doesnt mask it. I believe that’s a basic principal.
The slow oven cooked method you mention is another method of achieving decent juiciness. Heston Blumenthal decribes it in his book ‘Perfection’ which can probably be found online somewhere. It takes 24 to cook though.
OK, I’m a vegetarian and haven’t eaten steak in over 25 years. But I’m also an ordained rabbi (but not employed as such) with a few comments that might be relevant.
Jews who observe Jewish dietary laws carefully have been doing the salt/rinse/pat dry routine for a few thousand years. The Torah explains that the soul of an animal resides in its blood. Therefore we salt all red meat to remove all the blood. That’s part of what “kosher” means. “Kosher salt” is not itself kosher; it is coarse salt used to make meat kosher.
Now here’s the funny part:
Not all Jews maintain this practice. Most Jews in the US today have long abandoned it. One of the reasons we frequently hear for why they don’t maintain it is, “Kosher meat just doesn’t taste as good; it’s all salted to death; the blood is what makes it taste loud.”
Well, your recipe might now provide my rabbinical colleagues with a retort. I shall pass it along.
Maybe you’re Jewish .
Tried this method on lamb chops last night…with garlic and rosemary….I may have put too much salt on for too long ( 3hrs ), the result was a tad too salty, but the garlic and rosemary really infused the chop. I will experiment with shorter/less salt modes…
Love your blog, Jaden !…one that people can easily relate to, and have fun in trying new recipies!
I tried this last night but I forgot how to get the salt off of the meat. I figured that rinsing it off would only add water to the meat so I tried scraping it off instead. Guess what – the steak was tender, but salty as heck. The meal still got good reviews, but I’m itching to do it again only with the rinse off and pat dry method.
We made steak last night and it was so incredibly juicy. I think he only let the salt sit for half hour. The salt was perfect – maybe the key is not let it salt for that long.
You are getting such big response with this! As a caring reader, let me give you some advice. Don’t take all the comments to heart. It is easy for people to hide behind a keyboard and post comments anonymously. I’ve read some of the comments – and they sound a bit nasty.
Just know that you have fans worldwide and we appreciate your humor, recipes and stories. That is all that matters, right?
i’m sceptical, as the english phrase goes, “you can’t polish a turd”…. i love steak but only eat it rarely so i make sure that when i get it i only get good, aged sirloin taken from grass fed organic cattle. And if your eating good quality meat, you want the quality coming through, not masked by salt, or garlic or, god forbid, blue cheese sauce.
Why would you want to pass off a cheaper cut as top quality stuff anyway? Theres plenty of nice ways of cooking cheap cuts, without serving it as a slab with fries. The basic principle is that the cheaper the cut, the lower and slower you cook it – i wonder if the effect you are acheiving chemically could alternatively be obtained by cooking the cheap steak for a while in a very low oven, say 50 degrees, after first blowtorching the outside to get those chargrilled flavours?
We tried this last weekend. I followed the instructions precisely, adding in the rosemary and garlic. I used 2″ thick rib-eyes and sea salt. Like others said, horribly salty. I could barely eat it. The husband thought they were good, albeit salty. For hours after the meal, I could feel my arteries and heart straining from all the salt. I don\t think I’ll be trying this method again…sorry.
However, Jaden, I love your blog and will keep visiting!:-)
Wow,
Just tried this today- steak was soooo soft! It was practically falling apart after i rinsed the steak. i used too much sea salt but it was still the best steak i’ve ever made. Definitely will try this again and fine tune it. Thank you! the garlic butter was perfect too!
My favorite is to salt and then sprinkle with soy sauce. Rather than rinsing the salt off, I wipe off with paper towel before grilling. I also like to salt the steaks the day before and keep in the fridge until going on the grill.
I’m giving this a shot right now, but I’m curious if the salting is suppose to be done on a fully thawed steak for an hour, or if it can be done while the steak is defrosting still?
We just tried it and loved it.
I don’t understand why this technique works for some and not others. I wonder if people are following the instructions?
Anyways, we truley enjoyed it.
WOW! Thank you for the new recipe! We had a 1 1/2″ Porterhouse steak on sale at the market.
Used 1 tsp kosher salt on each side and let it sit for 1.5 hours.
IT WAS AMAZING!!!!
We had people over for supper and they said it was the best they’ve had.
Next time I’ll try the butter on it as well.
My wife and I were so curious to try this, but ended up a little disappointed. We liberally coated a 1 1/2″ thick cut of steak with salt and let it sit for 3 hours. Then we rinsed, patted dry, and grilled it. It was tender, but SO salty. My wife now says that she thinks her tongue is swelling up from all the salt.
We’re going to try it again using only 1/2 teaspoon of salt per side, and see if that works better.
I salt almost everything, which I later realized is similar to “koshering” it. (Kosher, btw, just means clean, not blessed or circumcised. Hah!)
But I usually just soak the meat or chicken in a solution of salt with a little sugar. It’s brining, and doesn’t require measuring or any of that other crap you mention. Just eyeball it. And when your done, let pat it dry and let it rest and soak up the excess water on paper towels.
But if you really want a tender steak for not a lot of money, the trick is to buy really tender — but cheap— cuts.
Try “hanger steak” a/k/a beef hanging tenderloin. It’s like skirt steak but usually half the price. You won’t find it in most supermarkets, though, unless you ask the butcher to put some aside for you.
Another great cut is called chuck fillet or eye of chuck. Very similar to rib eye and Delmonico… for a lot less.
Chicken steak (not fowl but cut of beef) is very tender too, but kind of bland, taste-wise.
Just make sure you grill it at fairly high heat, with a bit of garlic and pepper (and salt if you haven’t already salted or brined the meat. )
(And leave the butter for a nice piece of bread the next day!)
It was good – and it did imrpove the flavor quite a bit.
