Picanha steaks: when to salt?

[DaveD]

Hey folks, my next cook is going to be a smallish picanha, just over 2lb/~1kg, that I'll slice into three steaks, which I plan to cook on the SnS kettle 2-zone style. I've done just one picanha before, but as a whole cut, this is my first steak attempt.

I've read/seen plenty of demos & how-tos, and I plan to stick with just kosher salt as the only seasoning on the meat, as is traditional in Brazil. Question is when & how to do the salting.

- Dry brine the whole cut overnight, then cut into steaks just prior to cooking

- Cut into steaks the day before, dry brine individually overnight

- Do everything right before cooking: slice into steaks, hit with salt, onto the grill.

I've gotten so accustomed to always dry brining ahead of time... Happy to have your thoughts.

[Greygoose]

I dry brine picanha steaks over nite with Brazilian rock salt,,

[Spinaker]

I cut them into steaks (if that has not been done already) the I will add a generous layer of kosher salt. then I let them sit on a wire rack, in the fridge, uncovered. Typically, I will go over night, but I have done multiple days. If I go more than one day, I will spritz it with my brisket spray. (Half-ACV, Champagne vinegar, liquid aminos and half H20) Just so they do not dry out too much. Great results!!

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

if cutting into and cooking as steaks the salt would be uneven if you salted before slicing them IMO.

[DaveD]

But if the salt had all night to diffuse all the way through the meat, as it should, wouldn't that ensure salt would be evenly distributed? Seems to me that's one of the main reasons to dry brine in the first place...

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

DaveD my thinking is you control the salt per steak better as opposed to brining the whole thing and then cooking as steaks, especially with pichana since you generally keep that generous fat cap which the salt likely won't penetrate?

[DaveD]

Agreed that the salt wouldn't penetrate the fat cap, but it wouldn't need to. If the whole cut is salted and it sits for a day, that is way more than enough time for the salt on the opposite side of the fat cap to diffuse the couple of inches from that surface inward. So all the meat *should* be evenly salted, according to info in Meathead's and others' books on how fast salt can move through meat...

[Smoked Transistors]

I dry brine the whole picanha roast with Koshire salt, pop it in the fridge for a few hours. Take it out of the fridge, lightly oil or mustard it up add course ground pepper. granulated garlic, ground onion powder. Reverse sear it at 225-250 for 1 hour or so till the internal temp hits about115 - 120 degrees. Rest it, tent foil it lightly, get your fire scorting hot and sear it. Slice it aginst the grain,and enjoy it.

[DaveD]

I definitely won't be doing the other seasonings - as said in the OP, this is going to be salt only. Just a question of when to put it on...

[shify]

If you are going to slice them into steaks before cooking, I would slice and then dry-brine. There would be no reason to dry brine it whole if you are just going to slice before cooking anyway. Might as well as get the salt on every outside layer and it would also require less time to dry brine as steaks

[DennyWoo]

My wife and I are friends with a couple that moved here from Brazil. Last summer they had us over for a cookout and did picanha steaks on the grill. They were cut to about 1 and 1/2 in thick as I recall. His method was to heavily - and I mean heavily - salt them with coarse barbecue salt right before going on to a Hot Grill and cooking them directly over the Heat. They were cooked to about medium rare to medium and when they came off the grill he just did a light tap to get the excess salt off of the meat. They were fantastic!

[synodog]

I too remember a crust of salt on the picanha in Brazil that was taken off when serving. Some persisted though and it made for some amazing bites. Mouth watering begin…

[Henrik]

I'm with DennyWoo on this one: I've done the same where you unload the salt on them, the salt kind of acts as a protectant while cooking, then dash it off. Fun, looks good, and tastes great!

[RlsRls]

In stead of rock salt, which is what I spread on my driveway, would very coarse grinding salt be a good substitute? (ungrinded of course!).

[DaveD]

Alrighty! This was a great discussion, thanks to all. My choice was to first cut into steaks, then dry brine overnight. Proof:

Unfortunately there was a divot in the fat cap.



Went for four pieces. My original idea of cutting it in thirds was not practical.

And salted.


I'll follow up with the outcome tomorrow evening! Thanks again to all the commenters!

