Dry brining uses salt to brine meat, and the result is tender and juicy every time. Want to know how to dry brine steak? Continue to learn the simple process.
Dry brining is a straightforward process that involves salting and resting proteins before cooking to enhance their quality. This technique works particularly well on steak. You’ll find the beef juicier and more flavorful, with a better crust and superior overall texture. Despite being a simple topic, understanding how to dry brine steak involves a lot of incredible food science. The impact salt has on beef is quite impressive, and after you try a dry-brined steak, you’ll never settle for less. You’ll have to plan your steak dinners three days in advance, but it is worth it.
Why You’ll Love Dry-Brined Steak
Before we dive into how to dry brine steak, let’s discuss why you’ll love dry brining (if you need more convincing).
Amplified flavor – Salt is a flavor enhancer. It accomplishes this by decreasing water activity, resulting in more concentrated flavors.
Boosted Maillard reaction – As you probably know, the Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between sugars and proteins when exposed to intense heat. The result is the production of hundreds of flavor compounds responsible for making steak so delectable. Dry brining boosts this reaction by bringing water to the surface, where it evaporates, thus tightening up and drying out the exterior.
Juicy – Over time, salt breaks down proteins, turning them from solid to liquid, and helps the meat retain natural moisture, resulting in a juicy steak.
Space-saving prep – Dry brining steak requires minimal space in the fridge. Unlike wet brining, where you must accommodate a container large enough to hold the brining solution and meat, a baking sheet with a wire rack is all you need to dry brine.
Easy prep, incredible results – Considering the flavor payoff and the active time required to dry brine steak, there’s no reason not to do it.
Dry-Brined Steak Ingredients Notes
In addition to explaining how to dry brine steak, you’ll find instructions on how to cook the steak in the recipe card. To start, you will need steak and salt. For this recipe/guide, I used a New York strip; however, feel free to use any type of steak that you can cook hot and fast. Others include T-bone, ribeye, filet mignon, chuck steak, and picanha. As for salt, kosher or sea salt is fine. We recommend a light layer of fine salt versus a layer of coarse salt. Other than that, the recipe calls for:
- Garlic: Is there already enough flavor going on? Yes! Is there room for more? Also yes! Two minced cloves make dry-brined steak even more delicious. Garlic complements beef well.
- Oil: Oil helps achieve a nice sear on the steak by promoting more uniform surface contact between the skillet and the steak. Only a thin layer is required.
- Butter: Every good steak must be basted with some butter at the end. The flavorful fat is a nice finishing touch. Use unsalted butter to avoid an overly salty steak.
Find the complete ingredients list with measurements in the recipe card below!
How to Dry Brine Steak
- Dry: Remove the steak from the fridge and pat it dry all over with a paper towel.
- Salt: Sprinkle both sides of the steak with a light, even layer of salt, making sure not to miss any spots. There is no need to salt the sides.
- Place onto a rack: Transfer the steak to a wire rack over a baking sheet. If you want to witness the power of salt in action, wait 15 minutes before refrigerating the steak. In 5-7 minutes, you’ll observe osmosis occurring, resulting in a layer of water forming on the surface of the meat. During this process, moisture from the inside of the steak moves to the outside. Next, diffusion occurs. Diffusion causes the surface to dry out at the 10 to 15-minute mark.
- Leave to brine: Place the steak in the refrigerator and leave it to dry brine for a few days. There’s no need to flip it. The rack allows the cold air to circulate evenly.
- Cook: All you need is a hot skillet, oil, and some time. Place the steak into a searing hot skillet with oil, cook for a few minutes per side, toss in some garlic and butter, quickly baste, then rest before slicing.
Variations, Substitutions, and Cooking Tips
Feel free to add pepper – Although I prefer to add it before cooking, feel free to add black pepper at the same time as the salt. As always, freshly cracked is best.
Use any steak you like – As mentioned, any steak you can cook hot and fast will do.
Grill instead – Dry-brined steak cooks up just as beautifully on the grill. If you go this route, skip the butter basting for a dollop of compound butter, or skip it altogether.
Add herbs – A few sprigs of thyme or rosemary are a nice touch. Add the sprigs when the butter goes in.
Table salt will do – Although not recommended, you can use table salt in a pinch. Non-iodized is ideal since iodized salt imparts a bitter aftertaste that some find unpleasant.
How To Dry Brine Steak
Dry brining uses salt to brine meat, and the result is tender and juicy every time. Want to know how to dry brine steak? Continue to learn the simple process.
Ingredients
- 1 New York strip steak or similar, about 1 ½ inches thick
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper, freshly cracked
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- Pat both sides of the steak with a paper towel to remove excess moisture, then generously sprinkle kosher salt on both sides.
- Place the steak on a wire rack over a baking sheet and pop in the refrigerator uncovered for 2 days. Flip it once per day. At the 2-day mark, check to ensure it has been properly brined. The surface should be dry, but you will be able to tell that the interior is tender when you poke it. If necessary, leave it to dry brine for one more day.
- Take the dry-brined steak out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature.
- Heat a medium cast-iron pan over high heat until hot, then add the oil and wait until the oil starts to smoke.
- Meanwhile, season both sides of the steak with black pepper.
- Add the steak to the skillet and sear for 3 minutes.
- Flip and cook for 2 more minutes, then add the butter and garlic. While wearing an oven mitt, tilt the pan away from you and use a metal spoon to baste the steak with the melted butter.
- Remove the steak from the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.
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