I generally like my meat well seasoned, so it worked great. My wife wants me to try again with a little less salt next time. We had a 1 inch strip and I used 1 teaspoon. Next time I will use a little less and see what happens.
But it is fun to try something new. Thank you agian.
You are soooo BEAUTIFUL!
Just tried this with two 1 inch thick sirloin steaks, thawed, covered in non-iodized sea salt for one hour, rinsed well, patted dry, then BBQ’d 5 minutes a side.
The meat *was* tender, nice texture.
It was also horribly, terribly salty.
Une
Thanks for responding! I followed both links. Harold McGee describes how protein can denature, but does not relate that process with tenderness in any way, nor does he indicate that it can be done by salting the surface of a dense piece of meat. The second link seems to be a cursory profile of a chef and her preferred method, which is pre-salting, and salting in general, but does not mention beef at all. Poultry takes salting well because the muscle fibers are less dense than beef – this is also why poultry benefits more from brining than beef. Beef can be brined, in fact most supermarket deli roast beef is brined – the brine can comprise up to a fifth of total weight. Moisture does inhibit the Maillard reaction (browning), but the small amount drawn to the surface by normal salting is quickly overcome if your cooking surface is sufficiently hot. In the interest of fairness, I will try your method tomorrow and report back. But all the research I’ve done, both scholarly and applied, contradicts the theory that salt=tender. If you’d like I can send you some sources I consulted, but they are quite numerous and I don’t want to litter on your comments. University of Nebraska has done extensive research on beef, I recommend a site search for details on tenderness factors.
you know, i have nv cooked before. But you are tempting me to try with this tip. my bf just sent me this website link. i think it is a big hint. hint taken dear!=p
Sharon- Got to use a thick cut! Can’t use skinny steak. Kosher or sea salt works.
Maybe I need to make an online video!
Everyone here is so smart…except for me that is. I used a skinny steak. I did not have kosher or sea salt on hand, so I used pickling salt…just a tad coarser than table salt, along with garlic and rosemary.
The steak was so salty it was inedible. Was my main misteak (haha) the thinness of the meat or the salt I used? Or both?
My girlfriend Kaye called me up and told me about this method. Can’t wait to try it. I’ll let you know how it turns out this coming weekend. Thanks for all the humor throughout your site and you are beautiful!
Oops – high salt levels can indeed denature protein, but if such a level were reached within the meat iteslf, it would be far to salty to eat. Harold McGee posts on eGullet, and has shared some pretty cool info on meat tenderness in the past, fyi.
Henry- sorry about mis-spelling McGee’s name. I have his book and regularly read his blog, so yeah DUH.
As for the proteins- I’ve found quite a few books and online articles from reputable sources:
Alton Brown: I’m Just Here for the Food page 184
Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking
http://books.google.com/books?id=GnEuAAAAMAAJ&q=denatured+protein+salt+intitle:On+intitle:Food+intitle:and+intitle:Cooking&dq=denatured+protein+salt+intitle:On+intitle:Food+intitle:and+intitle:Cooking&as_brr=0&pgis=1
Emily Kaiser, NY Times:
http://www.emilykaiser.com/text/000421.php
Judy Rodgers, Zuni Cafe Cookbook: Judy salts all of her meat at her restaurant. Read the beginning chapters of the book for salting technique.
Actually, just do a google search on “Zuni Chicken Salt” and you’ll find hundreds of people who use the early salting method.
So…it’s not that I pulled his stuff outta my ass! Henry – read those articles and comment back on your thoughts. I’ll add more resources as I find them in my bookmarks.
🙂
xoxo
jaden
The esteemed Mr. McGee’s first name is Harold, not Howard. I am an occasional contributor to Baltimore Citypaper’s food column, and have eaten dozens of steaks prepared dozens of ways in the interest of research. I use a similar technique to cook very thick cuts of sirloin, usually choice, basically covering the entire surface with salt, but only for 15 minutes. This method imparts nice, thorough flavor, but does not in my experience affect tenderness at all. A good example of the effect of heavy salting is the process of koshering meats. Nice flavor, but not any more tender or juicy, imo.
Osmosis does indeed enhance meat’s ability to retain moisture, but this generally occurs in dissolved salt, since the particles are then small enough to penetrate dense meat such as beef to any significant depth. Tenderness results from numerous factors, but the bottom line is a leaner choice or select grade steak will never be as tender as a well-marbled prime grade steak without some sort of cellular breakdown, such as aging, in which enzymes do the job, or introducing a chemical such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or bromelain (pineapples).
Denaturing protein is really hard to do, and generally happens in extreme conditions, like cooking. Salting does the opposite, and of course this is why it’s been used for millenia as a preservative. Also, I challenge you to be able to tell the difference between iodized and non-iodized table salt – I’d be mighty impressed. In your photo you show a porterhouse, which is in fact a strip and a filet mignon attached to the bone, so it’s not unusual that at least part of your steak would be very tender – filet is tender because it’s an underused muscle, not due to fat content, and as such choice and prime filets taste very similar. Never buy prime filet! Congrats on getting dugg, but I think this method is pretty dubious. In case you’re curious, here’s a link to my steak articles:
http://www.citypaper.com/archives/browse.asp?byline=Henry+Hong
Keep fighting the good fight – hooray food!
Very interesting! As hey say, chemistry was born in the kitchen. I work in a lab doing tuberculosis research, and when we’re purifying one of our proteins we also use a ‘salting out’ process where we drown the protein in salt; causing it all to clump together and precipitate while all the junk we don’t want stays dissolved.
Oh hey! If you could rig two metal plates on either side of the steak with seasoning on both sides, and connect the plates to either end of a large battery, it would push and pull (depending on the charge on the molecules) the seasoning inside the steak incredibly thoroughly! We do that with proteins, it might also work for cooking. It’s called a ‘western blot’.
Jaden, you are the best. This is a great tip, but what really makes it work for me is the profanity. The dichotomy between your sweet photo and your naughty vocabulary has me swooning. Please swear even more, and I will be your loyal reader henceforth. Thank you!
