How do you marinade your steak?

[Mobsta]

I note many of you salt and pepper your steaks, sometimes without much more. We do too, and good steak is nice that way.

I'd love to hear everyone's marinade recipes regardless, especially tips on marinading a 'plain steak'

I agree, plain steak should not be curry, wine or herb infused, but take lamb shish for example, from the kebab shops. It tastes like plain lamb with no obvious alien flavours, but the simple marinade (salt being the most obvious ingredient) ensures the skewers come off packed with flavour, but taste far less plain than Unmarinaded lamb.

So beyond salt, pepper... How would you marinade a steak for extra flavour without fundamentally changing the steak.

And does anyone else marinade before freezing?

[Mastodon2]

Lots of rock salt, pepper and Tobasco, on a plate with cling film on at room temp. The salt draws moisture out of the steak over the course of a couple of hours, helping to prevent "soggy steak syndrome", pour the liquid off and leave it for a while. The salt gives a really nice crust and the tobasco gives it a tangy, slightly spicey edge.

I don't go for sauces with steaks really, I like to taste the meat, so all I do is prep the meat how I like it and leave the creamy sauces well alone.

[Marf]

Equal parts fresh ground black pepper, rock salt, paprika, mustard, ground to a powder in a pestle and morter and applied liberally to the steak.

I'm also not one for sauces with steak.

[Pints]

For a longer standing marinade, I'll include soy sauce, a choice of pepper sauce and a dose of balsamic vinegar.

If it's just heading for a bbq, I'll top it up with brown sauce.

[anonymous-user]

Garlic, Rosemary, Black pepper and a little salt mixed up in a bag with lots of olive/rapeseed oil. Put steak in bag and give it a good massage and leave for a good while! mmmm

[Pints]

MonkeyMatt said:

lots of olive/rapeseed oil.

Good point. Olive oil is a given - also helps the steak from sticking to the grill.

[Thom987]

Good steak needs nothing in my opinion.

[Pints]

Thom987 said:

Good steak needs nothing in my opinion.

Read the OP. I believe he was referring to when a steak is less than good.

[Thom987]

Pints said:

Thom987 said:

Good steak needs nothing in my opinion.

Read the OP. I believe he was referring to when a steak is less than good.

When steak is less than good it goes to the dog.

[Mobile Chicane]

One for the BBQ - carne asada.

[Mobsta]

Thom987 said:

Pints said:

Thom987 said:

Good steak needs nothing in my opinion.

Read the OP. I believe he was referring to when a steak is less than good.

When steak is less than good it goes to the dog.

if I wasn't buying ten percent of my own weight in high quality steak today, in the UK, I'd honestly not bother asking.

The only iffy steak Ive ever eaten is, meal by meal, the flavourless dog crap we buy here in the UK. Overseas, lll take my steak as it comes. Anywhichway is fine. Here? You've got to be joking if a single additive is not needed to bring out the best.

Sorry fella, that's the way it is. I'll leave you to it if you disagree.

[condor]

Chopped garlic and olive oil marinade here
I quite like to add the Schwarz steak seasoning mix as an afterthought too

[captainzep]

Mobile Chicane said:

One for the BBQ - carne asada.

Interesting.

Didn't know kiwi could be used as a tenderising agent.

[escargot]

Mastodon2 said:

Lots of rock salt, pepper and Tobasco, on a plate with cling film on at room temp. The salt draws moisture out of the steak over the course of a couple of hours, helping to prevent "soggy steak syndrome", pour the liquid off and leave it for a while. The salt gives a really nice crust and the tobasco gives it a tangy, slightly spicey edge.

I don't go for sauces with steaks really, I like to taste the meat, so all I do is prep the meat how I like it and leave the creamy sauces well alone.

Why, on gods green earth, would you want to remove the moisture from a steak?

Are you foreign?

[escargot]

Mobby, rub the steak with half a clove of garlic after cooking and before resting. Delightful.

[Mobile Chicane]

captainzep said:

Mobile Chicane said:

One for the BBQ - carne asada.

Interesting.

Didn't know kiwi could be used as a tenderising agent.

Along with pineapple and papaya.

The raw fruits contain enzymes which denature protein - try making a jelly with any of these and it won't set.

[Mobsta]

escargot said:

Mobby, rub the steak with half a clove of garlic after cooking and before resting. Delightful.

With my smokers shot-to-shít tastebuds, I need several rubs whilst resting. I'd never before considered rubbing after cooking, I'll try it! MB's pineapple and papaya is interesting too. Thank you for the idea!

Whilst I don't like freezing meat if I can help it, I've got a fair bit of ribeye arriving today and will have to freeze it. Unless cotty comes over for dinner. Ill probably take the conservative approach of marinating with salt, pepper, garlic and possibly a dash of wooooooooostershestestershire sauce before slicing wrapping and freezing. Ill do several pineapple marinade ingredient cuts as that sounds brilliant!

For a basic mild marinade, that sounds good, whatever direction each meal ends up going in as regards new flavours on the day of cooking.

More crazy pineapple type suggestions welcome

[Pints]

Mobsta said:

I need several rubs whilst resting.

Quoted.

[Mobsta]

Pints said:

Mobsta said:

I need several rubs whilst resting.

Quoted.

Indeed

[Mastodon2]

escargot said:

Why, on gods green earth, would you want to remove the moisture from a steak?

Are you foreign?

A bit of basic science my friend; the steak is full of water which is acting a diluent to the flavour of the steak. By drawing out some of the excess moisture (not all of it, you are only sucking a bit of moisture out, not making jerky) you are concentrating and therefore intensifying the flavour of the meat. Water is the enemy of flavour, but all foods have an optimum water content at which they will balance flavour and texture. I like my food to have intense, powerful flavors, so I adjust the water content of the steak to suit my tastes. The open grain of the muscle fibres of beef makes it particularly good at osmosis, so it can gain or lose water content quite easily

Removing some of the water makes the steak sweat less in the pan - excessively wet steak seeps moisture which steams off at the edges of the meat and I like to griddle mine as hot and dry as I can, to enhance the crust of the marinate and get a nice brown exterior and have it rare just below the first few millimeters of meat. Many chefs rest a steak under foil on a warmed plate for a minute of two before serving, upon removing the foil, you will note that the steak, no matter how well-sealed by the hot pan, will still have exuded a quantity of moisture, which is poured off and the steak served, allowing you to have a juicy, flavorsome steak, with a properly seared surface and not have to suffer soggy chips. If you have ever cooked cheap, crappy steak, which generally has a much higher water content than properly produced, hung steak, you've probably noticed that it can go that nasty gray colour on the surface when cooked, as the moisture is steaming out under the steak, creating a wet barrier between pan and steak. .

If I had a guest who preferred a soggier and less intensely flavored steak, I would happily cook it for them as they wanted it. As it is, using the method I learned I've never had anything less than lavish praise. I suppose that is one of the brilliant things about cooking, there are so many different methods you can always find something new to try, and can refine your methods to suit how you like your food.

If you have ever cooked cheap, crappy steak, which generally has a much higher water content than properly produced, hung steak, you've probably noticed that it can go that nasty gray colour on the surface when cooked, as the moisture is steaming out under the steak, creating a wet barrier between pan and steak.