In the mood for steak but don’t feel like shelling out the big bucks for a rib eye or New York strip? This London broil recipe is your answer.
While most typically a flank steak, London broil can also be used to label other large, lean, and often tougher cuts of beef, including top round steaks and top sirloin steaks at grocery stores or butcher shops. More generally, it refers to how these steaks are prepared: first by marinating to tenderize, broiling or grilling to cook, and finally, thinly slicing against the grain to serve. Here’s how to cook London Broil our way, to ensure a juicy, tender result every time.
Our first secret weapon is baking soda, which gets mixed in with a few other simple marinade ingredients. It may seem unorthodox, but it plays a crucial role in tenderizing the steak by relaxing its protein network, which keeps it nice and juicy while it cooks. Pricking the steak all over with a fork before it marinates helps the flavors penetrate quickly, so there’s no need for an overnight soak if your prep time is limited.
Though most recipes call for the broiler, we found a stovetop-only sear yields a more tender—and faster—result.Just keep your meat thermometer handy to test for your preferred doneness. (For medium-rare, we aim for an internal temperature of 125°F; it will climb as it rests.)
While the cooked steak rests, transform the deeply savory marinade into a pan sauce. Don’t be alarmed if it foams as it boils—that’s the baking soda. Once the foaming subsides, quickly whisk in the butter to create a velvety sauce.
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Whisk together 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, 2 Tbsp. good-quality balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbsp. soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl or baking dish; season with freshly ground black pepper. Whisk in ¾ tsp. baking soda (don’t worry if marinade fizzes; that’s the baking soda working).
Step 2
Prick one 1½–2 lb. London broil all over with a fork and add to marinade; turn to coat. Let sit at room temperature at least 1 hour or cover and chill up to 12 hours.
Assembly
Step 3
Heat 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium. Remove steak from marinade, letting excess drip back into bowl, and pat dry with paper towels; reserve marinade. Season steak generously with kosher salt and cook, turning once, until deeply browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 125° for medium-rare, 8–12 minutes. Using tongs, stand steak on its sides and cook until lightly browned, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes.
Step 4
Meanwhile, transfer reserved marinade to a small saucepan, add ⅓ cup water, and bring to a boil (mixture will foam up). Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly to avoid overflow, until foaming subsides, about 3 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter and whisk vigorously to emulsify sauce. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Step 5
Thinly slice steak against the grain and arrange on a platter. Spoon sauce over; sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Cooking London broil low and slow is usually the best way to keep it tender, but in a pinch, cooking it on the stove can work. Consider marinating the steak for at least eight hours or overnight for the best results with this cooking method.
"If you like your steak more well done, this is not the cut for you. Once London broil cooks to medium or beyond, the lack of fat in this hard-working muscle will cause your steak to become tough and dry," she says.
Using a meat mallet (or kitchen mallet) to pound steaks helps soften and tenderize the meat. Simply place the meat in between pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper and pound it prior to cooking. If you don't have a meat mallet, you can also use a heavy kitchen tool such as a skillet, saucepan or rolling pin.
Ever bite into a steak and feel like you just chomped on a plate of steel? Whether hosting a holiday cookout, serving up some stir-fry or tackling game meats, baking soda is the go-to meat tenderizer to help make your steak, chicken or turkey silkier, juicier and yummier.
There are several ways to velvet, but at its most basic level, it involves marinating meat with at least one ingredient that will make it alkaline. This is what tenderizes the meat, especially cheaper, tougher cuts. “People go for either egg white or baking soda as they are both alkaline ingredients.
Remove the meat from the marinade and pat it dry with paper towels. In a skillet over high heat, sear the steak for about 2 minutes.Flip and sear the other side of the steak for about 2 minutes.Place the skillet in the oven and cook for about 6 minutes.
Piercing the meat is crucial as it helps the marinade to penetrate. Since London broil has so much muscle fiber and connective tissue, it also has very little fat marbling resulting in a tougher cut of meat.
London broil, as a thick cut of top round is often called in the United States, can be tricky to cook, as it does not have the marbling that keeps many other cuts moist and tender. Cooked too long, it can be dry and tough.
Marinating for up to 12 hours is usually okay, but leaving steak in a marinade for longer could result in over-tenderized meat, leaving it on the mushier side.
While a top round steak or a sirloin steak make a good replacement for London broil, a beef brisket is probably the most similar to Tri-tip in terms of tender chew and beefy flavor when cooked correctly.
Less than a teaspoon of baking soda ensures that your steak remains juicy and tender—even after a speedy marinade. While other recipes demand hours of marinating, this baking soda hack makes a flank steak or any other fibrous cut of beef ready to sear after just an hour.
both cornstarch and baking soda tenderizes the meat. it does have a slightly different texture since baking soda is causing a chemical reaction. it changes the taste of the chicken so cornstarch is better if you are sensative to taste.
Baking soda. Here's where it gets science-y: The baking soda raises the pH on the outside of the meat as it marinates, in a process known as velveting (which can also be done with a cornstarch slurry). This makes it so the proteins have a harder time bonding to each other when it's time to cook the meat.
The trick is to avoid overcooking. If it's cooked too long, it will turn into chewy, leather-like meat. However, when done correctly, you will enjoy the flavor and texture of an expensive cut of beef.
Introduction: My name is Rueben Jacobs, I am a cooperative, beautiful, kind, comfortable, glamorous, open, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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