They marinate cuts that need it For less tender steaks like flank, skirt or round, Wasser suggests a tenderizing marinade that contains acidic ingredients such as lemon juice, flavored vinegar or even Dr. Pepper as well as natural enzymes like ginger or pineapple.
Automated processes are the cheapest way to tenderize steak. Chemical processes use enzymes to tenderize meat. Enzymes found in fruits such as papaya and pineapple assist in breaking down tough meat fibers. Family restaurants tend to favor the chemical process.
Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate). If you find the meat has a spongy texture aside from being very tender, then very likely the restaurant put baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) in the marinade. The sodium in baking soda chemically reacts with the meat and make the meat very tender and soft.
Most big steakhouses broil their steaks. Yes, there are few "grills" out there, though some restaurants may still grill their steaks in a way that you and I would recognize. Many restaurants, though, use overhead, infrared broilers that produce incredible temperatures to cook steaks.
For well done, cook for 2-4 minutes each side, then turn the heat down and cook for another 4-6 minutes. To test for doneness, use the tip of your clean index finger (or tongs) to gently prod the steak. If the steak is soft and squishy, it's rare. If it's soft but a bit springy, that's medium-rare.
Velveting is a simple process of using baking soda or a mixture of egg whites, cornstarch and oil to marinate and tenderize economical cuts of steak, chicken and other meats before cooking. Velveting meat softens fibers to reduce toughness and enhance juiciness for maximum flavor and tenderness.
Sear evenly on each side. Depending on your preference, for a 2-cm thick steak, to cook to: blue, 1 min per side; rare, 1½ mins per side; medium-rare, 2 mins per side; medium, about 2¼ mins per side; well-done, about 4-5 mins per side. Let it rest on a board or warm plate for about 10 mins.
Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meat's surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively, which keeps the meat tender and moist when it's cooked.
They use a lot of butter
Steakhouses use all sorts of techniques to make sure their steaks are juicy and flavorful, but many steakhouses aren't afraid to use a whole lot of butter.
Wet brining has many of the same advantages as dry brining. It permeates a steak with salt flavor and helps tenderize muscle tissue.
The steaks should be evenly coated with the salt and pepper. When the pan is extremely hot, add the steaks and sear evenly on all sides (top, bottom, and sides) for about 2 minutes per side. (Be sure the cooking area is well ventilated.) You'll probably need about 3 turns to sear the sides and about 10 minutes total.
In regards to tenderizing, soaking in water does make the meat more tender, but at the cost of reducing the flavor. There are many other alternatives to tenderizing meat.
Most chefs regard beef cooked to medium-rare — with an internal temperature of 130-135F (55-57C) — as the best way to bring out flavour and retain moisture in tender cuts such as rib eye and top loin. Unlike rare, medium-rare allows time for the outside to caramelise and develop a sear.
Adding butter to steak adds extra richness and can also soften the charred exterior, making a steak more tender. But a good Steak Butter should complement the flavor of a steak, not mask it.
Cola's high acidity and caramel flavor makes a surprisingly good meat tenderizer. Cola typically has a pH of about 2.7—for comparison, lemon juice has a pH of 2—making it acidic enough to break down some proteins without dissolving your meat.
To better understand this, let's look at the three main methods of tenderizing meat: mechanical, thermal, and enzymatic. Mechanical tenderization involves pounding or piercing the meat with one of those medieval looking devices.
It's milk.
A steak that marinates in an acidic or enzymatic liquid too long, such as citrus juice or cola, becomes tough or mushy. But the acid in milk is so mild that you can soak beef in it long enough to tenderize it effectively, without damaging the proteins on the surface.
Olive oil does not actually tenderize meat, but it does provide an excellent base for marinades containing protein-dissolving enzymes that do. Even though olive oil isn't a natural tenderizer, it can help keep the meat moist. So, olive oil alone doesn't tenderize meat, that job is for acidic liquids.
Velveting meat is a Chinese cooking technique used in Chinese restaurants. The process of velveting is one where you marinate raw meat in cornstarch and egg white or bicarbonate of soda to give it a soft, slippery, velvety texture.
We recommend salting your steak approximately one hour before cooking it per inch of thickness. For example, if you were working with a steak that was 2-inches thick, then you would salt your steak 2 hours before cooking it. This will allow the excess moisture on the steak to seep out while it is sitting.
You can only rinse the salt off the steak if the surface of the meat is still covered with salt after an hour before cooking. It only means that the salt has absorbed the meat's juices and moisture, and the leftover salt portions are excess salt that could make your steak salty.