I cooked steak once a few years ago and thought nah id leave it to the steakhouses as it wasnt that good. A few months ago i bought two steaks and decided to cook/prep them recently. I looked up different methods and learnt about dry brining, pan searing, basting and temps to cook to. The first one i brined for about an hour and it was genuinely the best steak ive ever had at that point. That was until the next day when i had the 24 hour brined steak. That first bite felt like i was dipped in heaven. Didn't take much research to learn, ive been to many steakhouses but i dont think ill ever go back especially when the steaks i got from the butchers were less than 20% the cost of a lowend steakhouse and probably 1000% the flavour. Also made a nice mushroom sauce that tied things really nicely with the mash i had.
I actually have a couple of strips I bought yesterday, just put them in the fridge when I got home (distracted). I'll salt one now so I can cook it in about three hours. Thanks for the inspiration.
3:30 Strange that you ask that question in the first video I brought up after watching a biography of the Marquis de Sade... Just turned out that way, the wonders of the recommendations algorithm...
I brined around 4-5 hrs prior to cooking these last couple days. I'm no expert but I was very happy with the steaks. Thanx for these videos. I love the side by side style. There's clearly alot of work going into these videos. Good channel.
@@BehindTheFoodTV that would be an awesome follow up to really dial in what that perfect brine is. Thnx for the reply. I look forward to watching and learning more from the channel
@@BehindTheFoodTV That would be a good test. I have seen most people brine between 45min to 1 day. At these points it is probably personal choice on how they want the taste. Might want your expert opinion on this in term of salt, crustiness, and beef flavor
The other day I dry brined some ribeyes with salt pepper & garlic for 3 days and they tasted weird. Hardly tasted the beef flavor. Will keep doing it for 1-3 hours.
The surfaces should dry out during the smoking stage of the reverse sear - but if the meat is still sweating at that point then yes definitely pat it dry.
Would be nice to compare 1hr, 2hr, 4hr, 8hr times -- 24hr seems like pushing the maximum. Are you still doing 24hr nowadays, or have your thoughts changed?
Hi EMV/Al, love your content! Just a clarification, isn't all that dryness from the fridge's circulating air? I dry-brine all the time but keep my meat either covered or in a zip lock and it works just fine. It seems to me that the gradual changes in your experiment are from the air, not the salt aka not the dry-brine. Cheers and keep on with your excellent channel!
Hi Alex. Interesting thought. You definitely need the dry air for the first day to get the excess out. I do wonder if I put it in a bag after the first day if it would co to us to develop flavor without getting funky. Sounds like another test is in order!
I salted and seasoned a 13 lb prime rib, left it in the fridge for 5 days that’s in the oven right now. I figured because it’s a larger piece of meat I can get away with longer and not as much funk. Hope it turns out well. Doing 225 F all the way through to 125-130.
@@BehindTheFoodTV honestly not too much funk. There was a bit of discoloration on the outside but overall I don’t think the flavor was all that different. If I do try this again I might separate the rib cap and dry brine both pieces separately for better flavor.
Excellent video man! It was well put together and to the point. My only criticism is I wish you would have done a blind taste test where you did not tell them the difference beforehand. I appreciate you taking the time to make this
My experience cooking whole beef tenderloins and prime ribs, so salt not applied on the cut faces of the meat. 24 hours very good, 48 hours best, 72 hours really similar to 48 hours. Haven't done longer.
Makes sense - that extra day for the salt to penetrate when you're not salting the face probably does a lot of good. Maybe I should cook a couple of whole prime ribs to test for sure?
I prefer to sear my steaks first on the Green Egg at around 600 deg for about a minute or so per side, then close all the vents and continue cooking (and turning) until mid-rare--generally a couple of more minutes per side depending on cut and thickness. Presumably this method (as opposed to reverse-searing) would also work with dry-brining?
This would absolutely work with dry brining - but you should do a side-by-side comparison of the 2 methods. I've found that reverse sear is much more flavorful than searing first. I did a video a couple of years ago (warning it was early in my RUclips career so it might be a little cringy lol) testing just that: ruclips.net/video/mdkmyb7daeI/видео.html
Depending on the thickness 6 to 24 hours works best for me. I once got too busy and had to make a steak 2 days after salting and it started taking on a cured flavor and texture. I like cured meats when I'm in the mood but not cured steak.
Doing a 24 hour dry brine for tomorrow’s cook. I’ll let you know what my 4 taste testers think! Can you tell me about your cutting board? I’m in the market for a new one.
@@Pops1959 Good luck! Please do let me know what they think! The cutting board I used outside is from Dalstrong. The same people who make my knives. This link will get you to the product - page - but more importantly it will also save you 10% on everything site-wide at Dalstrong.com! emv4.me/DalstrongBoard
Hi everyone love the video but I have a question!!! When you say the psalm pool the moisture out what exactly do you mean ? The salt keep all the juice in side the steak am I right?
