![]() ![]() However, at the end of the day, these methods are all about controlling the doneness that you prefer.įor a basic pan-seared steak, I think using a thermometer is the easiest way to do it. The obvious next question is how to cook a steak to a certain level of doneness? Sous vide, reverse sear, pan-searing, and broiling are all methods to cook steak that I will be covering in a separate video at some point. I'd rather have a better-textured steak that I can add salt to, rather than an overcooked one. For me, the temperature is the more important factor. I will also say that, given the choice between a salt-in-advance steak that is overcooked at 155 degrees, I'd rather have the steak cooked to 130 degrees that was salted after. However, seasoning after feels more salt forward, which is not exactly what I want. Here is my personal ranking of the steaks tested. Here are my thoughts and rankings after testing these methods. The more important benefit, in my opinion, is the even seasoning we get from salt diffusion. For example, if you brine a steak and cook it to 150 or 160 degrees, it won't be juicy like a medium or medium-rare steak. However, the biggest factor for texture is the temperature at which the steak was actually cooked. I think everyone will agree that steak needs to be salted, but let's talk about the more nuanced topic: when should steak be salted?įrom this, we can conclude that, yes, salting in advance will increase moisture retention and thus juiciness. Now if that's too salty for you or not salty enough, just use more or less.Īnother interesting tidbit about salt is that salt or well-seasoned food activates our saliva, so all else being equal, a well-salted piece of steak will be made juicier not only by the liquid in the steak itself but also by the saliva released in our mouth when we eat it. So for a 280-gram piece of steak, this would be about 4 grams of salt. For our steak, we want it to be salted, but we don't want it to taste salty.įor me, I generally eyeball it and make sure I have even coverage, but if you want a rule, I like to use 1.5% salt by weight for dry brine. Secondly, it can affect texture depending on when it is applied, which I’ll cover below.įrom "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat," it is noted that salt has its own taste but also enhances the flavor of other ingredients. Here is a Select New York strip (left) vs one from Butcher Box (right):īefore we hop into the various methods, let's first go over what salt actually does to a steak.įirst and most importantly, salt amplifies flavor. Now I don't want to hone in on the USDA system because it's different around the world. For example, on a New York strip steak, the exterior fat cap is inter-muscular, meaning outside of the muscle whereas the marbling is inside the muscle. It's all about intramuscular fat, also known as marbling, which is the fat that exists inside the muscle. This leaves us with Prime, Choice, and Select. Now if you are wondering why you may have never heard of 5 of these, it’s because the bottom 5 are not used for human consumption. ![]() Now obviously if you are in a different country these won't be the same, but they are great for helping me explain the difference.įrom highest to lowest quality the grades are: The tenderness of the muscle that it was cut fromĪccording to “The Professional Chef”, there are eight grades of beef recognized by the USDA. When choosing a steak the two main variables that have a large influence on how we enjoy steak are: This won’t cover things like carbon steel vs cast iron vs grills, or sous vide vs reverse sear, because in order to make and understand those videos and kitchen reports, we need to start with the fundamentals.Īll the sources I used to gather the information for this video are listed at the end. What are the different cuts of steak (ribeye, filet mignon, new york strip, etc)? What are their differences?ĭo I need a thermometer if I don’t own one? What does resting steak do? Is it necessary? How do I get a good crust while nailing the right internal temp? What are the differences between rare, medium rare, and medium? Why do people like rare steak? Why do I want a good crust on a steak? How do I achieve a good crust (and at what temp of pan)? What does bringing the steak to room temp do? Is it necessary to do so? The most important variables, and sections of this report, are:Īdditionally, this report aims to answer frequently asked steak questions, such as: This report will give you a fundamental food science understanding of cooking steaks at home. ![]()
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