What about head country dry seasoning, it's damn good!
If you have a tough piece of steak you can use one of the various tenderizer tools that you push onto the meat and a whole bunch of small blades come out and will tenderize and allow better marinade absorption but, honestly it's not needed at all on a good cut. They work very well for very lean meats and they don't leave big holes all over it.
The only time I've found that forking your meat helps is with tough, lean steaks. I discovered this when I got a batch of steaks that cooked up like leather normally. I found if I treated them normally with my seasoning at room temp, then took a fork and forked the hell out of it. After that I would pour a little canola oil on it and coat the steak in oil using a basting brush. It sucks up the oil and pulls some of the seasoning in with it. Then I do the same thing with a little balsamic vinegar. It pulls all that into the meat and "lubricates" what would otherwise be shoe leather. You cook it normally at a very high heat getting a good crust on it (the balsamic will look like it's burned but it's actually a caramelization of the sugars. Unless you cooked it too long and burned it of course.
You will be blown away how this process will turn an almost inedible steak into a tender, fantastic steak. There's no oily taste or texture, it's just a fantastic steak. Absolute best results will be seasoning with your favorite seasoning and sprinkling with kosher salt liberally (unless your seasoning has a lot of salt already) and then refrigerating over night or even longer for better results. My best results come from prepping large steaks (nice and thick) and letting them sit covered on a plate (the plate allows the salt to pull moisture out of the steak and then back in, now with the seasoning with it)(putting them in a bag will not give the best results unless you're using a liquid marinade) for 3 days. Remove, allow to sit to room temp, finish with a just enough worstershire (optional), balsamic (optional) and oil (canola or olive) to coat the surface then to the grill.
I do like the skillet method but my favorite, by far is grilled, either charcoal or gas depending on what you have (charcoal has the best flavor).
The only time I've found that forking your meat helps is with tough, lean steaks. I discovered this when I got a batch of steaks that cooked up like leather normally. I found if I treated them normally with my seasoning at room temp, then took a fork and forked the hell out of it. After that I would pour a little canola oil on it and coat the steak in oil using a basting brush. It sucks up the oil and pulls some of the seasoning in with it. Then I do the same thing with a little balsamic vinegar. It pulls all that into the meat and "lubricates" what would otherwise be shoe leather. You cook it normally at a very high heat getting a good crust on it (the balsamic will look like it's burned but it's actually a caramelization of the sugars. Unless you cooked it too long and burned it of course.
You will be blown away how this process will turn an almost inedible steak into a tender, fantastic steak. There's no oily taste or texture, it's just a fantastic steak. Absolute best results will be seasoning with your favorite seasoning and sprinkling with kosher salt liberally (unless your seasoning has a lot of salt already) and then refrigerating over night or even longer for better results. My best results come from prepping large steaks (nice and thick) and letting them sit covered on a plate (the plate allows the salt to pull moisture out of the steak and then back in, now with the seasoning with it)(putting them in a bag will not give the best results unless you're using a liquid marinade) for 3 days. Remove, allow to sit to room temp, finish with a just enough worstershire (optional), balsamic (optional) and oil (canola or olive) to coat the surface then to the grill.
I do like the skillet method but my favorite, by far is grilled, either charcoal or gas depending on what you have (charcoal has the best flavor).
most of the time I will let it get to room temp I put a little real salt brand sea salt and a touch of fresh cracked pepper, while the steak is resting after the grill I take fresh minced garlic, dried red pepper flakes and about a half ounce of Worcestershire sauce and heat in a pan when the garlic is nice and soft I add 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter and melt it together and that is my sauce. I also only cook on a wood fire grill I don't much care for charcoal and I refuse to spend the money on the infrared propane grill I like and where I live there are free trees everywhere so it works out.
Sounds Tasty!
I just make sure I always start out with quality steak.
That's a given but before I stated buying my meat from a meat market I bought from Homeland and the garbage they sell mislabeled as meat got me more than once. Plus I can't count how many times I bought meat there only to have it rot within a couple days, they have no problems selling old meat as fresh...effin' bassturds!
This thread has me wanting a steak.
Reverse sear on cast iron. Kosher salt and cracked black pepper are all you need. This video changed the way I cooked steaks forever. Give this an honest try and you will fall in love with it.
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Letting the meat come up to room temperature will aid in tenderness. I have never tried the reverse sear above. I do cook all my steaks using the normal searing method. I cover the steak with olive oil,salt and pepper, and a pad of butter after the first sear. Since I like rare to medium rare, I rarely place in the oven unless the piece of meet is over 2.5" thick. I remove from heat, cover in foil and let rest for no less than 5 minutes. Room temperature and letting the meat rest are the keys to a juicy and tender steak! Marinades are for low quality meat. Anything that grades prime should only be dry rubbed!