Thanks! Actually, both statements are true. The salt pulls the excess water to the surface where it evaporates. At the same time the water in the meat will pull the salt in, where the salt can help keep the right amount of moisture in the meat. Make sense?
I think I'm gonna dry brine for about 9 hours in salt and pepper, then I have the idea of cutting them up into cube steak and cook them in a nonstick pan on high heat, drain off the grease into a saucepan and add some flower, heavy cream and Colby jack cheese to make a cheese sauce
Hi Creeper. If you're going to cut them up anyway, I'd do it before dry brining so you can get the surface nice and dry on all sides of your cubes before searing them. Also save the pepper until after they dry brine - the meat won't absorb it anyway so it will just get in the way. You can use a binder (tallow, oil, etc. - just not water) if you're worried about the pepper sticking, but since you're going to high-heat sear you can always just put the pepper in whatever oil or fat you're going to use in the pan. Good luck!
Smaller cut I do 1-3 days. Thick cut ribeyes that I cut myself I do 3-5 days. It’s so good and I’m obsessed with this method. Been doing it for years and it gives the best crust and the best flavor.
I will say though I do mine in the fridge and none of my steaks ever look like yours within that time frame. Are you putting this in a dry ager? Guga did the same thing on his and his steak at 1 week looked almost inedible. A regular fridge is the way to go.
Hi Alan. First of all way to go on having the correctly spelled form "Alan"! Now for your question - I use kosher salt because the grains are consistent in size so I know what I'm going to get. You can use sea salt, but because it's flaky and every flake is different you run the risk of "salty spots" in the food - so be careful. - Al(an)
Good question, Mike. These aren’t aged long enough for the mold and desiccation to form like it does with dry aging. So no extra trimming is necessary.
Hi Ed - as a rule I sear for 3 minutes total with a target grate temp around 550°F. 45 seconds, flip, 45 seconds, flip and turn 45°, 45 seconds, flip, 45 seconds, remove and rest again. Hope this helps!
Thanks. I use Morton's Kosher salt, but i'm experimenting with Diamond Crystal. If you follow this video's instructions though the measurements are for Morton's.
Hi Andrea! Great observation. I think the basics are probably the same, but with only 5 days the flavors were unrefined - frankly a little nasty. A properly dry aged steak has a funky flavor too, but it’s funky like a well developed blue cheese - this was more like limburger. But thinking about this maybe I should do a dry aging experiment………
fav way to make ribeyes. 😋 i dry brine for 24 hours, sometimes a few hours more… sea salt, cracked pepper, garlic powder & ancho chile powder. finish with garlic butter of course. medium/medium well.. 🔥 🍴 🙌🏾
Hoping you are using real salt. Sea salt they sell in the stores is heavily filled with metals and tastes unnatural. Check out Redmond real salt, you will thank me later.
Absolutely, David. The 1 Day steak was the most tender and juicy. I think (educated guess) that removing the water allows the fat to render undisturbed. But beyond that 1 day they started to toughen up a little. Not bad by any means but definitely less “perfect”. Thanks for watching and asking such a good question!
BTW...you can "brine" with ANY dry seasoning so keep the taste good without rinsing. Try out 50% pepper, 25%salt, & 25% Lawrys seasoned salt. That way no rinsing is involved because of 50% less salt brining. Just a heads up 👍🥩🍻
Hi again, Bruce! I actually have an experiment planned of brining with different ingredients to test the rate of absorption. There are some who say that larger molecules don't absorb as easily as salt - we'll see won't we!
@tipisnumba1 hey man - I actually moved that over to my new channel. Here’s the link: Have I Been Dry Brining Wrong All Along? ruclips.net/video/umVh-sjJSOw/видео.html
Be a lot more revealing to simply tell them that the 5 steaks were prepared differently, and ask which they preferred before they knew what was done, then tell them after. Great video though!
@@BehindTheFoodTV little known fact about cows. How do you think they get their protein? It's actually from the gut bacteria in their rumen. So technically they are eating live organisms and that is where they get the protein for all that muscle.
You admitted it weather you realize it or not. You said salted draws out the moisture, yup that's right. And that can be a good thing with beef,yuppers. But a brine is for getting moisture INTO the meat by osmosis. Curing using salt draws out using the same process of osmosis but in reverse. By reducing some of the moisture it helps to concentrate the beef flavor AND helps to dry the surface of the meat and that enhances the milliard effect. That's going to help make a excellent crust, make great grill marks and create more flavor compounds. There is a growing number of folks who are beginning to understand what and why there is a difference between cures and brines. And why these so called " dry brines " are made up terms in the cooking world. That said enjoy your trip. Looking forward to talking salmon when you get back. Have a great day. 🌤👍🍻
@@BehindTheFoodTV brine , cure . Don't matter at the moment. We got a bit of a surprise snow storm here and my pop up bbq area shelter is in jeopardy of a complete collapse. Hope I get home before that happens 😱❄❄❄
HI Al, i usually dry brine a day in advance but never get a good result when i try to reverse sear. The meat develops a cured/hammy/jerky taste during the slow cook and its quite... unpleasant. The only reason i could find online was... too much salt, but i definitely didnt use more than you did. Thoughts?
