Why You Should Leave Your Steak Overnight In The Fridge, According To Daphne Oz
Unless you're a cartoon billionaire, or maybe a cattle rancher like Ree Drummond's husband Ladd, these days having steak for dinner is probably a treat. After all, thanks to the worst food inflation in 40 years, and the fact that the price of beef keeps increasing, buying steak for dinner can cost a pretty penny. That means that when people do spring for steak, they want to get the best bang for their buck, and that in turn means making sure that no matter what cut you bring home, you cook the meat to perfection.
There are almost as many ways to cook a steak as there are mistakes everyone makes when cooking steak. But one thing that seems to be universally accepted is that steak should have a nice golden-brown sear on it. And according to Daphne Oz, former co-host of "The Chew," one of the best ways to ensure that your steak gets that beautiful sear is to leave it unwrapped in the fridge overnight before cooking it (via TikTok), but there's one other ingredient you'll need in order to make her technique work.
Salt is key for Daphne Oz's steak technique
In a TikTok video, food personality Daphne Oz shared her go-to method for meaking steaks at home that have a golden-brown, seared exterior, and a juicy pink interior. Oz unwraps her steak — in this case, a massively thick T-bone — then sprinkles it generously with kosher salt. Then, she lets the steak sit on a rack over a baking sheet in the refrigerator overnight, uncovered. The salt has time to penetrate the meat as it sits, Oz explains, and also helps draw out any water from the steak.
The next day, about 30-45 minutes before you're ready to cook (you want your steak to be about room temperature before you put it in the pan), you'll pat the steak dry with paper towel. Making sure that the exterior of the steak is dry will help ensure that it caramelized in the pan, which is what gives it that deep umami flavor and crust. If you haven't been doing so, that could be one reason your steak won't sear properly. One thing to note is that Oz is using a very thick steak in her video. It's sometimes easier to get a really hard sear on a large cut of meat, simply because it needs a longer cooking time for the interior of the steak to be done, meaning a longer searing time too. But whether you're using a steakhouse-style cut or a humble supermarket ribeye, salting your steak overnight will help develop that signature tasty crust.