Getting started~~
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/3326/hpim0039nm7.jpg
I have just tried this method with some pork chops. To be fair it tasted very very nice, if a little salty.
However I really don’t think that this method is something to make a habit out of because consuming that much salt in a single sitting is INCREDIBLY bad for you. Too much salt for too long will dramatically increase blood pressure which ultimately will lead to heart disease.
For these reasons I would suggest revising the method to use much less salt but to let it infuse with the meat over a much longer period of time.
Chemically speaking the salt doesn’t get ‘used up’ once it has denatured a protein. It simply passes by the protein, breaking the weak hydrogen bonds which causes its ‘globular’ shape, and then moves on via diffusion (not osmosis).
This would suggest that only a very little amount of salt would be required to yield the same results. While there is the slight disadvantage of time the improvement in nutritional content would be vast!
I am no sous chef when it comes to cooking but I really think this theory is worth looking into and experimenting with. Because a lot of people are reading this article they may feel it is okay to eat this much salt. It is no secret that it isn’t. Ever.
My father in law showed me this and I never understood how or why it worked (I don’t think he did either). I mainly used this for grilling rump roasts, but never tried it on the much thinner meat cuts. Also, I never cleaned the salt, but would grill it with it on the roast still. The grill will normally cook off the majority of the salt (it just falls off from the bleeding). I will clean it next time. Thanks for the explanation of what it does…now I will try it on all my meat cuts.
For Ryan at 154 – Did you *even* read Jadin’s article???? She does use kosher salt and/or sea salt – it says so in the article. Also, she does use choice meat – not prime – as she states in the article too. She does not recommend table salt as she explains in the article that it has iodine and will make the beef taste like iodine. Are you an idiot???
Hi SteamKitchen,
Congrats on getting dugg! Pong, HenryChan, and I read Digg everyday. That’s a big feat! Congrats!
I can buy prime cuts in supermarkets around my house. Not sure where people live who can’t. Arkansas?
Hmm… haven’t tried this.. will be doing this tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.
Your picture shows a bunch of table salt on the meat. If you think that is Kosher, you are very much mistaken.
Kosher salt is NaCL – just like table salt. It has a much coarser grain so it is funtionally “less potent” (since when you grab it there is more air in between the salt particles per volume) – and it’s coarser grain makes it stick better to the surface of the meat.
Also – you can’t buy prime cuts in any supermarket I have ever seen. The best cut of meat an average consumer can buy without pre-ordering it from a butcher is a choice cut. So – when you call them “cheap” you are lying to people.
You should retitle your article “How to make the most expensive steak you can possibly buy in your supermarket taste as good as a steak you can’t buy.” – and what’s genius about it all is that so few people know what Prime steaks taste like they wont have any idea if your mushy steaks resemble it at all.
As a graduate from from the Art Institute with a Bacholer in Science…you have given a good receipt for a a good rub. I personally use the following receipt for steaks…2 parts olive oil to 1 part balsamic vineager. This is the basic formula. Next, I add one tbsp sugar, fresh cracked pepper to taste, salt to taste, and any other spice that comes to mind. Let marinate for a minimum of two hours. Grill at medium heat on each side for five minutes…cooking the steaks to medium well. Anything beyond would be criminal.
I gave this a try with a good cut of meat and what we found was that it was indeed tender but that the tradeoff was that we felt as though we were licking a rock of salt the entire meal.
We covered the steaks in salt on all sides for about 2 hours… then fully rinsed all the salt off of them… and then patted them thoroughly dry.
The problem is that so much salt gets aborbed into the steak.. i mean SO much.. not a little… a LOT…
Be wary of trying this if you don’t like massively salty dishes.
Wow this was some great reading. I will have to try this in the next day or so.
Any advice on how long to actually cook steak on the grill? Whenever we throw it on we either dry it out by leaving it on too long or take it off too early and it ends up too bloody.
Get a thermapen for $50 or so, medium rare in may opinion starts around 150degF. Tent the steak with butter and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. Can’t miss.
The Agitator sent me here. My thoughts are what Meater said at #126 — sure sounds like salting and soaking. They don’t call it kosher salt for nothing.
(I understood that meat to be broiled [or grilled] is not required to be kashered first, since the prohibited blood would drip away — but that doesn’t mean you can’t.)
I did some 1.5″ thick ribeyes using this method. We thought they were some of the best steaks we’ve had. The herbed butter really made it. The shoestring potatoes were an excellent side.
“Let rest for 5 minutes.”
That seems, to me, to be a l-o-n-g time (about as much as the grill time for a single side).
Redact that last -didn’t see the email. Most of the salt washes out (though I think I’d soak the meat in fresh water for a while even so.)
Ok, I still can’t see how taking a week’s worth (or more, a month?) of the RDA of salt at one go is good for me to eat?
Your photography is amazing. Food photography is notoriously difficult and you have a real knack!
Looking forward to trying the salting process.
Funny! You are a great writer. I find it hilarious to read so much foul language – on a cooking site of all things! Very funny and refreshing take. You are now my new favorite source for recipes.
Also, as a an uniquely qualified recently graduated architectural student, your diagrams are really impressive. They remind me of the illustrations sometimes accompanying sake on the table in a sushi joint. Cute, a little off and with a great sense of humor. Not too mention, they are as skilled and fun to look at as any I have seen by the greatest, most talented diagram artisans who have or ever will have existed.
Very nice article ! I’ll be back to read more from you…
I do this all the time with cheap steaks. The trick is to use a lot of sea salt. I find that best. I use a lot of salt and some pepper, and also a little olive oil. I let it soak into the meat while I light the grill. (I use a charcoal fired.) Once I get the coals lit I put the grill plate on top of the coals, wait for about 10 minutes for the thing to get REALLY hot and then I place the steak on for about 5 minutes on each side with the lid on. If you really want the thing to have the grill marks, you need to take the meat and place it directly onto a VERY hot part of the grilling plate. makes those lines nice. For an extra touch place the meat sideways one side flip and flip again. If you need to try pressing it. Although I find it makes the steak a little dry.