Hi Mario. Any chance you're seasoning the steaks with salt and pepper before smoking them? That's the most common mistake - dry brining and then adding salt as part of your seasoning........
Try vacuum sealing it not long after salting… Ironically, I was looking for beef curry or panang pointers, stumbled across a video from another channel from someone talking about dry brining without using the term or understanding it. Then figured I would search just to make sure I am doing it right as I learned years ago, finding this channel. Nice to see a much better, and controlled, demonstration. Back to the point, using a vacuum seal after salting still extracts some moisture but (in my experience) helps the re-absorbing of water and osmosis of the salt. However, I also using seasoning salt not just straight salt.
Also, the Doctor who did all the research and created/perfected the Sous Vide method recommends a sear just before the water bath. So, I salt and vacuum for at least a day (I forget if he ever mentioned dry brining), then if going the Sous Vide cooking route - remove, sear, chill for a bit equalize temp through, place in a vacuum bag again, then cook in water bath for a couple hours, finally finish with another (reverse) sear. I suppose that really perfects (or doubles) the Maillard reaction giving it that great taste (I either do butter/pan or out on the grill for a few minutes). I forget the name of the scientist, but his research is easy to find - and for me, it makes getting the steak prepared at my desired temp and taste perfect almost every time; it just takes much more planning and effort. My mistakes usually come with the less common cuts of meats as I have been on a mission lately to perfect taste and texture with less expensive cuts. The errors go in my next batch of chili and always taste great afterwards.
Yeah I think I'd remove that Pellicle from the 5 day. I think that pellicle skin is nasty. Personally I'd treat it like any other dry aged meat with the pellicle formed. Some people find uses for it, but I would personally leave it off my steak. The remaining meat would have a much beefier flavor with out that nastiness. Just my preference.
You should have made the experiment blind. Meaning they don't know anything about different cuts, they just see numbers and they evaluate them. Like the cut №1 - 7 of 10, the cut №2 - 8 of 10 and so on.
If I had the thirty thousand dollars worth of equiptment you have, I would definintely cook the way you do! LOL I didn't see you let the steak rest. Why not?
😂 you don’t need all of what I have. You can do this with one grill. And I filmed it 3 years ago so no idea about showing resting, but I rest every steak between smoking and searing.
What happens if you're feeding a whole bunch of the funky bunch? So interesting the dramatically different effect. We might try out the one day, as that sounds roughly to our taste. Thanks for this Al... those branding irons came in so handy! Nicely done!
Hi Susan! I love my friend Aya but I can’t endorse her taste in steak lol. With your well developed palate you’ll really enjoy the 1 day. But if you have a whole funky bunch? Do a whole roast! Thanks for watching! -Al
I feel like you ruined the control by telling them the various times before tasting. That being said, I am very impressed with the young girl and her comments!
I do not get the hype. I dry brined my steak for one day. Allowed it to rest on counter to room temperature and then on a very hot grill. Cooked it to rare. This is the 2nd time I’ve tried this and got the same result. The steak was dry and the flavor was not anything special. My preferred method is allow steak to get to room temp, get the grill very hot, salt the steak and throw it on the grill. The steak is juicy and full of flavor. So, again….I don’t get the hype.
You bring up an interesting question - and that is doneness. The moisture in a medium-rare or above steak is from the fat and connective tissue rendering, which starts happening about 122F but really isn't a complete process until near 130F. So without the benefit of the rendered fat, could dry brining make the meat too dry because there's no rendered fat to replace the water? Seems like another experiment is in order!
@@BeQuietBeProfessional that likely explains it. But I just talked to my team and they agree this will be a good test so we are going to get it on the schedule - so stay tuned!
I think the fact that you smoked them for so long negates the advantages of a longer dry brine. The longer you dry brine the dryer the skin gets and thus the easier to sear. If you were to just grill these over a very hot grill you'd notice a better crust on the dryer ones. Since you smoked them for an hour before searing them over very hot flames, the difference was negligible after an hour in the smoker.
I’m sorry your life isn’t exciting enough for you to be able to celebrate with us. If that changes please come back and watch more videos on my channel. We will toast you!
@@BehindTheFoodTV I am sorry you are so soft brained that you think slivers of meat are something you clink lol Ridiculous! I bet you wish upon the first meatball you see tonight lol
The 3 day steak had "funkyness" becuase you were kind of dry aging it. those processes dry out the meat so you get a better crust and provide that umami flavor. IMO this voided the experiement. If you wanted to test pre-salting you should have wrapped the meat up in cling-wrap when put in the fridge. You dont get that dry age effect which skews results. FWIW , ive teested this ... 1 hour is good, 24 hours is better, 48 hours is best and anythuing more than 48 hours makes no difference in terms of salting. again, once you let the steak rest open air in the firdge, you begin processes involved in dry aging which provides a variable that skews any perceived changes you want to attribute to salting. i dont have a YT channel and even i know this. CMON man.
