Steak too salty

[GatorAGR]

Needing some advice. I typically salt my steaks liberally prior to grilling as per most online recommendations, however I've found that they taste too salty. So my question is, should I rinse the steaks after brining and before grilling OR should I use less salt? I worry that using less salt won't be a good enough brine. Thoughts/suggestions? How do you guys manage your salt on steaks?

 

[voyager 663rd]

It's ok to salt heavily B4 grilling (for about an hour) BUT rinse it off and pat dry b4 grilling. You'll still taste it just not like you experienced it.

You want it dry b4 grilling. Otherwise, the water left on the meat will just steam the meat and ...bleh. Get it as dry as possible.

That goes for any meat to be grilled though.

 

[GatorAGR]

It's ok to salt heavily B4 grilling (for about an hour) BUT rinse it off and pat dry b4 grilling. You'll still taste it just not like you experienced it.

You want it dry b4 grilling. Otherwise, the water left on the meat will just steam the meat and ...bleh. Get it as dry as possible.

That goes for any meat to be grilled though.

That's what I was thinking. So you don't "re-salt" for taste after rinsing the brine? Just add pepper and/or garlic, etc. before grilling?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Next time use half as much salt as you think you need, then after brining roll as usual. You will be surprised how good it actually is. I eyeball salt on all my grilled meats but when making sausage or curing it’s always 1.5% by meat weight. It’s perfect saltiness and once you get used to applying it the process is easy. In my opinion if you have to wash off the seasoning before cooking then you over seasoned in the first place, I never rinse but always first apply what I want in the final product.

 

[SmokinEdge]

To give you a ballpark idea, it’s about 1 heaped tsp of kosher salt (not fine granulated) to 1 pound of meat. If you use granulated salt it’s less volume but I could weigh it out for you if you like.

 

[sandyut]

Like SmokinEdge said. Dry brine with half as much. If you need more add it when served.

 

[GatorAGR]

Agree that it makes sense to just use less, but literally every video you watch of professional chefs preparing a steak shows them nearly covering the surface to brine and their steaks don't taste too salty. I feel that if I use less, the brine effects will also be less, so to me it may make more sense to brine as normal, rinse, grill and salt before eating with a finishing salt for taste.

 

[sandyut]

Agree that it makes sense to just use less, but literally every video you watch of professional chefs preparing a steak shows them nearly covering the surface to brine and their steaks don't taste too salty. I feel that if I use less, the brine effects will also be less, so to me it may make more sense to brine as normal, rinse, grill and salt before eating with a finishing salt for taste.

I never rinse the salt off. I feel if you need to rinse you started with too much.

 

[normanaj]

I never rinse the salt off. I feel if you need to rinse you started with too much.

I would agree.Plus there's something about rinsing that gives good steak an "off" taste.

 

[Fraser]

It goes without saying, be sure to use a salt-free steak seasoning before cooking (avoid double-salting).
I’m a bit salt-averse (health) so I do a post dry-brine quick rinse, pat dry, salt-free seasoning right before cooking and coarse flake sea salt after plating. I get the seasoning bang while keeping salt intake reasonable.
Now you got my mouth watering!

 

[GatorAGR]

Completely agree that rinsing doesn't make sense, but I want to experiment to see what happens. I just don't understand why literally every steak video shows a steak covered in salt, yet we never hear of the taste being too salty. I haven't come close to covering the surface, yet still get too much salt and I love salt. I want the full effect of the brine and think that using a "taste" amount of salt in the beginning won't achieve enough moisture draw. But yes, rinsing seems weird :)

 

[SmokinEdge]

I want the full effect of the brine and think that using a "taste" amount of salt in the beginning won't achieve enough moisture draw. But yes, rinsing seems weird :)

It doesn’t work like that exactly. Salting meat is gradient in that the more you apply the faster diffusion occurs. Salt is the horsepower for diffusion, the process of sodium going in and water coming out.

So what happens in a brine weather curing or just salting, the sodium drives into the meat because the interior of the meat is low sodium and it wants to balance, on the other side moisture inside the meat gravitates outward to the source of sodium to water it down or to balance it. We use this process to extract moisture but sodium binds some moisture in the meat keeping it juicy. That’s why brined meats are more juicy.

