Tip: What’s the Best Way to Marinate an Inexpensive Steak?
As delicious as they are, ribeye, porterhouse and sirloin steaks are not an everyday meal for most of us. If you want to get your fill of beef without spending a fortune, ditch some of the less popular but still delicious steaks . We’ve covered several different pickling techniques so you can get the most out of your cut.
Marinating, or dipping meat in a flavored liquid for a while before cooking, is not easy. The marinade gives the meat flavor and also makes it moist and tender (the acid in marinades weakens muscle tissue and increases its ability to retain moisture). But proponents of quick marinades note that marinades penetrate very slowly and can taste too sour or salty to meat if left in solution for extended periods of time. For this reason, some master grill masters vow to marinate meat overnight for maximum impact, while others insist that meat should not be marinated for too long.
However, the third dissenting opinion that comes from the people in Cook Country (paywall warnings!) Is that for the greatest success, you should wait to marinate the steak until after it has already been cooked . So which method is the best?
Testing the timing and methods of marinating
I decided to find the answer by trying all these pickling techniques. I chose a relatively affordable, tender chopped steak with a loose grain structure – luckily my butcher didn’t have a skirted steak or a flank steak, so I used a flap steak (also known as bavette, sirloin, or fake steak). hanger ). The marinade was the basic version, made with what I had on hand:
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tablespoons white onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon butter dijon
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Each of the four 8oz steaks has been processed differently:
- Steak # 1 : 1/4 of the marinade above, 12 hours before grilling.
- Steak # 2 : 1/4 of the marinade above, 3 hours before grilling.
- Steak # 3 : 1/4 of the marinade above, 45 minutes before grilling.
- Steak # 4 : Season with salt, pepper and sugar before grilling; Immediately after grilling, I punched holes in the steak, poured the marinade on top, wrapped it in foil and left it to absorb the liquid for 5 minutes , as shown in the photo below.
results
The result surprised me: the most extreme methods won, and all the intermediate ones did not impress. Here’s a breakdown of my notes:
- Steak # 1 was full of a strong, rich marinade flavor with a noticeable hint of soy sauce. Despite all the comments about the structure of the meat falling apart overnight, this was not a problem – the meat was still juicy, but tender enough. But if it was saltier it would be too salty.
- Steak # 2 managed to convey some of the pleasant qualities of the marinade, but next to the first steak it paled in comparison to the taste, the tasting was generally poor. The meat was also significantly less tender.
- Steak # 3 – a steak marinated for only 45 minutes – had the most charcoal and an attractive crust, but next to the first two, the meat tasted almost entirely unaffected by flavor, which was simply not enough.
- Steak # 4 confused me. Since fresh flavors like garlic and onions were never cured or fried at all, they were very noticeable in both taste and texture, and not necessarily in a good way. The steak also lacked the deep caramelized shades of steaks that had been marinated for a long time before grilling. But instead, you may experience a pleasant sweetness and salinity (thanks to the chafing before cooking), followed by a light crisp flavor from the marinade drizzled after grilling.
In custody
If you need the TL version; DR, here’s what I found from this test: While the 12-hour marinade steak had the most intense and richest flavor , the post- grilled marinade steak had a light and crisp quality that none of the others had. So if you’re going to marinate ahead of time for flavor, you can also marinate overnight, although if you’re prone to being sensitive to salt levels, the post-fry marinade method is worth trying.
Also, if you are worried about the marinated meat getting steamed on the grill, you shouldn’t – the pre-marinated steaks were the same color, if not more, than the one that was dry marinated. And if you’re worried that an overnight marinade will destroy too much of your meat’s muscle tissue, resulting in a soft steak, don’t be – anyway, marinating overnight made my steak more juicy and tender. The only time I would warn against this is if you are using a very acidic solution from lemon juice, wine, or vinegar, such as a mojo marinade. In this case, I would recommend marinating for no more than 3 or 4 hours, otherwise the acid can start cooking the meat enzymatically, giving it a spongy texture.
Skillet is a new blog from Lifehacker about being cool in the kitchen. Follow us on Twitter here .