[DTro]

Don’t forget the chimichurri

[DaveD]

That is something I have no idea how to make... might wait til next time. This is my first picanha steak attempt, keeping it low-key with the sides because I'll have my hands full cooking the steaks, I reckon.

EDIT: But, a quick peek at some recipes shows I could make it ahead of time. I shall take it under advisement

[fzxdoc]

I'm with DTro on this one, DaveD . You'll be missing out on a taste treat f there's not some chimichurri there. Also for flank steak, tri tip, etc. for that matter. There are some really good recipes for it here on The Pit. My personal twist uses Aleppo pepper in the seasoning. Make ahead of time so the flavors have a chance to dance around.

I'll post my recipe here later.

Kathryn

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Those look mouthwatering! Looking forward to the report, DaveD! For the record, I missed the chance, but my vote would have been exactly what you've done - cut, salt, wait, cook - and eat!

[fzxdoc]

Kathryn's Chimichurri Sauce:


Makes 1 cup of chimichurri:

one bunch of parsley
one bunch of cilantro
1 1/2 tsp Aleppo Pepper
1 tsp cumin
4 Tbl lemon juice
3 tsp wine vinegar
6 cloves of garlic, microwaved 30 sec
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt to taste


Directions
Wash herbs, remove the leaves and place in salad spinner. Spin dry.

Microwave the whole garlic cloves for 30 seconds to remove the rawness. Let cool.

Put herbs and garlic cloves in food processor.

Rough chop.

Add half the amount of the lemon juice and vinegar. Add the remaining ingredients except the oil. Pulse a few times. (Add more lemon juice and vinegar to taste after the oil has been added in the next step.)

Add the oil in a stream through the food tube, pulsing very lightly.

Season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Add more fresh lemon juice or Aleppo pepper as needed.


Kathryn

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Never heard of microwaving garlic??? To remove the rawness... interesting... very very interesting...

[fzxdoc]

DogFaced PonySoldier , it's a tip I picked up from Cook's Illustrated. However, they microwave their garlic a for much longer time than I do. I've found that 30 seconds in the science oven is enough to take away some sharpness and not risk burning the cloves like I've experienced with longer microwave times.

Kathryn

[mnavarre]

Rick Bayless blanches garlic by putting it in water and nuking it for 1 minute. You can also just soak it in water for a while.

[DaveD]

Ah, I got here too late to see fzxdoc Kathryn's chimichurri recipe. I whipped some up combining parsley, oregano, garlic cloves, EVOO, red wine vinegar, and red pepper flakes.




Everything is all set up, taters about to go in the oven, and I'll be firing up the kettle in about half an hour...

[fzxdoc]

For me, fresh herbs work better than dried ones for the great flavor of chimichurri, but some recipes use dried. On occasion, I've supplemented the fresh parsley with some freeze-dried parsley if there wasn't enough of the fresh stuff.

K.

[DaveD]

Didn't have any fresh parsley, but the oregano was fresh before being frozen for storage. Thought we had parsley in that stash too, but no... and I'm a cilantro-hater, so no place for that I'm afraid Next time I'll be sure everything's fresh, I'm sure it'll be better!

[DaveD]

After-action! Oh my, oh my, oh myyyy. These were so freakin' good. Here's how it went down.

Got that classic mahogany color after the overnight dry brine.

2-zone setup, and I had some detrital fragments of mesquite from my bag o'chunks, so tossed them on the coals.


Flipped them over when IT was 80-90F/27-32C, and got a full chimney of coals lit to prep for the sear. Pulled the steaks when they were 115-120F/46-49C, and poured in the chimney of coals to sear.


Meanwhile, my lovely bride whipped up these very nice sauteed sliced carrots to go along with the baked taters I had going in the oven inside.

These babies were screamin'.

I had to get a few moments of video...

Service!





The beefiness is mouth coating. Incredible flavor, the mesquite put a very nice bit of smoke on the profile. The silverskin between the fat cap and the meat was problematic, so we worked around that, but otherwise it was amazing. Well deserving of the title Queen of Steaks.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

yes sir!

[JCBBQ]

For what it’s worth, I usually salt heavy then cook right away.