This sounds fantastic. I wonder if doing this to VEGETABLES that you bake along with a roast would do similar. Speaking of which, I am going to try it on a roast, and let it sit for longer than an hour…..3-4 hours???
To Mr. Spooge at #108: I hate to break it to you, but $13 truffle oil is pretty much the biggest scam imaginable. It’s mostly olive oil with an artificial flavoring. Granted, I like it, and I do still use it, but it’s a little hard to justify the price once you realize that it doesn’t contain any actual truffle.
As for the steaks, I’ve actually used this secret on more than one occasion to impress a girl, and, of course, now that the secret is out, I will have to go back to my old story about me being a secret agent. And, because of you, I will now die sad and alone and unloved. But, at least I will be well fed, thankyouverymuch.
Great tips…gonna try that next week!
Beautiful art as well!
A meat eater and an artist…..who wouldah thunk it?
simply AMAZING!!!
thanks
ummm America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Illustrated cover this topic very nicely…basically …what your doing with the “kosher” salt…is “kosher”ing the meat as they do in the koshering process
Very informative and well written.
Definitely going to try this for dinner tomorrow!
You have a great writing style. I loved the little thing where you pointed to one of the graphics and said, “i am rosemary, not a green centipede”.
As to your steak method, I actually learned almost the same thing from a newspaper article 20 years ago. Your method is absolutely correct. I remember way back in the 70’s, fine restaurants would cook big steaks encrusted with rock salt.
I am interested in trying the truffle oil, too. Excellent article!
Tim
So basically when the author used some mild expletives in a useful and good recipe, it’s an affront to the English language?
Get off your horse. Better yet, go cook something.
Haters around when it comes to meat.
Sheesh.
I’m trying this tonight/tomorrow!
Did you know this is what the main purpose of kosher salt is in the first place? Making meat kosher involves soaking it in brine or doing what you did to the steak and that is to completely salt it like crazy to extract all the blood. In the process this starts to do exactly what you’ve already documented and that is to make the meat super yummy.
Sickening.
Try this method on a flat iron steak.
It works great.
I now have yet another reason to go buy steak!! can’t wait to try it!!! I will also subscribe to your blog as this was the funniest post that I have come across in a while
Thanks!
This is how Brazilians cook their meat. Look up Brazilian & tri-tip steak. Have never heard an explanation though… Good show!
Your use of expletives undermines your credibility.
I subscribed to the comments of this entry and I have to say, meaning no disrespect, they are almost as interesting as the entry itself. I thought I really enjoyed steak but I feel like I’ve just been *eating* it compared to some other folks.
Hope all is well,
R.
Seems that people love your article! As do I. I am eager to try this the next time I cook a steak. Obviously, we’re not consuming all of that salt, but I am always pleased that people aren’t afraid of a little sodium chloride. My girlfriend is terrified when I season with salt, salt pasta water, or eat tomatoes with it.
And you have a great sense of humor — pithy yet degenerate.
I want to eat your sex and have steak with you.
It can be in any order.
wow.
wow.
God damn you are hot , AND you can cook a badass steak.
Killing animals for our food causes immense, unnecessary suffering in the world.
Cool! If you don’t mind we will featured this recipe at:
http://www.CheapAssFood.com
My god you are awesome.
Jaden, this may well be a colossal dumb question but isn’t the meat going to be salty with all that salt, even when patted dry?
From 10 1/2 years in the future, NO. You’re not patting it dry, you’re rinsing it off. But I like salt so I’m just patting it dry. Salt is flavor, enjoy it.
I don’t know which is prettier – Jaden, or the steak (where I come from, that’s a compliment).
I am “Grill Master” at my house. I typically grill 2-3 times a week, year-round.
To comliment these tasty morsels of meat, invest in a good grill. Get a cast iron grill, or a beefy grill that will retain heat and throw some BTUs at your meat. My grill does 72,000 BTU – if yours does put out at least 40,000, you’re using a lantern, and you will never get a good char on the outside, and pink goodness inside.
Want to kick up your herb butter to notches unknown? Drizzle some truffle oil into your herb butter, and then get ready to enjoy your $100 steak. A bottle of truffle oil lasts a loooooong time, and costs maybe $13 at your local quality supermarket. You just need to add a tiny amount of oil – truffle oil is VERY powerful. It makes garlic and herbs turn into a symphony of flavor on top of your steak.
http://www.meat.org
It looks really good. Are your photos professionally done?
You give some great tips. Thanks.
We will mention you on our site http://www.barbecuebachelor.com
Thanks.
Thank you. My kids love steak too! This is awesome.
Isn’t it unhealthy to eat something so salty?
NO!!!
Knight – rinse with water to get all of the salt off. then pat really dry.
Mmmm! that looks good!
but when you say rinse the salt off, do you mean, rinse it off with water, or just try to shake off as much salt as possible?
these pictures are killing me! Must… have…. meat….
Love the science lesson, complete with fun graphics as well.
Hi Jaden,
I got here through an email from Deborah at Life in the Fast Lane. Glad she sent it too :o)
I was a professional chef for many years in a restaurant serving Elizabethan style food, from original recipes, until I became disabled and alas I had to give it up.
You have described the method of dry-salting very well. For those that have asked in the comments, it works equally well on joints like brisket.
Another point, people shopping for red meat always look for meats that are bright red and blood still oozing, that’s a big mistake. They shy away from the meats that are brown in the belief that it is off, it isn’t, that’s the way it should be.
Think back to the years before the advent of refrigerators and freezers, meat was ‘hung’ for several days and longer. Meat, fish, poultry and game were salted and stored, retained finer texture and taste.
