If you’re a steak fan, then you’ve also probably got some tried and true marinade tricks up your sleeve. You may also be constantly looking to improve your marination game by avoiding common marinating mistakes that are ruining your steak and adding new tools and techniques into your arsenal. One overlooked technique when getting a super flavorful steak is quite simple. It’s called scoring, and it’s an easy, fool-proof way of getting your marinade to really penetrate your cut of beef.
Scoring your meat is super easy. All you need is a sharp knife. To score, you want to make shallow cuts running across the grain of the meat in one direction. Then, go back over the cuts in the other direction, creating a diamond-like pattern. Do this on both sides and you’re good to go. Not only does this make the meat a little more tender and way easier to cut, but it lets you cram your marinade into every nook and cranny, really getting the most bang for your buck. Not only does the marinade penetrate deep into the meat thanks to the score marks, but you get even more deliciously crispy edges that are veritable flavor bombs. All in all, it’s minimal effort for maximum return, which is exactly what a good hack should be.
What are the best ways to use this hack?
First off: You’re going to see the biggest improvement if you’re using a cheaper cut of meat from the get-go. Save your expensive steaks for later and grab a simple flank, skirt, or hangar steak to try this out on. Since you’re physically severing some of those tough, long muscle fibers, you’re creating an immediate textural difference between a scored and unscored piece of beef. You can also apply some of the restaurant steak hacks that trick your taste buds, like cooking your steak in a butter bath for even more savory flavor infused into every inch of your beef.
As for your marinades, the world is your oyster. The essential ingredients for a perfect steak marinade include acid, seasonings, fat, and aromatics, so as long as your marinade has all four, you’re golden. The Italian salmoriglio is a good starter, which just uses lemon, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and sometimes parsley. You don’t have to get too complicated. In fact, you can even toss pre-made Italian salad dressing into your marinade to save time, money, and effort, all while still enjoying the acidic, fatty, flavorful tang cooked into your steak. Just make sure to really get it into each score mark, and you’ll be so amazed by the night and day flavor difference that you’ll never go back.
