Dry Aged Beef Seasoning With Salt for Grilling
Want perfect steak? This method for dry brining steak, paired with reverse sear cooking, will result in the tastiest steak y'all've ever made at home.
I conducted a small and seemingly uncomplicated experiment in my kitchen recently. It involved steak, and salt. Uncomplicated plenty. Merely this basic process resulted in the greatest tasting steak I've always prepared in my ain domicile.
A while dorsum I posted my fairly extensive article talking about the myths and facts of dry crumbling. A few people commented that I should try to exit the steak uncovered in the fridge for a few days, and one even pointed out Alton Brown had a four day technique for pulling off dry aging at dwelling house. Considering the article I wrote (complete with fancy scientific references) says a minimum of 14 days aging is required to meet any result, I was pretty skeptical of their suggestions. I came to find that their method is a bit of a flavour game changer, it's just that they were calling it by the wrong proper noun.
Leaving a steak uncovered in the fridge is not dry aging, but it is 'dry brining'.
Here'southward the thing – leaving your steak uncovered in a domestic refrigerator for 1-3 days is not really dry out aging information technology. Literally, yep, culinarily, no. Dry aged meats require very specific atmospheric condition in order to do their thing, and you can only properly dry age larger sub-primal cuts, not individual steaks (you tin can read the article to learn why). What the home-fridge method does is dry alkali the meat, or as I like to call it, deep season it.Note: the term 'dry brining' messes with my OCD – technically a brine would signal the introduction of liquid is involved, then this is closer to curing, but I think this method kinda deserves it's ain title.
The Deep Seasoning Method for Steak:
Start with a steak that's at least ane inch thick. Generously season with kosher salt on both sides. Lay it on a rack above a foil-lined tray, uncovered, and put into your refrigerator.
That's information technology. That's the whole, entire procedure. Well, not entirely, considering now you have to look and leave it like this for 1-3 days. Beingness the impatient person I am, I tried the method out with a few different increments of time merely discovered that the 3 solar day yields the best result (although y'all will yet get benefits from leaving it for a 24-hour interval).
Of import Annotation: afterward a host of emails from people who complained of overly salty steak, I've added in this clarification. Turns out some folks were smothering their steak in common salt, similar to using vast quantities when brining a Turkey. So hither's the thing: Aye, you should season generously with salt. NO, you should non use more salt than yous normally would. Flavor it equally though it were right about to striking the grill. IF YOU PUT A TON OF Table salt ON YOUR STEAK, It WILL Exist SALTY! Just use as much salt every bit you usually would add to a steak, and do not rinse the steak before cooking.
As far as the status of the fridge goes, you're going to want to make sure there'due south nil with a stiff olfactory property left uncovered in the refrigerator which could work it'southward fashion into the meat. Think raw garlic, stinky leftovers that aren't in a tightly sealed container etc. You can also put an open box of Baking Soda somewhere in there (information technology absorbs odors really well!).
Don't exist the cowboy who tries to exit this thing for more than than 3 days – there comes a betoken where you begin flirting too closely with nutrient safety problems, various bacterias and overly-funky meat.
Why The Steak Deep Seasoning Method Works:
ane) deep seasoning
In bones terms, the salt gets deeper into the meat than with conventional seasoning. The table salt crystals draw out moisture (some from the fridge, mostly from the meat), creating a slick watery surface on the steak that eventually dissolves the common salt, and then the process of improvidence draws this salty brine back into the meat.
2) tenderizing
Salt works to denature proteins. This part can get uber-science nerdy, so permit'due south simplify a little. Meat proteins are pretty much strings that are arranged together. Salt has an effect of loosening these strings slightly from each other, creating a more tender seize with teeth. Fun bonus fact: these are the aforementioned proteins that get all tight and squeeze water to their edges during cooking, which is why we rest steak to let them to relax, chill out and allow the moisture to return down the strands and distribute evenly for a juicier result.
iii) surface drying
Y'all know that delicious brown crust nutrient gets when it cooks? That miracle is known every bit the Maillard reaction, and is a hallmark of a well-cooked steak. I always pat meat downwards with a paper towel earlier I cook information technology, to remove moisture and allow the Maillard reaction to occur even faster. Exposing the steak to your fridge works in the aforementioned way, but even meliorate, and ways that you'll have a dryer-surfaced steak which will form an outside crust faster, lowering your risk of overcooking the interior.
What Dry Brining Won't practise:
No affair how much people try to convince you, this method volition not transform a inexpensive steak into a expensive one, information technology will merely improve it. Deep seasoning volition make steak more than tender in terms of eating quality and experience, but information technology won't plow a Select form steak into a Prime equivalent. The major difference between USDA gradings is marbling, or how much intramuscular fat appears in the meat, and while cute marbling does dictate tenderness, the almost meaning function of fat is delivering season. The deep seasoning method will work it'due south magic on whatsoever course of meat, but volition plainly not innovate more fat into your steak, so the final taste results will still be proportionate to the quality grade you purchase. Meaning: deep seasoning is gonna be an improvement no matter what, just it'south not going to make miracles happen, so you should still purchase a better grade of steak for a better gustation result.
What if you lot don't have time to wait?
If y'all can't seem to find a spare 24-72 hours to deep flavour your steak, I recommend salting right before yous plan to melt your meat. Salting anywhere betwixt 10-hour prior to cooking will simply upshot in a withdrawal of moisture without enough time to have it render into the meat.
But if you do desire to take the fourth dimension, so trust me, the results are worth the three twenty-four hours exercise in patience.
I deep seasoned, now what'due south the best way to really cook this steak at dwelling house?
I'm so glad you asked. I recommend you go with the nearly-foolproof reverse sear method. You can follow the piece of cake instructions right hither. If you don't want to use your oven and a pan you can hands create a reverse sear in a charcoal BBQ prepare for 2-zone grilling (direct, and indirect).
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Source: https://jesspryles.com/how-to-make-your-steak-even-tastier-use-the-dry-brining-method/
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