I like the general idea, but you should have had control samples by "aging" one cut in the fridge for the same amount of time WITHOUT salt to fully demonstrate the effect.
Hi samborlon. The test was actually a time test - but if you'd like to see a salt vs no salt test you should watch this one :-) ruclips.net/video/Ox8KI-ivEYk/видео.html
Watch ruclips.net/video/lj3fRd3ehEE/видео.html next! (Ribeye on a Stick - Beef Back Ribs)
Watching it at 2am on an empty stomach really isn't the best idea! I'm coming over!
Come on over, Lana - we have extra!
@@BehindTheFoodTVno fucking rizz
Fr I got so hungry watching this at literally 2:45 AM😂
4:27am
There's no law against late night grilling.
That open fire sear looked really fun to do!
I usually do 6 to 36 hour dry brine myself, glad you made this video to help inform others Al!
It was fun for sure! Happy Holidays, Paul - and may you and yours all have an amazing 2022!
Happy Holidays!
I cooked steak once a few years ago and thought nah id leave it to the steakhouses as it wasnt that good. A few months ago i bought two steaks and decided to cook/prep them recently. I looked up different methods and learnt about dry brining, pan searing, basting and temps to cook to. The first one i brined for about an hour and it was genuinely the best steak ive ever had at that point. That was until the next day when i had the 24 hour brined steak. That first bite felt like i was dipped in heaven. Didn't take much research to learn, ive been to many steakhouses but i dont think ill ever go back especially when the steaks i got from the butchers were less than 20% the cost of a lowend steakhouse and probably 1000% the flavour. Also made a nice mushroom sauce that tied things really nicely with the mash i had.
Proud of you!
Great video! Instant sub. Love how you bring the neighbors over for a taste test. Sweet little family!
Thanks Ryan! Welcome!
I actually have a couple of strips I bought yesterday, just put them in the fridge when I got home (distracted). I'll salt one now so I can cook it in about three hours.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Glad it worked out!
3:30 Strange that you ask that question in the first video I brought up after watching a biography of the Marquis de Sade...
Just turned out that way, the wonders of the recommendations algorithm...
LMAO
I love your channel this helps a lot.
Thanks for the kind words!
Glad to hear 1 day was great and 1 hour was better than nothing. I not great a planning dinner a week out, but tomorrow I can do.
I’m with you Keith. Often I don’t decide I want steak until it’s time to cook. Having that 1 hour fallback really makes it easier!
I brined around 4-5 hrs prior to cooking these last couple days. I'm no expert but I was very happy with the steaks. Thanx for these videos. I love the side by side style. There's clearly alot of work going into these videos. Good channel.
Thanks, Randy! Maybe I should try another cook with 1 hour, 4 hours, 8 hours, and 24 hours? Added to the list! And thanks for the kind words! -Al
@@BehindTheFoodTV that would be an awesome follow up to really dial in what that perfect brine is. Thnx for the reply. I look forward to watching and learning more from the channel
@@BehindTheFoodTV That would be a good test. I have seen most people brine between 45min to 1 day. At these points it is probably personal choice on how they want the taste. Might want your expert opinion on this in term of salt, crustiness, and beef flavor
The other day I dry brined some ribeyes with salt pepper & garlic for 3 days and they tasted weird. Hardly tasted the beef flavor. Will keep doing it for 1-3 hours.
love the branding iron ... very unique!
Nice Fly on number four whilst branding ;)
LOL more protein :-)
You are doing gods work.
Bless you.
What a cool idea! You must have some happy neighbors 🍻
Hahaha let’s just say nobody complains about the smell of smoke!
Shouldn't they be dry brined on a plate so that moisture can work its way back in?
Nope! The moisture in a moist steak isn’t water - it’s rendered intramuscular fat. No need for that water.
When in ths smoker, are you dry air smoking or with a pan of water? are you using wood to smoke the whole time or just for the 250 degree heat?
I usually dry brine for an hour. Question is do I pat dry the steaks after to make them as dry as possible to get a crust?
The surfaces should dry out during the smoking stage of the reverse sear - but if the meat is still sweating at that point then yes definitely pat it dry.
I was surprised you could eat a steak after 5 days. Is that the limit time-wise for a steak to still be editable?
Would be nice to compare 1hr, 2hr, 4hr, 8hr times -- 24hr seems like pushing the maximum. Are you still doing 24hr nowadays, or have your thoughts changed?
Hi EMV/Al, love your content! Just a clarification, isn't all that dryness from the fridge's circulating air? I dry-brine all the time but keep my meat either covered or in a zip lock and it works just fine. It seems to me that the gradual changes in your experiment are from the air, not the salt aka not the dry-brine.
