With the quick and easy hack I'll share with you in this post, you'll be able to turn even bargain cuts of steak into tender, juicy, and amazingly delicious steaks you'll be proud to serve at dinnertime. Not only will grabbing whatever steaks happen to be available at the store make shopping easier, but it can save you a lot of money too!
When times are tough, being able to adapt to your circumstances is a very valuable skill, especially in the kitchen. And I hope to help you out in that regard by showing you how to adapt to the constantly changing selection - not to mention the changing prices - in the meat department.
Related: 6 Extremely Useful Questions To Ask At The Meat Counter
There's a reason this tip for tenderizing steak is one of my most popular pins ever on Pinterest: because it really does work!
So what IS the simple secret behind this trick? It's SALT! (The more I learn about cooking, the more I come to realize that the secret is almost always salt. Except for when the secret is butter.) ;-)
Yes, salting your steaks in a process called dry brining for one hour before cooking them will cause a miraculous transformation! From chewy and tough, to tender and juicy.
But not just ANY salt will do! Table salt is NOT recommended - you need to use a coarse sea salt or kosher salt. During the dry brining process, coarse salt helps to break down the proteins and muscle fibers in the meat, resulting in maximum tenderness. I'm getting hungry already!
Related: The One Chef's Secret You Need To Know If You Love Steak
Salt is an interesting substance that can do a lot of different things to the food we eat. You may well be wondering, "I thought salt dried stuff out?" And you'd be right! When using salt in the kitchen, it's all about the timing.
Over a short period of time (like an hour or even up to overnight,) a layer of coarse salt on a steak will draw out some of the meat's natural juices. The juices will dissolve the salt, creating a brine. Most of the brine will then be reabsorbed, where it will tenderize and flavor the meat.
If left for a longer period of time (like weeks to months,) the salt would slowly pull all of the moisture out of the meat, curing and preserving it in the process. Fascinating!
Related: The 11 Most Devastating Mistakes You Can Make With Steak
To properly tenderize a steak, lay the steak out on a plate and cover each side with approximately 1 teaspoon of coarse kosher salt or sea salt before cooking. Use your fingers to gently work the salt granules into the surface, breaking down the fibers of the meat. (For even more flavor, add crushed garlic to the salt.)
Let the steak sit with this covering of salt for 45 minutes to an hour. Longer for thicker cuts.
Related: This New Way I Make Tri-Tip Is So Easy, It's Almost Unbelievable
After the waiting period, use some paper towels to wipe away most of the salt. Then pat your steaks until they are good and dry, so you can get the delicious, crispy sear you want. If you don't pat them dry, you're basically steaming the meat, and steamed meat is bland and less flavorful.
Season as desired, then grill to desired doneness.
Serve and sit back and enjoy the happy faces around the dinner table. :-)
There are several other methods you can use to tenderize a cut of meat, and all of them can be effective. Those include:
While all of these methods can be effective, they can also take a bit more time and effort than the salt dry brine method I described earlier. But it's always good to have options, I say!
Do you have a favorite tip or trick for making delicious steak at home?