Meat on a braai

Tests seem to say that you can either salt 1 hour before, or 5 minutes before. Salting 1 hour (or more) before is better, although salting 24 hours in advance is not necessarily worth it (I think).
 
HapticSimian said:
To be honest I don't even know on what authority I started doing that. I've never given it a second thought, but a cursory investigation does make it seem rather pointless. Cool. One less thing to worry about. I'll start giving the whole salting 24 to 48 hours ahead of time thing a go.

Huh. Is this what being wrong feels like? Why are some people so happy being wrong over so great many things. :D
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1st time you've been wrong eh ?

Go figure
 
When it comes to fillet on a braai, i always wrap it up with bacon, using cooking rope, the bacon is burnt to a crisp and the fillet inside is just perfect.
 
Very much the same as the myth that you shouldn't spice it before hand because that will dry the meat.

Unless you spice it hours in advance it makes absolutely no difference. (or I should read page 2 before commenting).


I'm no braai expert but in the pan I only flip once. That being said I load the pan with butter and then before taking it off I angle the pan and cook the fat in the boiling butter so it's nice and crispy and properly cooked.

3-4 minutes on one side and then another 3-4 on the other for medium/rare on a normally thick steak.

Like Haptic this is normally spiced with olive oil and some salt and pepper. Sometimes I'll add garlic and once in a blue moon I'll put some Jack Daniel's in the mix after the fact to give it a chateau briand vibe.
 
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HapticSimian said:
My method:
  1. Number 1 because it is most important - allow the meat to reach room temperature normally; 2 hours or so out of the fridge. I stick it in the microwave or oven (no, off) to keep flies at bay. If it's vacuum packed, matured meat I'll remove it from the packaging first.
  2. Rub with olive oil, ground salt and a bit of pepper before it hits the very hot grille or very hot griddle pan, depending on the day.
  3. Flip every 20 to 30 seconds until done to the rarer side of the scale.
  4. Rest for 3 minutes or so before serving.

I don't marinade. It spoils the taste of the meat, and vendors use it to mask poor quality cuts.
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+1

Room temperature is the very important for all meat. Its like everybody asks me how do I get it right to braai chicken perfectly without using a microwave, simple, get the meat to room temp.
 
Ancalagon said:
...

The reverse sear is where you cook meat with indirect heat until it reaches a certain temperature. Then, you sear it to impart that lovely flavour.

....

With reverse sear, the centre of the steak is slowly brought up to proper temperature, and then the outside is seared. This means that the layer of overcooked meat is much thinner - pretty much just the outside layer, instead of outside plus part of the middle.
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Cool, that explains it better and now I understand the method I'm trying to do.

Ancalagon said:
DJ will know more about this, but meat warms to room temperature far too slowly for this to be worth doing. Plus, there is far greater risk of food poisoning, because you are increasing the length of time that the meat is at the right temperature for bacteria to grow. ...
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I always put my meat in the fridge the day before to defrost, never outside (a lot of people not aware that you can use your fridge to defrost). The current temperature in the kitchen determines how long before I braai I take the meat out. If meat has been left out for too long, I always inspect it before I braai it and I always keep it seperate just in case it has gone off.
 
Ancalagon said:
To be fair, there is a degree of accuracy in the statement that searing dries meat out, and this is why the reverse sear method is popular.
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Within the context of that post it wasn't really accurate...

Ancalagon said:
The reverse sear is where you cook meat with indirect heat until it reaches a certain temperature. Then, you sear it to impart that lovely flavour.

If we look at what happens to cause meat to dry out, it is overcooking. That is, cooking it to 70C or more. The outside meat that is browned as part of the malliard reaction is by definition overcooked, but still desirable. What is not desirable is overcooked grey flesh on the inside. But that tends to happen with normal sear, because more cooking is required to make sure that the inside is the right temperature.