Cheers and keep on with your excellent channel!
Hi Alex. Interesting thought. You definitely need the dry air for the first day to get the excess out. I do wonder if I put it in a bag after the first day if it would co to us to develop flavor without getting funky. Sounds like another test is in order!
@@BehindTheFoodTV Another experiment sounds good to me - gotta love them! Thanks for replying, God bless you and your family :)
helpful, thanks
I know I am splitting hairs but I have heard a ton of good things about half a day. 12 hour dry brine was pretty good when I tried.
I salted and seasoned a 13 lb prime rib, left it in the fridge for 5 days that’s in the oven right now. I figured because it’s a larger piece of meat I can get away with longer and not as much funk. Hope it turns out well. Doing 225 F all the way through to 125-130.
How did it turn out? Was it a little funky like mine?
@@BehindTheFoodTV honestly not too much funk. There was a bit of discoloration on the outside but overall I don’t think the flavor was all that different. If I do try this again I might separate the rib cap and dry brine both pieces separately for better flavor.
@LumiLunar did you see my new ribeye breakdown video from a few weeks ago? That might give you some ideas…….
Branding for identification is the key.
Also I think I grew more manly chest hair when I did that!
Excellent video man! It was well put together and to the point. My only criticism is I wish you would have done a blind taste test where you did not tell them the difference beforehand. I appreciate you taking the time to make this
Thanks glad you enjoyed it!
My experience cooking whole beef tenderloins and prime ribs, so salt not applied on the cut faces of the meat. 24 hours very good, 48 hours best, 72 hours really similar to 48 hours. Haven't done longer.
Makes sense - that extra day for the salt to penetrate when you're not salting the face probably does a lot of good. Maybe I should cook a couple of whole prime ribs to test for sure?
Cool video! I learned from it.
Thanks! So what's your preference? Are you a 1 day guy like me?
Great test Al! They all looked good!
Thanks, Brian! Really appreciate your support!
@@BehindTheFoodTV That smoker has some tricks up it’s sleeves! Searing by campfire was awesome!! Merry Christmas EMV
Your by far one of the best steak channels I've seen on RUclips thanks for all your work so I at home don't ruin 100.00 dollar steak at home lol.
Thanks so much for the kind words, Armand! What did you decide? 1 Hour, 1 Day, 3 Days?
1 day to 2 days Maximum depending on how thick the cut is ie ( more than 1-1/4 to 1-1/2)
I prefer to sear my steaks first on the Green Egg at around 600 deg for about a minute or so per side, then close all the vents and continue cooking (and turning) until mid-rare--generally a couple of more minutes per side depending on cut and thickness. Presumably this method (as opposed to reverse-searing) would also work with dry-brining?
This would absolutely work with dry brining - but you should do a side-by-side comparison of the 2 methods. I've found that reverse sear is much more flavorful than searing first. I did a video a couple of years ago (warning it was early in my RUclips career so it might be a little cringy lol) testing just that: ruclips.net/video/mdkmyb7daeI/видео.html
At what temperature do people keep the dry brined steaks for a week? Don’t they go bad?
They don’t - just keep them in the refrigerator which should be around 34F.
Depending on the thickness 6 to 24 hours works best for me. I once got too busy and had to make a steak 2 days after salting and it started taking on a cured flavor and texture. I like cured meats when I'm in the mood but not cured steak.
Sounds like your experience is similar to mine. Thanks for watching!
I usually try to rub around 6 hours before the cook. Never tried a 24 hour or longer dry brine. I’ll have to give it a try!
This was such a fun experiment - and IMO it was really clear that the extra time helped. Let me know what you think when you try it!
Doing a 24 hour dry brine for tomorrow’s cook. I’ll let you know what my 4 taste testers think! Can you tell me about your cutting board? I’m in the market for a new one.
@@Pops1959 Good luck! Please do let me know what they think! The cutting board I used outside is from Dalstrong. The same people who make my knives. This link will get you to the product - page - but more importantly it will also save you 10% on everything site-wide at Dalstrong.com! emv4.me/DalstrongBoard
The 24 hour dry brine was a hit! I did a reverse sear filet, it was awesome.
Thanks for the link!
Awesome! You know comments like this come in at strange times. I’m having a really hard day and you just made it a little better. Thanks for that! -Al
Wish that you would've weighted the meats prior & after brine. That would've told us the content of water that was lost.
You are right - I wish I had thought of that! Thanks for watching, Bruce!
Hi everyone love the video but I have a question!!! When you say the psalm pool the moisture out what exactly do you mean ? The salt keep all the juice in side the steak am I right?
Thanks! Actually, both statements are true. The salt pulls the excess water to the surface where it evaporates. At the same time the water in the meat will pull the salt in, where the salt can help keep the right amount of moisture in the meat. Make sense?
Great vid. Learned plenty from this 🦍
Thanks Chief!
What was the name of his smoker?
Costco isn’t grass fed is it. Is that as healthy?