Mouthwatering post, great pics and love the recipe 🙂
Yum! I just tried this method with a steak I had sitting in the fridge. Turned out brilliantly. This is going to be my new method for summer BBQs!
You are funny! Thanks for the advise. You mentioned chicken. Reckon any meat can take this salting method? Fish too? I slept during bio and chem also. (;_;)
Thanks!
Have a nice meal.
*mouth is watering* I know what I’m cooking for dinner! Steaks may be really expensive, but thankfully it’s pretty easy for college students to get on food stamps 😉 Do you know any good recipes for the leftovers???
Jaden,
I red your first article in CL, “Jaden voyage” and your secret to a perfect
steak. I had just brought home a bunch of Elk meat from Colorado and decided
to try it out.
After coating my very plump and jucy thick cuts of Elk with the Kosher salt
and waiting an hour, I was… well, “dismayed” would be putting it mildly to
find them sitting in about a quart of their own juice and looking (and
feeling) like old raisins. The (very expensive) meat is ruined, I thought!!!
And here I have guests coming to eat it in a half hour!! Well, ya gotta have
faith, as the song says, so I cooked it up and hoped for the best.
Now, Elk meat does have a reputation for toughness and dryness and I have to
say, this came out much better than the appearance after the salt bath would
have suggested. It was relatively tender and moist, could be cut with a
butter knife as you promised and my guests enjoyed their taste of Colorado
very much, flavored with the salt and some crushed garlic I had added.
Thanks for a great tip and keep ’em coming!
Sincerely,
Lori
That is the sexiest steak I have seen in a long time, girl!
A great cooking tip and really good humor: the best foodblog post I’ve read in some time! Well done.
I just printed out your article so I can post it in the classroom. Gotta show those kids that chemistry is “useful”.
Your salt rub accomplishes one of the main functions of a marinade; i.e. tenderizing. (But the salt rub is *easy* which makes a lot of us happy!) An acidic pH will also help denature proteins which is why most marinade recipes have vinegar, citrus or tomato in them. They’re usually salty as well.
Another issue is cooking time: heat will also denature proteins but it takes a loooong time (that’s why long-cooked soup/stew/bbq-smoked meat gets to the point where it just falls apart.) At first, though, moderately high temperature causes the proteins to clench up which results in tough-as-shoe-leather meat.
Since beef is the meat with “toughness issues,” it should be cooked low and slow or really quick and hot (before the “clenching” happens.) NEVER cook beef for a medium length of time (like 1/2 hour or so) unless it’s been tenderized, marinated or otherwise totally mangled.
I’ve seen Harold McGee speak, too, and he was definitely awesomazing.
Fabulicious!! Can’t thank you enough for this tip, so easy and scientifically simple!! Good one!
This looks so incredible. I’m always so afraid of salt for some reason. I think I watched too many scary news stories in my youth about salt and heart problems. I mean, I used to leave the salt out of bread and cookie recipes. Then I called my mom and was like, “Why don’t my cookies or rolls turn out like yours???” And she told me to go through all the steps and then told me what an idiot I was for leaving the salt out — that there was an actual scientific reason for salt in those recipes. (It’s totally OK if it’s SCIENCE! How come I didn’t get the memo on that one? I must have been sleeping that day, too.) These pictures, though, are enough to help me work through my fear of salt. Like aversion therapy. Thanks!
tried this on our english steaks and have to say it was gorgggggggggeeeous!
ty so much (although i now have probs with waist line due to excess steak consumption)
xxxx
Post number 89…I am way behind everyone! I have been on holiday and have just returned.
This post makes me angry at myself. I stayed awake during all the science stuff and use all these osmosis/reverse osmosis/ osmotic gradient/ diffusion/active transport principles for my work as a renal nurse. I never thought about using them for my steak grilling. It makes perfect sense to me. Yet…I have always salted just before grilling. And, not surprisingly, it does taste steamed. I am anxious to try it now. So… you are a smarty pants.
I have missed reading your posts while I was away!
I never liked steak, it’s too much meat for me. But your post just made me drool! And I can’t believe that you actually made me want to try it out!
BTW, the Chinese have a traditional dish called Salted Chicken, one whole chicken will be marinated with a lot of salt then tuck in some chinese herbs into the stomach and wrap with paper (we call it oil paper), then place it in the middle of a big ‘wok’ filled with heated COARSE salt, practically cooking the wrapped chicken through the heat transmitted through the salt for 30-45 min. Then woala, you get a perfectly tender and moist and delicious chicken.
Excellent! Thanks for an informative piece! I can’t wait to try it out!
I enjoy cooking for freinds, my best buddy in particular and he’s a big steak eater! This is awesome!
Alright…that was awesome! I gave it a try tonight with absolute success. Thank you thank you thank you! I hope to get my readers to click over and try for themselves.
Here are my results:
http://sseichinger.blogspot.com/2007/09/salted-beef.html
I ended up with salty meat too although I must admit it was tender and juicy. I used kosher salt and a rib eye but I must have sensitive taste buds because a few hours later I’m still drinking water ‘-) I may give this another try when I’m feeling adventuresome.
Off to try the negative calorie cake ‘-) I really enjoy reading your blog. You’re inspiring me to try new things.
This looks amazing and the salting tip really does the trick! My husband is Argentine and loves grilled meat and this is what they do when they have their ‘asado”. We recently had grilled strip steak with chimichurri (dried oregano, dried chili flakes and a bit of garlic, vinegar and olive oil). Try it!
This is awesome! Relax protein, Relax! (pat the meat)…Relax… haha.. great funny post.
Thanks for always sharing!
Jaden, I convinced my hubby to try this on our strip steaks that we bought for our fancy anniversary dinner-in. He rubbed them up with garlic, italian seasoning and lots of salt…the results were AMAZING!!!! Of course I think it helped that I also convinced him to get the grill screaming hot and not look in every 2 minutes. 😉
Great pics and a truly fabulous blog!