With reverse sear, the centre of the steak is slowly brought up to proper temperature, and then the outside is seared. This means that the layer of overcooked meat is much thinner - pretty much just the outside layer, instead of outside plus part of the middle.
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You'll find that with top chefs who sous vide steaks or who go low and slow, they initiate the Maillaid reaction first and then cut that seared portion off before giving it the final sear. Again, this is to induce the Maillard reaction's incredible chemistry into the meat. It's also impossible on a braai to work with this sort of accuracy and temp unless you have a proper commercial smoker...

Ancalagon said:
DJ will know more about this, but meat warms to room temperature far too slowly for this to be worth doing. Plus, there is far greater risk of food poisoning, because you are increasing the length of time that the meat is at the right temperature for bacteria to grow. I would never do this, although I do remove meat from its packaging an early before. I salt it and put it straight back into the fridge, loosely covered.
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If you time it properly then you're in hardly any danger, as long as you're not leaving it at room temperature for extended periods. To be honest, the science involved here is quite intricate, and it involves getting your meat the right colour. When the myogoblin in meat reacts with oxygen over a period of time, the iron content oxidises into metmyoglobin which turns the meat a dark brownish colour. Proper treatment will return the meat to a red/pink state thereafter as the remainder of the myogoblin converts to oxymyoglobin. A lot of this has to do with the temperature at which it sits as well.

Put simply, steak at room temperature will revert to its bright red state after being in the fridge for extended periods of maturing. It also helps to achieve a consistent internal temperature on a very hot sear where you turn the meat often. When you turn meat often, the heat does not penetrate deep into the meat - it in effect slowly warms the internal parts of the steak instead of cooking it traditionally. If your internal temperature is cold when using the flip-often approach, you will find yourself having to overcook/burn the steak to achieve a decent internal temperature that doesn't result in a blue steak.

If you have treated your steak well and are using a very hot skillet or braai then there is no harm in letting the meat reach room temperature before using it.

BTW, Haptic, don't assume that your microwave is a safe place for this. There will still be molecules left over from its last use and they will bind to the meat while it's in there. It is in fact one of the more unsafe methods. Rather stick it in the oven, as the oven achieves temperatures that are able to kill off many pathogens that your microwave simply doesn't. It also maintains its temperature after you remove items from it, which a microwave doesn't. The oven is a better bet if you want to allow your steaks to reach room temperature. At least in comparison to the microwave...
 
cbrunsdonza said:
I always put my meat in the fridge the day before to defrost, never outside (a lot of people not aware that you can use your fridge to defrost). The current temperature in the kitchen determines how long before I braai I take the meat out. If meat has been left out for too long, I always inspect it before I braai it and I always keep it seperate just in case it has gone off.
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The fridge is the best place to defrost everything. The ice crystals break down very slowly so they don't break the protein bonds as much as quick defrosting does, resulting in more moisture retention of the meat and a far better texture.

It also doesn't necessarily defrost all that slowly. Defrosting is about temperature differentials, not application of heat as most people believe. The laws of thermodynamics dictate this, and it is why defrosting under cold, running water will melt an ice block quicker than placing the same ice block in a pot of boiling water.

If anyone would like to know the science here, let me know. Not going to go into it unless anyone is actually interested...
 
DJ... said:
W
You'll find that with top chefs who sous vide steaks or who go low and slow, they initiate the Maillaid reaction first and then cut that seared portion off before giving it the final sear. Again, this is to induce the Maillard reaction's incredible chemistry into the meat. It's also impossible on a braai to work with this sort of accuracy and temp unless you have a proper commercial smoker...
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Yeah, I agree with this. If you're going to slow cook, introducing Maillard reactions first is the better way to go, with another sear at the end of the cook, but not many people are going to slow cook at a braai in any case, and even indirect heat on a surface as small as a braai is going to yield temperatures above 70C anyway.

Ancalagon (correctly) points out that searing at temperatures higher than 70C will dry meat but the more pertinent point is that it will dry the surface of the meat, not the inside, which meat you'll get a crust which is desirable, and moist meat inside (depending on how long you cook it).
 
I cut my steak in two. The one part I consume raw - cut into thin strips, sprinkle salt over and eat, the other part I braai just quickly on the outside.
 
