Natural Experiment-dry brining

[BDAABAT]

Had an opportunity for a natural experiment and thought I'd share.

I've been trying dry brining of steaks recently. In those previous experiences, I'd left the steaks to brine for 24 and 48 hours. Had not had a chance to push the process further...until now.

This past week, I got a chance to experience a longer brine and then the cook.

The brine started Monday afternoon. I'd picked up some (choice) rib eyes from Costco. Unfortunately, had a family emergency come up that resulted in us being out of town until late Thu night. First chance I had to cook the steaks was Friday around mid day (call it 95ish hours). I was a little concerned that the texture might be off.

Here's image from pulling the steaks out of the fridge:



Cooked hot and fast on the gasser. Here's the shot just off the grill:



Interior shot:



The result?
Delicious! Excellent flavor and texture. I added just a bit of salt to the cooked steaks.

One of the really nice things (to me anyway) about dry brining is the impact on beef fat. I'm normally OK with a small amount of fat, but don't typically enjoy some of the large globs that one can encounter in rib eyes. There seems to be something about the process of brining that allows the fat to more fully cook. The result is super yummy! I downed the entire steak. As I was eating it, I kept shaking my head and involuntarily making happy eating sounds.

The natural experiment was a success!
Bruce

 

[Stingerhook]

Looks great Bruce.
Salt brine?

 

[BDAABAT]

Yep. Just some everyday pink salt.

Bruce

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Looks and sounds fantastic

 

[4ever3]

Awesome!

Thanks for passing the info along!

Hope all is well with the family now

 

[Pife]

I've never brined steaks. Were they uncovered or bagged during the fridge brine? Thanks.

 

[Callahan-que]

I've never brined steaks. Were they uncovered or bagged during the fridge brine? Thanks.

You really need to give it a try, makes a world of dirrerence. Not only for steaks but for roasts as well.

 

[Callahan-que]

Bruce those steaks look amazing, perfectly cooked.

 

[BDAABAT]

@Earl: dry brining is easiest thing in the world to do and has a pronounced impact on the flavor/texture of the protein being brined.

It's literally just salt and time.

The first image in this thread shows the steaks on a wire rack that was inside a tray. That tray with the steaks was placed in the fridge, uncovered, after applying a light dusting of fine salt.

That's it.

I then took them out of the fridge to warm up. Placed them on a hot grill for 2:20; rotated 45 degrees and then cooked another 2:20; flipped and cook for 2:20; turn 45 degrees and cook for 2:20, then took off the fire and let rest for ~ 10 mins. I was shooting for a rare-medium-rare doneness (the steaks were ~ 1.75 - 2 inches thick).

As Rick said above, works well for more than just steak. I've done shorter brines for chuck roasts as well. Shorter brines (4 - 24 hours using the same process as above) work really well for poultry. Skin gets really crisp from the salt drying it and the meat is juicy.

Bruce

 

[BDAABAT]

@ Jeremy: thanks! Family situation is challenging. Elderly in laws are dealing with some major health issues. Then they had a tree fall on their house on Tuesday. Tree created a gash in the roof. They have water damage in addition to the damage to the structure. They're in a hotel for now while trying to deal with insurance. Not ideal.

It was really nice to get home for a couple days, enjoy some yummy home made food and get some things taken care of here while we can.

Figured I'd share my natural experiment with the group. Anyone else try longer dry brines?
Bruce

 

[cowgirl]

Looks/sounds delicious, Bruce!

 

[1MoreFord]

You don't have to brine that long at all.
1 hour of time per 1" of thickness.
45 for 3/4"; 1h 30m for 1-1/2" etc.

Salt the meat Very heavily. Place on a plate or something else flat with edges. At the end of brining time rinse the meat, dry, season except for salt, and cook. It's that simple.
Works for any meat I can think of.

 

[ssv3]

Killer stuff Bruce! Those steak look insanely good.

 

[Callahan-que]

You don't have to brine that long at all.
1 hour of time per 1" of thickness.
45 for 3/4"; 1h 30m for 1-1/2" etc.

Salt the meat Very heavily. Place on a plate or something else flat with edges. At the end of brining time rinse the meat, dry, season except for salt, and cook. It's that simple.
Works for any meat I can think of.

I do a similar method, moderate salt for 1 hour and no rinse.

 

[BDAABAT]

@ Joe: No, you don't have to do it that long. I'd previously done dry brines of shorter duration with good success. In particular, poultry doesn't seem to need all that much time to provide good results (in this case, "good results" = seems to provide a better taste/texture experience for me compared to when I did not do dry brining).

What I can say is that in my experience, dry brining steaks, in particular rib eyes in the 1.75 - 2" thick range, SEEM to benefit from longer dry brining.

Why do I say seem?

There's variability in taste/texture for steaks, even from the same package.
There's individual differences in perception of taste/texture at different times.
I did not do any blinded experiments. If anyone knows of a true research experiment looking at the impact of dry brining on rib eye taste/texture, please let me know and I'll happily volunteer! :becky:

For steaks, I'd only previously let the brining process play out over a maximum of 48 hours. I'd been concerned about possibly ruining the beef if I let the time go longer. I'm on a budget now that I'm retired!

In my previous experience, 48 hours seemed to do a better job of improving taste/texture compared to 24 hours. In this post, I just wanted to share my subjective experience from a happy accident of having a dry brine take place over a period of almost a complete 4 days. As always, YMMV.

Anyone else try dry brining over this amount of time or longer? If so, what did you think?

Bruce

 

[TBASS]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Sorry to hear about your in-laws. I have older in-laws as well, 85 and 84. I find that I am spending more and more time taking care of issues every year. I don’t mind, they are very special people. But, I do have a question regarding your experiment. Is there a special brand of pink salt that you used? I have some of the Kirkland brand from Costco on hand and am wondering if this will work.

 

[frognot]

Great lookin' steaks there! Thanks for sharing your experiment with us.

 

[Newglide]

Sorry to hear about the family issues, hopefully everything will be ok there.
Steaks look awesome. I dry brine everything, I have never taken a steak that far, I typically do 24 hours, may have to push it longer one of these days