Laura
Where’s the money shot???? Seriously, I will try this with my next cheap steak.
Damn, if that’s not food porn, then I don’t know what is. I love the close up picture right before the recipe.
This post makes me very hungry and I have a lot of weight to put on over the next couple of months 🙂 I’ll be trying the salt technique soon.
Great, now its 8:50 in the morning and I’m jonesin’ for a steak. Can’t wait to try out this method.
Also, I’ve ready that a good way to get the outside “restaurant charred” is to flash char it on a cooking pan (dry – no oil or nothin’) in the oven at a high temp. for about a minute or two per side. and then grill to your liking. have you (or anyone) ever tried this?
Girl, I hear you on the pre-salting the meats. I made Zuni Cafe’s Short Ribs Braised in Chimay Ale and pre-salted those ribs for 24 hours. It made such a big difference! Anyways, love your post and illustrations mama!
Oh my gosh, does that look good! This post was perfectly written and perfectly timed! We are in the process (movers coming tomorrow) of moving into a gorgeous house with a great deck and patio which just cries out for a grill. I was just telling hubby that I can’t wait to snag a grill and start actually doing some cooking, but that I didn’t know where to start. You, my dear, are a Godsend. Thank you so very much for taking the time and effort to oh-so-carefully put together this incredibly detailed and funny posting. We do appreciate it! (I’ll keep you posted, gal!)
I tried your ‘salt solution’ tonight on pork chops and it was a real hit. They came out so tender and flavorful. Thanks so much, I can’t wait to try in on a Chuck Eye steak, it’s a cheap version of a rib eye.
Thanks again,
Rob
Birdie- Good question. The USDA grades beef in the following 3 main categories: Select, Choice and Prime (there are 8 or so in total, but these 3 are what you would normally find in a supermarket. Select is the cheapest stuff with less flavor and tougher quality.
Choice steaks is what most would normally classify as “pretty good stuff” – more marbling, much better flavor.
Prime is the gooooood grade – the premium quality that restaurants and high-end butchers sell. Only 2% of all beef is graded Prime and usually restaurants and hotels get dibs on the best of the best first.
This technique is for taking “choice” meats and making them as tender as the prime grade.
I’m confused about the idea that you are taking a “poor” cut of meat and using your salting technique to make them good. In our neck of the woods, porterhouse, rib-eyes, etc. are already fabulous steaks. A filet would be the only one more tender.
osmosis? what is that? 😉
i just got a new grill pan! do you know what it’s going to be christened with? I’ll let you in on a secret.. some gucci prime steaks! 😀
Thank you for this article.
Today only some bloggers posts really interesting content. I love your blog and have to say that your pictures are fantastic. My mouse is watering only just looking at them
Well, I will give this a try tomorrow. Steak is my favorite food, as well as the favorite food of my dog, Little Filthy. We shall provide a verdict tomorrow.
More drinking and steak, please.
As always Jaden, you are a rock star!!! I made both your steak recipe, and the recipe for your corn at a party today and both were AMAZING!!! You helped contribute to an awesome spread of grilled goodness for a going away party for a friend. When are you getting your show, you more than deserve it! (and thanks for the nice comment yesterday!)
This post is dangerous to men with pregnant, meat-craving fianceés. :3 I want one. NOW.
1) You’re increasing the intracellular salt concentration, which should cause some proteins to denature, which is why the meat should be tender.
2) You’re also inhibiting the loss of moisture to air during cooking, which is why the meat should be juicy (this is not negligible).
3) If you were to coat with salt and cook right away, you would not have either effect, because the osmotic gradient wouldn’t have time to reach equilibrium (as you correctly describe). In fact, you’d accelerate the loss of moisture to the environment (this is how curing works).
4) The chemicals that impart flavors from spices are volatile – they evaporate easily, which is why you can smell them – and hydrophobic. They are unaffected by the process of osmosis that you describe – because they’re not soluble in water – but do work through diffusion. During your marinade time, the volatile flavors are diffusing into the fat in your meat while the salt is doing its work in the water.
I’m sure this is much more complicated in reality, but that’s a simple explanation that I’m pretty sure is correct.
Made it and it was a hit! Thank you!!! 🙂 **happy dance**
Oh my, this looks and sounds WONDERFUL!! Hubby and I are going to be trying this little trick. Like Traci, I just stumbled across you for the first time today – I’ll definitely be back – you’re terrific!
I stumbled across your blog today and I have to say for the first time, I actually enjoyed science…anyway, I’ll be trying the salt trick this weekend. Great blog!
Awesome post – and I LOVE those step by step explanation pictures 😀
Great information!
Now if you could only turn my funky old shoes in shiny Gucci loafers, I’d be even happier…
You need to stop this downright vulgar, food porn that you are practising! 😀
I just got back from teaching my first class of the semester, it is 11.15 a.m. I have not cooked a thing and I just had some cereal so you can imagine my outrage at this post! (lol) 😀 You are the best.
Have a great weekend!
Hi Jaden – Excellent as always. Happy Blog 2007! You’re one of my picks 🙂
Fantastic post!!! My husband is definitely a season-right-before-grilling guy but I’m sure he will be open to experimenting and trying your method when I show him your photos 😉 We are so trying this ASAP!
If you were my biology teacher I would be a genius! I love those drawings!
I love your illustrations, they’re awesome! I do this with roast chicken too, like WC, but it never occurred to me to do this with steak. Can’t wait for rib eye to go on sale. 😀
Jaden, you kill me – this is so funny! I absolutely love your post and I don’t even eat meat – that’s how great your writing is!
Very generous of you, J, but save the money for a top-shelf bottle of red to go with your steak the next time. I’m not put off the technique, and I know I’ll be trying variations of this again, until I get it tweaked to my tastes. Maybe a thicker porterhouse this weekend with some applewood smoke…
Again, great post, and a beautiful blog.