That depends on your perspective. If you’re on a low-fat diet you might find the leaner (and therefore less flavorful) grass-fed beef to be healthier.
I think I'm gonna dry brine for about 9 hours in salt and pepper, then I have the idea of cutting them up into cube steak and cook them in a nonstick pan on high heat, drain off the grease into a saucepan and add some flower, heavy cream and Colby jack cheese to make a cheese sauce
Hi Creeper. If you're going to cut them up anyway, I'd do it before dry brining so you can get the surface nice and dry on all sides of your cubes before searing them. Also save the pepper until after they dry brine - the meat won't absorb it anyway so it will just get in the way. You can use a binder (tallow, oil, etc. - just not water) if you're worried about the pepper sticking, but since you're going to high-heat sear you can always just put the pepper in whatever oil or fat you're going to use in the pan. Good luck!
@@BehindTheFoodTV so I did wind up cutting them into cube steak and dry brining for around 11 hour I'm about to cook them wish me luck lol
Smaller cut I do 1-3 days. Thick cut ribeyes that I cut myself I do 3-5 days. It’s so good and I’m obsessed with this method. Been doing it for years and it gives the best crust and the best flavor.
I will say though I do mine in the fridge and none of my steaks ever look like yours within that time frame. Are you putting this in a dry ager? Guga did the same thing on his and his steak at 1 week looked almost inedible. A regular fridge is the way to go.
Does it make difference using sea salt vs kosher?
Hi Alan. First of all way to go on having the correctly spelled form "Alan"! Now for your question - I use kosher salt because the grains are consistent in size so I know what I'm going to get. You can use sea salt, but because it's flaky and every flake is different you run the risk of "salty spots" in the food - so be careful. - Al(an)
2 days is the longest I like to go. It gets too chewy after that for me
I'm with you. I'll go 3 sometimes, but 1-2 is the way.
@@BehindTheFoodTV if, for some reason, I don’t get to cook it after two days I wrap it in plastic wrap now, so that it doesn’t dry out any further
Aren't you supposed to trim off that rind before cooking the steaks like after dry aging?
Good question, Mike. These aren’t aged long enough for the mold and desiccation to form like it does with dry aging. So no extra trimming is necessary.
I'm wondering how long you reverse seared in "inferno" mode?
Hi Ed - as a rule I sear for 3 minutes total with a target grate temp around 550°F. 45 seconds, flip, 45 seconds, flip and turn 45°, 45 seconds, flip, 45 seconds, remove and rest again. Hope this helps!
you dont need to trim it at all after 5 days dry brining?
I had the same thought.
I love one day for all chicken, beef and pork.
great video , what salt would you recommend ?
Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Thanks. I use Morton's Kosher salt, but i'm experimenting with Diamond Crystal. If you follow this video's instructions though the measurements are for Morton's.
Do you thaw before brining?
Yes. I don't think the salt would penetrate otherwise.
'funky' is how dry aged are described in restaurants, no? We like about 24 hrs. that bark? Devine!
Hi Andrea! Great observation. I think the basics are probably the same, but with only 5 days the flavors were unrefined - frankly a little nasty. A properly dry aged steak has a funky flavor too, but it’s funky like a well developed blue cheese - this was more like limburger. But thinking about this maybe I should do a dry aging experiment………
@@BehindTheFoodTV you know we'll watch that one!
ps, Sam announced he's ready for a brisket!
@@AndreaShink OMG that’s awesome! Does he have temp control down now?
@@BehindTheFoodTV I dont think fully, no ...
fav way to make ribeyes. 😋
i dry brine for 24 hours, sometimes a few hours more…
sea salt, cracked pepper, garlic powder & ancho chile powder.
finish with garlic butter of course.
medium/medium well.. 🔥 🍴 🙌🏾
Hoping you are using real salt. Sea salt they sell in the stores is heavily filled with metals and tastes unnatural. Check out Redmond real salt, you will thank me later.
You had me until you said medium well :-)
For real that is painful. Medium-Rare to Medium is more than enough@@BehindTheFoodTV
@@Qhemist 👀 I’ll check that out. Thx.
@@BehindTheFoodTV😂😩
did the textures of the steaks vary? Or juicyness?
Absolutely, David. The 1 Day steak was the most tender and juicy. I think (educated guess) that removing the water allows the fat to render undisturbed. But beyond that 1 day they started to toughen up a little. Not bad by any means but definitely less “perfect”. Thanks for watching and asking such a good question!
What type of salt are you using?
Morton’s Kosher Salt
What type of salt do you recommend?
I use Morton’s kosher salt for dry brining.
Love the branding 🤣
Lol thanks!
Great experiment. Definitely agree there is such thing as too much of a good thing
Thanks, James! Let me know if you want to borrow my branding irons!
:0
For me 48 hrs is the sweet spot
Love it. Thanks for watching!
That fly gave it extra flavor!
