Last Updated on by SteakEat
5. Brining. Steak marinade are not great for large cuts. This is where brining steps in. Using water and salt solution does miracles to roasts. This method allows extra water to enter inside the roast, so its weight increases by 10-15%, positively affecting the flavor.
Vital steak marinade tip: the amount of salt is very important. Aim for 60g / 2.1oz per liter. Heston Blumenthal recommends that amount. He says that adding more than that will dry the meat, curing it instead.
Leave the roast brining overnight, take it out the following day, drain and pat dry before cooking. You don’t need to salt it anymore, so adding just a pinch of pepper or simply throwing it on the skillet right away is the best thing to do.
6. Resealable Bag. Use a food-safe plastic resealable bag (freezer bags are ideal), when marinading beef. It makes the whole process much easier.
Simply put the steak inside, pour in the marinade, seal, put the bag in a plate to avoid spilling in case of accidental opening and refrigerate overnight. For best results shake the bag every two hours or simply turn it around. Easy =).
7. Sugar. This includes all kinds of sugars also found in honey, yogurt and other ingredients.
Adding sugar results in caramelization reaction (note – it’s different from standard Maillard reaction). The flavor will be different – sugary (I am guessing here :)), which many people love, when it’s combined with steak. Try and see yourself!
8. Salt. Marinading usually takes around 24 hours.
Using salt in marinade will drain water out of the steak, making it drier. Use salt right before cooking, since it is a part of chemical reaction, which occurs on the pan at high heat. Flaked salt is ideal, since its density is lower, when compared to table salt (i.e. it’s less salty per gram) and you can use more of it, making the steak’s surface brown and crusty.
9. Pat Dry. Steak with dry surface browns much better! It happens because moisture, which cools down the skillet, once steak is put inside is reduced.
Hence, once you remove the steak from the marinading bag, tap it dry with paper towels.
Pro Tip: avoid using toilet paper, since it often has numerous layers, which detach from each other, when wet. It’s quite hard to remove them from the steak surface afterwards (tested).
Pat drying is vital when you cook a steak on stove or broil it in the oven.
10. Vacuum Container. Any marinade can only affect the very surface of the steak plus a fraction of inch towards the middle. That’s why marinading thick cuts or really tough pieces (e.g. brisket) is rather useless.
Vacuum marinator can be somewhat helpful. Vacuum opens the pores in meat, allowing the marinade to enter inside easier and quicker. In past I used a vacuum food container, which gave the same effect. Test it yourself – it works.
I hope you found these steak marinade tips to be helpful, useful and practical – try our steak marinades, sauces and round steak recipes.
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