All of this process works regardless of salt percentage up to a point. About 1% being the lowest and 2.5-3% being the highest. The heavier the salt/sodium percentage the faster it works and lower a bit slower but it all works the same.

For instance, I brine poultry in a water brine with anywhere from 1/2 Tbs to 1 Tbs salt to 1 quart of water along with equal parts sugar. Diffusion in poultry meat happens the fastest of all meats besides fish. So it doesn’t take more than a few hours to be ready. I use this lower salt brine specifically because it works perfectly and still allows me to apply rub or seasoning without over salting. I use the same thought process on all brining dry/wet and curing. It’s called equilibrium brining. It tastes perfect on salt and still gets the job done, never a rinse needed.

You should try salting for taste just one time. You won’t be disappointed. Sorry for the long post.

 

[Colin1230]

I'm in the 'SmokinEdge' camp on this one.

 

[WaterRat]

Completely agree that rinsing doesn't make sense, but I want to experiment to see what happens. I just don't understand why literally every steak video shows a steak covered in salt, yet we never hear of the taste being too salty. I haven't come close to covering the surface, yet still get too much salt and I love salt. I want the full effect of the brine and think that using a "taste" amount of salt in the beginning won't achieve enough moisture draw. But yes, rinsing seems weird :)

A couple things about those vids. First they almost always use coarse kosher salt partly because it's easier to see. If you're using fine kosher or sea salt you're probably oversalting in relation to the vid. Second they usually are preparing bigTHICK steaks. Probably thicker than what most of us do for normal dinner. If theirs is 2" thick and yours is 1.25" you're over salting in relation to what they show - by alot as yours would only be 63% the weight of theirs. I actually did this on Monday where my wife pulled two different thickness fillets out of the freezer. I salted them the same, the thinner one was a tad salty where the thicker one was right on. Just dial it back a bit, you'll find what works for you, just remember thickness and salt type make a big difference.

Rinse it off? That's a big NO from me though I may pat it dry. And then season it again and toss it on ;)

 

[chopsaw]

Agree that it makes sense to just use less, but literally every video you watch of professional chefs preparing a steak shows them nearly covering the surface to brine and their steaks don't taste too salty.

That's how I do it . Not to salty , and no rinse . The heavy amount of salt is what causes the moisture to be drawn out , mix with the dry brine seasonings , then absorbed back into the meat .
It's the length of time that makes the difference . I go overnight , even under a vacuum sometimes . That way the salt is liquidfied . The meat holds a certain amount , and the rest cooks away .
Heavy coat of Trade East Canadian steak .

After overnight under vacuum . You can see the onion flakes have rehydrated . That takes some of the salt away too .

Most of that surface seasoning cooks away at high heat . The flavor has migrated to the meat .
Nice crust , and great flavor .

 

[GatorAGR]

Thanks all! Good stuff. I'll play around with it a bit. Any excuse to eat more steak! I do think there are multiple variables in play though. Salt amount, steak thickness, and brine time being the big ones.

 

[chopsaw]

Salt amount, steak thickness, and brine time being the big ones.

You'll get it dialed in to your liking .
I do the same with large whole muscle meats . Pork loin .

I do brush some off that doesn't fall off .

Full of moisture just from the salt . It holds what it needs , the rest goes away . Just needs the time .

 

[1MoreFord]

Gator, I can't tell you what will work for you but this works for me.

I learned to heavily salt the meat 1/4 hour per 1/4" of meat thickness before time to cook. Thus 1" thick = 1 hour and 1.5" = 1.5 hour before.
Put the meat directly on a flat surface and let it sit in the fridge for the appropriate amount of time. Liquid will come out of the meat but as long as it is on a flat surface the meat will re-absorb most if not all. That's why you don't put it on a rack.
Afterwards take it out, rinse it off, and pat dry.

Then season Without salt as normal and cook as normal. If you normally use a seasoning with salt you will need to find a new method and seasonings. Since I'm a big fan of SPOG it's simple.

Hope you like this method.