Hmmm...so I was sort of braaing steak the right way, but for the wrong reasons.
My brother and I use the same technique: Stick your meat on without marinade (but with whatever spices you want)
Sear for a couple of minutes max on each side then take off, stick in marinade if you want to, and then cook whatever is left.
20-30 minutes later put steak back onto braai and cook to desired redness.

I guess what we were doing was getting the steak up to temperature and then keeping it warmish for a while so the maillard reaction could do it's thing.

Oh and the thicker the steak the better this works.
 
With regards to spices, most burn incredibly quickly on a hot braai, and almost instantly in a skillet hot enough to sear a steak properly. They turn very bitter when this happens. Best bet is to season with salt, no pepper, and apply seasonings right at the last minute if necessary.

For best results, of course...
 
HelterSkelter said:
I cut my steak in two. The one part I consume raw - cut into thin strips, sprinkle salt over and eat, the other part I braai just quickly on the outside.
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The exterior of steaks are full of pathogens that cook off when heat is applied. Probably best not to do this all of the time. You will eventually come off second best. In fact you probably have before.

Most people assume that when you're poisoned from food you're man-down, but that's not always the case. Sometimes the extra 15 minutes you spent on the loo that one day, the minor stomach issues, the mild headaches you falsely attributed to a self diagnosed wheat allergy and so on, are caused by improper handling and consumption of meat...
 
Randhir said:
Yeah, I agree with this. If you're going to slow cook, introducing Maillard reactions first is the better way to go, with another sear at the end of the cook, but not many people are going to slow cook at a braai in any case, and even indirect heat on a surface as small as a braai is going to yield temperatures above 70C anyway.

Ancalagon (correctly) points out that searing at temperatures higher than 70C will dry meat but the more pertinent point is that it will dry the surface of the meat, not the inside, which meat you'll get a crust which is desirable, and moist meat inside (depending on how long you cook it).
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The problem is that the meat dries out not just in the very outer layer, but towards the middle. That is why you end up with a steak that is crisp on the outside, then grey, then red. What you want is for the grey part to be as small as possible, which is what reverse sear does.
 
DJ... said:
The exterior of steaks are full of pathogens that cook off when heat is applied. Probably best not to do this all of the time. You will eventually come off second best. In fact you probably have before.

Most people assume that when you're poisoned from food you're man-down, but that's not always the case. Sometimes the extra 15 minutes you spent on the loo that one day, the minor stomach issues, the mild headaches you falsely attributed to a self diagnosed wheat allergy and so on, are caused by improper handling and consumption of meat...
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LOL, now you that you mention it...
I don't eat steak very often, sometimes months go by without me eating any steak.
 
Ancalagon said:
The problem is that the meat dries out not just in the very outer layer, but towards the middle. That is why you end up with a steak that is crisp on the outside, then grey, then red.
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This will happen if you aren't cooking on high enough heat, and you aren't turning regularly. It's explained very well in the Modernist Cuisine.

mcgm.jpg



Ancalagon said:
What you want is for the grey part to be as small as possible, which is what reverse sear does.
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As I said, most people don't have access to cooking methods where the temperatures are low enough to warrant this. Sous Vide cooking will benefit from this technique, but even indirect grilling on a braai will cause meat to start losing moisture, in which case you may as well sear first to aid flavour.
 
DJ... said:
The fridge is the best place to defrost everything. The ice crystals break down very slowly so they don't break the protein bonds as much as quick defrosting does, resulting in more moisture retention of the meat and a far better texture.

It also doesn't necessarily defrost all that slowly. Defrosting is about temperature differentials, not application of heat as most people believe. The laws of thermodynamics dictate this, and it is why defrosting under cold, running water will melt an ice block quicker than placing the same ice block in a pot of boiling water.

If anyone would like to know the science here, let me know. Not going to go into it unless anyone is actually interested...
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I despise microwave defrosting as it cocks up the taste. My wife and mother don't agree stating it's the exact same to them.


So when I remember I take it out the night before and leave it in the fridge. When I forget I fill the sink with hot water and just let the packet float in there fore an hour which normally does the job.
 
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