A bite into a chewy steak is enough to ruin anyone’s day. Now, when it comes to cooking a good steak, you have either got it or not, and it’s definitely not something many people can master. Sometimes it’s not even the method of cooking, but often to do with the cut of meat and preparation beforehand.
So if you’re a home cook who struggles with achieving a good steak that not only looks delicious but won’t strain your jaw from one bite, then this one hack is worth making note of for the next time you cook up a good cut of meat. A YouTube channel called No Effort Hacks shared a technique that promises to make “meat melt in your mouth.”
The technique couldn’t be more simple, and it involves one ingredient that most households will already have in their kitchen cupboards.
Home cooks should start by sprinkling some baking soda over their cuts of meat and letting it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. This will help tenderise it, which is especially great for any tough cuts.
After the minutes are up, make sure to “rinse it thoroughly under cold water” to remove all the baking soda from the meat, and then go ahead and cook your steak as you usually would.
What the baking soda does is “it breaks down the proteins and gives you a super tender result fast”.
The technical name for using baking soda to soften and make cuts of meat tender is known as velveting. The method originating in China can be used on various types of meats and even seafood, and is clearly very simple.
So, the next time you plan to make steak for dinner, save yourself the trouble of a disaster by giving yourself an extra 20 minutes to make sure your meat comes out nice, soft, and easy to bite into.
This technique is clearly the secret to saying goodbye to the days of biting into tough cuts of meat. It is quick, effective, and doesn’t require you to buy anything extra—what more could you ask for?