One of the best posts I have ever read. Ever. Nice Job, J!
Hey Ian, Thanks for your comment – I’m really surprised that you didn’t find success in the method. I’ve tested over 34 steaks in different thicknesses. The biggest difference being I kept my cuts to Porterhouse, Strip, TBone and Ribeye (as I recommended in my post) – and not Sirloin as you had tried.
I owe you a steak, my friend. I’ll tell you what. I’ll buy you a nice Strip steak and let’s try again. Because I *know* it works. Email me a local butcher or supermarket phone number and I’ll gladly buy you a steak!
xoxo jaden
Hmm. After reading such an interesting post (with mouthwatering photography) I simply had to run home and test this last night. I picked up a couple 1.25 inch thick cuts of sirloin (about 10 oz. each). Salted with Kosher for an hour, rinsed, patted dry and grilled at high heat. While i was able to get a nice medium-rare, then leanness of the meat kept me from getting a good char. Tenderness was on par with non-salted sirloin. Most importantly, though, the steak was noticeably too salty throughout. I’d almost compare it to ham. I’m happy if others find success, but I’ll probably go back to my dry-rubbed rib steaks, marinated strips, and naked filets.
Wow!! What a recipe changing technique to create tender juicy steaks!!! Thanks for the tip Jaden!!!! I enjoyed your article immensely….
Man that looks sooooooooo good! Thanks for the info, I’ve always wondered how restaurants could get their meat sooo tender…
Great post, Jaden. I love your slides and the explanation of why this works. Now I’ll have to try your method. Yum!
That is such a good tip! I can’t afford super nice steaks, but now I have science on my side!
B
http://handtomouthkitchen.wordpress.com
Yum! Will definitely try this.
Did you really mean 2 teaspoons on the salt? Seems like a small handful would be more than 2 teaspoons. But I’ll apply the -ish factor in any case.
Right! We just did my steak the way you did them last night….OMG, they turned out so fascinatingly superb!
Right! We just did my steak the way you did them….OMG, they turned out so fascinatingly superb!
Fantastic post! Such great tips. For a minute there I thought Alton Brown had taken over your blog. 🙂
oh Jaden! That was great! I love your quirky and funny posts. You know, i have this urge to rush out and buy a slab of steak! hahaha. Will definitely try this method. As a poor postgrad student… this is very very practical AND useful! I bet my bf will thank you for a long time to come. =)
Even as a serious vegetarian, I loved your illustrations, photos & write-up!
Those photos look amazing and so delicious! I am really craving steak now. I will have to try the melting herb butter on the next steak that I make.
Jaden – thanks for the intro, I will try this on the weekend 🙂
Kym – thanks, I totally get it now!
Hey,
That’s funny. You reminded me of a story. I was at my favorite charcuterie stall at the farmer’s market, years ago. One of the staff and I were talking about whole chickens and related. She said that, where she works, they salt the chickens over night and cook the next day. Said they were delightful and I should try the same.
I did, but my own variation. I used some fancy Italian very coarse sea salt and used the procedure you laid down.
It was weeks later that I found out Kim had recently worked at Zuni. Der.
Biggles votes for NON-brined meat. The only time I’ve enjoyed it was with quail, in the smoker.
Biggles
Thanks Jaden today I have learned somenthing more about grilling steaks, your way to teach is so fun that I could stay to listen you all the time.
Thanks
Well done! *ba dum cha*
I love Alton Brown. Thanks for the great steak tips.
Nice!
I think Alton would smile and nod at your explanation. Are you gonna be a food-hacker now? 🙂
This is fascinating stuff. I’m going to scare the hell out of our little dining group when we meet in 2 weeks and they find forty bucks worth of ribeyes covered with salt, waiting their turn on the grill. I.ve always wanted to be a cooking star, and it’s about to happen thanks to you, Steamy.
I just slept through your biology-chemistry class but when I sniffed and saw the steak, I woke up! But at least your humor in class kept me there. I would have skipped the class if it was another boring instructor. There’s a PhD in you – Permanent Head Damages (PhD) ?! Buahahah!
I am a PhD student in Biochemistry and I think you did a fantastic job on your explanation and drawings. The one discrepancy I can see is that the water only leaves the steak while the “salty water” does not go in. So how does the steak get more salty? There is already salt (or sodium ions) in the steak but they are diluted with water. When you put the salt on the steak the water is sucked out (by osmosis) this increases the concentration of the salt already in the stake. This increased salt concentration causes the proteins to unfold (or denature) as does the high heat of cooking and this is what makes a more tender steak. Very good post.
Wow! Can’t wait to try it for dinner tonight!
I found your website through another food blogger website and have lurked at various scrumptious post that you’ve done. This is the first recipe that I feel I can definitely try without having levels of error in the cooking 🙂 It looks delicious and I can’t wait to cook steak this week. Thank you
Jaden,
Just unscrew the top. 😉 I bet your boys would have a ball trying to figure that out.
I’m not even a huge steak fan, and I *still* drooled over your photos (and it’s not even dinner time)! If anyone else drew those slides, I wouldn’t have bothered reading them, but I knew you would make them really funny (and you did).
Now…for those of us without an outdoor grill…ya think this would work on a Foreman? =)
Wow, nice diagrams. Very Good Eats and Alton Brown-esque. I am by no means part of AB’s research team, but I’m pretty sure you are correct with your extrapolations. Nice job! Mmmmm, bourbon.
Brilynn – go get yourself some BIG HUNK O MEAT!!!
Anh- Thank you!
Foodie- What’s wrong with your fiance??? He doesn’t like meat?
Nathan – I’ve only used Porterhouse, Strip, Ribeye and TBone. I think Sirloin would work as well, but I don’t think Brisket or Skirt would work – as they are pretty grisley.
Kelly- I know what you mean!! I hate paying so much money for good meat. Me …cheap.