😂
BTW...you can "brine" with ANY dry seasoning so keep the taste good without rinsing. Try out 50% pepper, 25%salt, & 25% Lawrys seasoned salt. That way no rinsing is involved because of 50% less salt brining. Just a heads up 👍🥩🍻
Hi again, Bruce! I actually have an experiment planned of brining with different ingredients to test the rate of absorption. There are some who say that larger molecules don't absorb as easily as salt - we'll see won't we!
@@BehindTheFoodTVcan you put the link for that experiment?
@tipisnumba1 hey man - I actually moved that over to my new channel. Here’s the link: Have I Been Dry Brining Wrong All Along?
ruclips.net/video/umVh-sjJSOw/видео.html
Be a lot more revealing to simply tell them that the 5 steaks were prepared differently, and ask which they preferred before they knew what was done, then tell them after. Great video though!
You're probably right Adam. How cool that they didn't agree though right?
@@davidcuster1992 lol yup. The cows and pigs are Vegans and we eat them!
@@BehindTheFoodTV little known fact about cows. How do you think they get their protein? It's actually from the gut bacteria in their rumen. So technically they are eating live organisms and that is where they get the protein for all that muscle.
You admitted it weather you realize it or not. You said salted draws out the moisture, yup that's right. And that can be a good thing with beef,yuppers. But a brine is for getting moisture INTO the meat by osmosis. Curing using salt draws out using the same process of osmosis but in reverse. By reducing some of the moisture it helps to concentrate the beef flavor AND helps to dry the surface of the meat and that enhances the milliard effect. That's going to help make a excellent crust, make great grill marks and create more flavor compounds. There is a growing number of folks who are beginning to understand what and why there is a difference between cures and brines. And why these so called " dry brines " are made up terms in the cooking world. That said enjoy your trip. Looking forward to talking salmon when you get back. Have a great day. 🌤👍🍻
Haha Oh, Victor. :-). It will be a fun conversation when I return indeed! -Al
@@BehindTheFoodTV brine , cure . Don't matter at the moment. We got a bit of a surprise snow storm here and my pop up bbq area shelter is in jeopardy of a complete collapse. Hope I get home before that happens 😱❄❄❄
HI Al, i usually dry brine a day in advance but never get a good result when i try to reverse sear. The meat develops a cured/hammy/jerky taste during the slow cook and its quite... unpleasant. The only reason i could find online was... too much salt, but i definitely didnt use more than you did. Thoughts?
Hi Mario. Any chance you're seasoning the steaks with salt and pepper before smoking them? That's the most common mistake - dry brining and then adding salt as part of your seasoning........
Try vacuum sealing it not long after salting… Ironically, I was looking for beef curry or panang pointers, stumbled across a video from another channel from someone talking about dry brining without using the term or understanding it. Then figured I would search just to make sure I am doing it right as I learned years ago, finding this channel. Nice to see a much better, and controlled, demonstration. Back to the point, using a vacuum seal after salting still extracts some moisture but (in my experience) helps the re-absorbing of water and osmosis of the salt. However, I also using seasoning salt not just straight salt.
Also, the Doctor who did all the research and created/perfected the Sous Vide method recommends a sear just before the water bath. So, I salt and vacuum for at least a day (I forget if he ever mentioned dry brining), then if going the Sous Vide cooking route - remove, sear, chill for a bit equalize temp through, place in a vacuum bag again, then cook in water bath for a couple hours, finally finish with another (reverse) sear. I suppose that really perfects (or doubles) the Maillard reaction giving it that great taste (I either do butter/pan or out on the grill for a few minutes). I forget the name of the scientist, but his research is easy to find - and for me, it makes getting the steak prepared at my desired temp and taste perfect almost every time; it just takes much more planning and effort. My mistakes usually come with the less common cuts of meats as I have been on a mission lately to perfect taste and texture with less expensive cuts. The errors go in my next batch of chili and always taste great afterwards.
Mighta needed to cut the pellicle off...
Leah looked sooo happy to be there. 🤣
Yeah I think I'd remove that Pellicle from the 5 day. I think that pellicle skin is nasty. Personally I'd treat it like any other dry aged meat with the pellicle formed. Some people find uses for it, but I would personally leave it off my steak. The remaining meat would have a much beefier flavor with out that nastiness.
Just my preference.
Makes sense, Trevor. Pretty crazy that Aya liked that funk, right?
Of course you have branding irons!
24 hours in the fridge is my standard on all cuts and it seems to work quite well/consistently.
Lol have you ordered yours yet? 😎
I'm salivating like a dog !
A dog who eats well apparently!
I am a 1h guy, too.
Hi Bernard! Have you tried longer?
@@BehindTheFoodTV yes with vacuum seal
I can't be the only one who saw that fly on the steak at 3:16 ...
You should have made the experiment blind. Meaning they don't know anything about different cuts, they just see numbers and they evaluate them. Like the cut №1 - 7 of 10, the cut №2 - 8 of 10 and so on.
