Saturday, October 16, 2010

How to Make Steak Tender: Lessons From Your Kosher Butcher by Mark Etinger

Who doesn't like tender kosher meat? I mean seriously, isn't it great when you have a piece of steak that you can cut with your fork? That your jaw muscles never tire of chewing because you can literally dissolve the meat solely with your saliva and your tongue? When your friends and family honor you with accolades? You know the answer. Now let's ask the question: how, kosher butcher mastermind, do you tenderize steak so that it melts in your mouth? Read on, reader, and see for yourself.
--Salt: You must coat the meat in kosher salt. So that you can just barely see red. This allows the meat to absorb some of the salt, and the salt to absorb all of the extra water in the meat. This process is dubbed osmosis. It is a chemical reaction. The salt has the same effect as any kind of seasoning. But when you season, it doesn't have the chance to get into the meat unless you let it sit for a long time. When you season the steak right before you grill it, the result is that the outside is flavorful but the inside is tasteless. The steak has been steamed since all the water came to the surface and you didn't dry it. Here's how to fix that problem.
1. Marinate for an hour: For a thick piece of steak (this process only works on steaks AT LEAST 1 inch thick), you may want to let the steak sit in the salt for an hour and a half. After all that time, the water from the steak will rise to the top of the steak and drain and sit on the plate.
2. Clean: Wash the steak of the extra salt, and pat it dry. This is why the steak won't taste like a nasty salt lick.
3. Grill: If you like steak you should probably choose medium-rare or medium. Any more grilling and the steak will taste like leather.
4. Wait: Allow the steak to keep cooking for five minutes after it's off the grill. Relax, you will be enjoying tenderized kosher meat imminently.
Now to all you skeptics out there who are saying but what about all the juices? Won't the flavor be sucked out and drained away by the salt? Well, no. The finest steaks are dry aged so that the water leaves the steak and the protein and the fat mingle in a three month long dance party.
If you want an added kick, dice some garlic and lay some rosemary on the steak during the salting process. This will make for an even tastier steak.
Finally, enjoy your tender moist steak. You can try this process on a nice thick ribeye and expect the tenderness of a filet mignon.
About the Author
KosherMeatStore.com is your source for the best kosher food online. If you're looking for kosher meat delivered to your door, look no further!

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