Tenderise, Tenderise, Tenderise
We’re not going to say this is life changing, but once you’ve tried this you’ll never go back to not pre-tenderising your meat and protein again. It’s a very simple two-step process and you only need two ingredients, one of which is water. It works on all kinds of meats and seafood, although if you have very delicate ingredients like a flaky fish, it’s probably not a good idea to tenderise them as they may become too tender and just turn to mush.
Step 1: mix together 1 1/2 cups of cold water with 1 tsp of bicarbonate soda and pour over your meat. Make sure that whatever you’re soaking is completely covered and leave it for at least 15 minutes.
Step 2: rinse thoroughly to remove all traces of the bicarb from the meat.
Next, you can simply pat the meat dry with a paper towel (if you’re grilling) or throw it straight into whatever you’re cooking (for things like fast soups and stir fries).
You can also marinate the meat from this point – we tried this with Buffalo Wings and it was an absolute game changer.
Cook meat from room temperature
We’ve all heard this one – but who actually ever does it? Well, we all should, especially if you’re someone who likes their steak cooked medium rare, rare or blue, as it allows you to get that beautiful sear on the outside and pink-red perfection on the inside without the centre of your steak being stone cold. Obviously, it does depends on the temperature of the room somewhat as well – we don’t recommend doing this in the height of summer when you break a sweat just blinking. But definitely don’t be cooking your meat straight from the fridge.
What’s a blue steak? If you’re not familiar with this term, it’s because not many people like their steak this way. It’s basically seared on the outside and pretty much raw on the inside. So it’s essential that it’s not pretty much raw AND colder than a White Walker’s heart when you go to eat it.
Make sure the thickness of your meat is as consistent as possible
Basic common sense but your meat will cook more evenly if it’s a consistent thickness throughout. Try to either slice your meat consistently OR roll it out with a rolling pin if you have a good heavy one.
Stop playing with it
Leave your meat alone. Put it on to sear and then walk away. For at least 3 minutes. And only ever flip a steak once.
Season after searing
Never season your meat with salt and pepper before you cook it. The salt will leach the juice out of the steak and the pepper will burn