Wok & Spoon- YOu slep through high school too?!? Good. I’m not the only one.
Rose- I’ve been known to change lives through food.
Mongo- Mongo must try new technique now….
Kat- Yes! Use sea salt!
Dolores- If I had taught high school biology, we’d be eating everyday.
Meeta- One day we shall meet and our kids will have a blast with us in the kitchen. xoxo j
WC- I’ve tried with chicken too….and it is so delish! I used to drink the marble drink too. How did you get the marble out???
Nicole- thank you sweetie
LPC- Ahhh…i’ve anticipated your inquiries, old grasshoppa….links to the fries and chips are live now.
Radish- I stumbled my way through Illustrator. Though I guess I coulda used MS Paint – much easier to manipulate.
Scott – I think maybe a rough chop – but not much more than that or it may just overwhelm the steak.
Pragyan- thank you very much!
Lynn- I don’t know if I have the patience to write a cookbook – we’ll see. But either way, it is a juicy post, eh?
Jamie Anne- Thank you and nice to meet you. Just use sea salt.
Jim- 🙂 Love that word…”awesomazing” and no it doesn’t taste like a salt lick – you have to wash away the surface salt.
Veron- Thanks to you my friend – you got me asking all those questions. I would love to one day meet Harold McGee. Actually, I’d love to cook for him.
Your witty prose and those informative drawings just got you added to my daily reading list, yo.
As for your idea, it’s awesomazing, but I am shocked the steak does not taste like an oversized salt lick. Will have to try as soon as possible.
food never was so much fun….
every post is just so hilarious… and innovative.
but what in the sweet name of europe is kosher salt?
we don’t get that stuff here…
I am quite the carnivore. Love your drawings on the whole osmosis -reverse osmosis process! I attended a 3-day seminar by Harold McGee, and I tell you that man is a walking encyclopedia of Food Science.
Great slide show! I feel like I’m back in high school. I should be doodling on something. Except your lesson contained information I could actually use. I think you should call you fabulous technique dry-brining. It will be the centerpiece of your best-selling cookbook. 🙂
I love this post! Very creative way to present the information…you are braver than I with designing your own graphics! I love, love, love a good steak but despise giving up an entire month’s dining out budget for it, so I think I will be experimenting with this very soon. Labor Day weekend, in fact!
Jaden, This was such a informative post. As someone else also noted, wish our biology teachers had explained concepts in such an interesting and involved manner. Loved it.
Great Post! I can’t wait to try with the giant hunk o’ meat in my fridge! THANKS! I’m thinking of blitzing the garlic/rosemary in the food processor with the salt…to extract more flavor? Think that might work, or will it be too much.
Labor Day Weekend Fun!
What an awesome write-up and I LOVED the pictures – personally I thought they were excellent – did you go MS Paint on those? Will have to make steak soon – this made me really hungry!
Ah, so you’re not saying which of the books was wrong, eh? 😉
Here it is, 5:30 a.m., and steak and eggs is sounding sooooo good. Maybe it’s not a good thing that the nearest Kroger is open 24/7!
BTW, I’m wondering how well sea salt will do in this? Oh, and as an Aside, where the Hell is the recipe for your shoestrings and/or chips? Yer not gettin’ off easy there, lady! 😀
Oh man….I just got back from the butcher with a week’s worth of meat! Now, I have a wait a whole week just to try this….it looks SOOO good! Oh, and I did pay attention in bio class…and I don’t even remember any of that anyways. It’s been too long and who cares anyways if it works and tastes good! Thanks for sharing!
Marbles! Hehe, you should see my latest post. We are so on the same wave-length. 😛
BTW, this method works great with chicken. Ssssh! That’s the secret to fabulous roast chicken but don’t tell people it’s so simple or they won’t be so impressed when I make it anymore.
My mom, however, douses her cheap steaks with baking soda, lets it absorb, then rinses it off. Then salt.
Jaden, you crack me up. Your artwork is absolutely fantastic I am sure you and my 5 year old would have a ball!! Now to the steak – I am drooling and dying and on my knees, begging for a tiny bite. That looks soooo good!
Such a lovely pieces of meat you have there. “So tender, so juicy, so full of flavour…… will make me hunger for more.”
Thanks again for your award. Did you see the two piglets that I posted at http://www.bigboysoven.blogspot.com?
Jaden, I think if you’d taught high school biology, more of us would have stayed awake through it. Although I confess that when my high school biology teach asserted the “average” menstrual cycle lasted two days, I dismissed everything she had to say for the remainder of the semester as hoo-haa.
Looking forward to trying your take on grilled steak!
I was gonna ask the same thing, can I use sea salt instead of kosher? Will definitely try this soon 🙂
One of the best posts I’ve read anywhere in a while. Mongo must get steak now.
– a big applause to you Jaden. For the informations, the slides and the pictures…well it’s not a surprise that they are gorgeous!
This post just changed my life.
Great post and I love the high school science lesson! I slept through my classes as well and remember nothing now!
One question though – I’m not very salt-savvy so can you use sea salt instead of kosher salt?
Great illustrations. I’d love to eat steak more often but price is sometimes a factor. These are some great tips, I’ll have to try it out.
Any ideas on just how low you can go with the cut of meat before the salting won’t work? I mean, I’m guessing I don’t want to do this with london broil or brisket. Um, btw, I’m just pretending like I know cuts of cow.
ok, yeah yum. I shall jerky my next slab o’ cheap meat (fiance notwithstanding)
Cricut Design Space is a tool that lets you live your artistic hobbies as a beginner or established artist.
Jaden, this is a very informative and funny post. I love it. 🙂
Sweet jesus, that middle pic of sliced meat is amazing. It’s almost midnight but I feel the need to buy a steak, fire up the grill and start salting immediately. Must. Have. Steak.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!!. Look delicious
It is really cool and nice recipe. Love it.
great information for recipe lovers.
i love this recipe. thx