Great experiment👍 I think I'll aim for 24 hours or less😊
Hi Bobbi! I wholeheartedly agree with your choice!
Freezing the steaks initially ruined the experiment, just fyi
Hi Katie. I'm not sure how you would pull this off without freezing them, but I'd love to hear what you find if you ever try it! -Al
If I had the thirty thousand dollars worth of equiptment you have, I would definintely cook the way you do! LOL I didn't see you let the steak rest. Why not?
😂 you don’t need all of what I have. You can do this with one grill. And I filmed it 3 years ago so no idea about showing resting, but I rest every steak between smoking and searing.
@@BehindTheFoodTV Best looking steak I have ever seen.
12hr brine is best
What happens if you're feeding a whole bunch of the funky bunch? So interesting the dramatically different effect. We might try out the one day, as that sounds roughly to our taste. Thanks for this Al... those branding irons came in so handy! Nicely done!
Hi Susan! I love my friend Aya but I can’t endorse her taste in steak lol. With your well developed palate you’ll really enjoy the 1 day. But if you have a whole funky bunch? Do a whole roast! Thanks for watching! -Al
Brilliant video.
Only I wouldn’t touch my vegan with them gloves.
Haha, noted! Keep those gloves away from your vegan then!
😁@@BehindTheFoodTV
I feel like you ruined the control by telling them the various times before tasting. That being said, I am very impressed with the young girl and her comments!
I do not get the hype. I dry brined my steak for one day. Allowed it to rest on counter to room temperature and then on a very hot grill. Cooked it to rare. This is the 2nd time I’ve tried this and got the same result. The steak was dry and the flavor was not anything special. My preferred method is allow steak to get to room temp, get the grill very hot, salt the steak and throw it on the grill. The steak is juicy and full of flavor. So, again….I don’t get the hype.
You bring up an interesting question - and that is doneness. The moisture in a medium-rare or above steak is from the fat and connective tissue rendering, which starts happening about 122F but really isn't a complete process until near 130F. So without the benefit of the rendered fat, could dry brining make the meat too dry because there's no rendered fat to replace the water? Seems like another experiment is in order!
Hmmm. Interesting. I do eat my steaks very rare. I pulled it when the center was 110 degrees.
@@BeQuietBeProfessional that likely explains it. But I just talked to my team and they agree this will be a good test so we are going to get it on the schedule - so stay tuned!
Dry brine is the only way to do it imo.
You are correct!
no no no don’t put fire on the steak directly 😢
I think the fact that you smoked them for so long negates the advantages of a longer dry brine.
The longer you dry brine the dryer the skin gets and thus the easier to sear.
If you were to just grill these over a very hot grill you'd notice a better crust on the dryer ones.
Since you smoked them for an hour before searing them over very hot flames, the difference was negligible after an hour in the smoker.
Interesting theory.
its funky and ou dance?!?!?! WTF are you trying to say?!?!?!?
This dog uses around 5 hours to infuse salt and draw out wetness
Woof woof! Try 24 hours - you might be surprised!
@@BehindTheFoodTV or forget the next day my steaks are for dinner and go out to eat
Thanks Tim Curry!
Lol
I really do not like internet "grill music".
Swiss army custom
#TeamQuickCure and great to know
It pained me to hit the like button but I could never dislike one from you!
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Well said!
Kansas City strip...
KC strip is great too! The bone imparts amazing flavors!
cheers? CHEERS??? When TF did "cheers" apply to slivers of MEAT??? WHEN?
I’m sorry your life isn’t exciting enough for you to be able to celebrate with us. If that changes please come back and watch more videos on my channel. We will toast you!
@@BehindTheFoodTV I am sorry you are so soft brained that you think slivers of meat are something you clink lol
Ridiculous! I bet you wish upon the first meatball you see tonight lol
You froze it??? Your steak is all ready compromised…
That’s a lot of salt!
The 3 day steak had "funkyness" becuase you were kind of dry aging it. those processes dry out the meat so you get a better crust and provide that umami flavor. IMO this voided the experiement. If you wanted to test pre-salting you should have wrapped the meat up in cling-wrap when put in the fridge. You dont get that dry age effect which skews results.
FWIW , ive teested this ... 1 hour is good, 24 hours is better, 48 hours is best and anythuing more than 48 hours makes no difference in terms of salting. again, once you let the steak rest open air in the firdge, you begin processes involved in dry aging which provides a variable that skews any perceived changes you want to attribute to salting.
i dont have a YT channel and even i know this. CMON man.
Why don't you have a YT channel?
@@BehindTheFoodTV because i have a real job :-P
I like the general idea, but you should have had control samples by "aging" one cut in the fridge for the same amount of time WITHOUT salt to fully demonstrate the effect.
Hi samborlon. The test was actually a time test - but if you'd like to see a salt vs no salt test you should watch this one :-) ruclips.net/video/Ox8KI-ivEYk/видео.html
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