Howdy - have salted before I put the steaks on, and have salted overnight uncovered. Both work fine. Question...I was able to get a couple of 2" thick USDA Prime NY strips at the butcher - they looked amazing so I could not pass on them. However, it's Wednesday morning (just picked up the steaks and they are in the fridge at home) and my daughter won't be able to join us until Friday night. Was wondering tonight when I get home, if putting the steaks on a rack, in a pan...salting both sides...leaving uncovered until ready to reverse sear Friday night will be ok...and safe. That's a few days. Thoughts? Appreciate the help.
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Should be fine, I've gone 48hrs before with fresh steak, although I covered mine with plastic wrap. -
Did the butcher give you a use by date? Can you ask them if it would keep until Friday? If possible I would leave it in the fridge in its packaging until Friday morning, dry brine it uncovered and cook it Friday night. My two cents...Comment
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If I remember correctly, salt penetrates about 1/4" per day - from each side. So it would take four days for the salt to completely penetrate 2" of meat. I think you are OK salt wise. However, I'm not sure about leaving the steaks uncovered for more than 24 hours - I don't know when the surface will become too dry.
I'm sure someone will be along who can answer that though.Comment
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Yeah, All I know is he said they were cut yesterday late afternoon. I picked them up at 7am today. He wrapped them up and they are in the paper as of now in the fridge.Originally posted by Mudkat View PostComment
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I also agree it will be fine to salt now. When I do chuckies I always dry brine for at least 24hrs and sometimes as much as 48hrs.. Your good to go.Comment
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You will be more than fine. I do this all the time. Good call on using the pan and wire rack, that is a great way to go to ensure proper sir circulation around the meat. It also keeps that meat from sitting in it's own juices.Comment
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When I'm letting meat dry brine, I put a wire rack in the bottom of one of these and put it in the fridge:
Bake N Take
The lid protects from cross contamination but it's not really sealed (has small holes for the handle and latches) so lets some air circulate in and out
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Originally posted by RonB View Post
docblonder says this on his website.- Salt brining is a two-step process.
- In an hour of brining, salt penetrates only a few mm, but
- The ions stored in the first few mm's act as a reservoir that diffuses faster during cooking, pushing salt deeper into the meat. So a half hour brine is often fine.
- This is also why "dry brining" works- most of the diffusion happens in the oven, not the bucket.
- After a 1 hour brine and a few hours of cooking, the bulk of the salt has moved inward about 3/4"- enough time to fully flavorize a 1 1/2" thick chicken breast or a bacon slab.
- A 24 hr brine only doubles these distances. Weeks are necessary to fully cure a thick brisket.
- As another example of chemicals diffusing in from the surface, the exponential nature of diffusion and limited time in the cooker effectively restricts the thickness of a smoke ring to under 3/4".
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I left 2" T-bones fridgairated (raised on a rack naked) for 2 days last week, and should have seared longer after smoking a couple hours because they were too tender. I've got no other way to describe it. They didn't take on much of a bark in the kettle, and I put them in cold str8 from the fridge.
P.S. to this - I open air dry brine stuff every couple weeks and really make sure there's no other 'naked' foods in the fridge when I do, to prevent cross contamination and unwanted flavoring of other stuff, like vegetables. I need a second fridge.Comment
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I've gone three days with a salt brine uncovered in the fridge on many an occasion. I found pictures of the one I did last year. 2" thick CAB boneless ribeye. Had it cut Thursday after work, salted then and then reverse seared it on Sunday.
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My personal experience has been that if I dry brine uncovered for several hours or more, the surface dries out and it seems to contribute to brown banding around the edges. I don't think it's the salt that dries it out though, I think it's just the fact that it's uncovered. My solution has been to salt it and then vacuum seal it until ready to cook, and that's been working for me.
I know lots of people are advocates of it being uncovered though. I'd be interested in a follow-up of your experience.Last edited by amr5152; July 25, 2018, 10:42 PM.Comment
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Nice to hear all of the opinions. I was taught not to salt a steak until cooking one side and then turn over and salt. The theory was, that salting ahead would cause the juices to flow out. Thoughts on this?Comment
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I love this site... I can't TELL you how many old wive's tales of BBQ and smoking have been disproven on here! And I LOOOOOOOVE doing things the way the science dictates, doing it easier, faster and BETTER than some of these old old smoker guys and having people totally flabbergasted! Thanks, AR and The Pit!
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