Skip to main content

You should be dry brining your steaks — here’s why

This is the easiest way to get the most flavor out of your meats

Slices of steak, a bowl of peppercorn, and salt mound on a wooden cutting board
Jupiterimages / Getty Images

When the word “brine” comes to mind, you may imagine yourself the night before Thanksgiving, wrestling a 19-pound turkey, trying to fit the thing into a container large enough to hold it and the salty water bath you’re submerging it into. It isn’t always the most fun activity, sometimes resulting in slippery poultry skidding across the kitchen floor and spewing curse words that make your visiting pearl-clutching mother-in-law blush. Thankfully, today, we’re discussing dry brining, a much easier, much less stressful way to tenderize and flavor your proteins, and a new way to cook steak.

Essentially, dry brining is just a fancy culinary term for salting, then resting meat. And it’s certainly not just for turkey. When you salt a piece of beef, pork, or poultry and allow that salt to penetrate the meat, you’re creating flavor magic. When a piece of protein is seasoned with salt, it draws the juices from the meat to the surface. After a few minutes, that juice will break down the salt, which creates a concentrated dry brine. When left to rest in this way, meat becomes far more flavorful and tender than if you’d merely seasoned the meat right before cooking.

Recommended Videos

Furthermore, everything you dry brine, from steak and chicken breasts to pork chops, will have a far more even, beautifully golden, crispy crust. This is because the moisture that draws back into the meat after salting creates a much drier surface. And a dry surface is a deliciously golden one when cooked.

The recipe below is a beautifully simple one from Omaha Steaks, walking you through how to dry brine a steak, but this method to make steak will work on just about any protein you can think of, so get creative! And maybe next Thanksgiving, skip the water bath.

Dry brined steaks
Omaha Steaks/Facebook

Dry-brined New York strip recipe

(From Omaha Steaks)

Omaha Steaks deliciously pairs these New York strips with grilled brown butter balsamic onions, which is exquisite. Enjoy these dry-brined steaks by themselves and/or with your beloved side dishes.

Ingredients:

  • 4 11-ounce boneless New York strip steaks
  • 4 tablespoons of kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon of coarse ground pepper

Method:

  1. In a small dish, combine salt and pepper.
  2. With the salt and pepper, season the steaks generously on all sides.
  3. Place the steaks on an elevated rack on a baking sheet and refrigerate them for at least 1 hour — overnight is best.
  4. Preheat the grill.
  5. Place your steaks on the grill and cook on high heat until they’re 5 degrees from desired cooked temperature.
  6. Remove them from the grill and let them rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Lindsay Parrill
Lindsay is a graduate of California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, San Francisco, from where she holds a degree in…
5 things you should never do with your top-shelf whiskey
Things not to do if you splurge on whiskey that goes on the top shelf
Whiskey in a glass

So, you splurged and bought that expensive bottle of whiskey you’ve eyed every time you stopped by your local liquor store to grab a new bottle of Elijah Craig Small Batch or Knob Creek 9 Year. If I’ve learned anything in the almost 20 years I’ve been writing professionally about alcohol, it’s that good things (whiskey) come to those who wait.

You waited and finally forked over the few hundred dollars (or more) that were required to get your hands on that highly sought-after, hard-to-find small batch bourbon — after all, the time was right to treat yourself. Maybe it’s your birthday, or perhaps you’re simply hosting a party and want to look like a baller. For whatever reason, you purchased an expensive bottle of whiskey. What now? Well, I'll tell you what you never do with that expensive whiskey.
What not to do with expensive whiskey

Read more
Can burgers be pink? Here’s what you really need to know
The safe way to tell if your patty’s done
Medium rare burger

I remember the first time I bit into a burger that was still pink in the middle. My heart skipped a beat — was it undercooked? Would I get sick? Everyone seems to kind of just accept it if you steak is cooked medium rare, but with burgers it feels a little more iffy. That experience led me down a rabbit hole of food safety research, and here's what I found about the question: Can burgers be pink?

Understanding the pink in your burger

Read more
Lime lagers are having a moment—here’s why they’re perfect for summer
Lime lagers are nothing new, but they're trending
Troegs

The lime lager is nothing new. This style has been around for a number of years. While there’s no official “first lime lager”, Bud Light Lime was launched less than two decades ago in 2006 (and drinkers have been adding lime to Mexican lagers for as long as they've been brewed). And, while the style has been available to drinkers in the US for around twenty years, it’s having a bit of a moment this spring.

While many brands have been around for years, like Stone Buenaveza, Half Acre Green Torch, Founders On Cloud Nine, and Great Lakes Mexican Lager w/ Lime, there are a few new offerings this spring. These include the zesty, fresh, and refreshing Brooklyn Playa de Brooklyn and Tröegs Let The Sunshine In.

Read more