Chef James Reacts...To Guga Foods BAKING Soda Steak!

it's a good song I've gotten a lot of requests  to review Guga's foods and today we're going to   be reviewing one of his most popular videos on  how to tenderize a steak with baking soda which   for me it'll be something completely new if you  are new welcome to the channel my name is James I   have plenty of other cooking videos and recipes on  my YouTube channel and I do have my cooking course   out so if you are interested in learning a little  more on how to cook or the basics from beginning   to more advanced then you should definitely check  it out so hopefully you will enjoy this video guys   and if you do be sure to share like And subscribe  and let's get started these are what I like to   call one dollar steak as you can see sometimes you  get lucky and you get nice marbling between them   I'm just joking because these steaks come from  the cheapest rules there is and I'm talking about   the eye round me and this could have meet are not  friends iron cut is a smaller cut from the round   it's very tough because this is the hindquarters  of the cow and that part of the cow has been you   know walking around and moving quite a bit so the  meat is very tough you have to really tenderize   this meat if you want to use it properly and  that's why it's cheap and for good reason you see   the problem with this cut right here is that it is  very tough however it's also extremely flavorful   so my goal is this is a round cut so it's not  as expensive but anytime that you're cleaning   steak or beef like this you want to take off the  excess fat but you want to be sure not to take so   much meat with that fat and with the silver skin  the fat you can see here is the excess clumpy   white part the silver skin is that silvery type  sinew that's on top of the meat you want to get   rid of that as well because you don't want to be  eating that so instead of cutting away at it you   can take a little piece of the silver skin and  then take a kitchen paper towel or something but   to help you pull back on it so if you pull back  on it and then use the knife to gently cut away   at the meat you won't butcher the meat so much  I have done some crazy experiments with it make   sure you check that out on the description down  below later on but once I remove all of the silver   skin and clean that up you can see I ended up  with some beautiful steaks he did good and he also   did good portioning the sizes they look almost  identical that is perfect for today's experiment   because we're gonna try to tenderize this with  baking soda if we take a quick look at all these   little Cuts you'll see a lot of little white  lines now this is what we call marbling higher   qualities of meat will have a more even spread of  marbling the marbling is fat and the fat infuses   a lot of flavor into the meat if your steak and  I'm not talking about this I'm going to say an   intricate or another cut has a very thick piece  of not marbling but fat you may want to cut that   out because if you have a piece of fat that big uh  there's nothing wrong they'll see like eating the   fat it's it's not nice that sounds weird for you  let me explain Chinese restaurants all over the   world have been using this technique for decades  if you ever have beef and broccoli most likely you   had baking soda too that's because they claim that  they makes the steak a lot more tender well today   we're gonna put that to the test a hundred percent  you see this is one of the reasons why I don't eat   out a lot is because sometimes you don't even  know what restaurants do with the food and I'm   not saying that is a bad way most of the time is  good but then again sometimes when you go out to   eating at places you don't even want to know what  goes on in some kitchens and you don't and you'll   be surprised as well but um well I'll leave it  at that baking soda to be more specific sodium   bicarbonate the most interesting thing about this  is that people use it for many different reasons I   mean did you know that if you mix this in water  it is great for plants yes it can be plant food   that is something I was not expecting and believe  it or not it can also be a a great deodorant yes   some people use it for that reason that's crazy  baking soda is also used quite a bit in pastry   for cookies and little cakes it is also good to  use if you have say a little fire in the kitchen   you can use baking soda to help put that out  it keeps the bad odor out and trust me I have   quite a few experiments I do so that one I know he  works since I have quite a few of steaks I started   by separating them in steak plates and most  importantly so I do not confuse which steak is   which I also labeled every single one of them he's  very organized and this looks like it's turning   out to be a very good video this way we will make  our experiment much easier and you will be able   to follow every step the very first one is going  to be the control this one will have nothing but   salt on it you see this is something I like to do  that it's called dry Brine and even though it has   a fancy name it's very simple you basically season  your steak with salt put it in the refrigerator   overnight so that the salt can penetrate nicely  and deeply into the meat dry driving is a good   method to use especially if you have a cut of  meat that's a very tough now dry burning will   also season the meat if you're doing this ahead of  time but the thing that you need to keep in mind   is that the salt will extract moisture any sort  of steak I did the same exact thing but instead   of using salt I only used baking soda I also  ensured that the steak was nicely covered but   at the same time without overdoing it we don't  want to put 15 pounds of baking soda on it and   like I always said I did add it to both sides as  you can see a nice thin layer is the way to go   now the only thing left to do is to leave this  one in the refrigerator for four hours now the   very next one we're gonna combine both things and  basically this is how it works I first added the   baking soda then I threw in some salt you know if  you leave the steak for a while moisture will come   out because of the salt however now that moisture  is gonna mix it up with the baking soda and once   that's done it will penetrate back into the steak  that is basically what osmosis is guys write down   in the comments down below which one you think  think is going to be the better one is it going to   be the control of the normal stake or is it going  to be the baking soda just having this on a steak   um I haven't tried this before but I don't  think it would be nice nice this gonna have   a much better penetration than the baking soda  by itself well we're gonna find out real soon   because now the only thing left to do is to  let this rest on my refrigerator for four hours the time was up I took out the control and take  a look at this this red color is a sign that the   salt penetrated in the meat and you can still see  the osmosis process underneath we know this works   and that's why this one is the control you can  also see the salt is extracting moisture from   the meat yes so like I said you need to keep  this in mind here's the baking soda by itself   as you can clearly see there's almost no sign of  baking soda anymore it also gave a nice red color   to the steak but most importantly when I hold it  in my hand it feels soft yes a little bit more   tender and it seems like the fibers of the steak  is separating that is a wonderful thing the only   thing I have concerned is the taste I don't know  about you but I've tasted baking soda before and   it does not taste that great but that is to be  determined real shortly as you know we still   have this one left the baking soda and salt and as  you can see the salt did its job however you can   clearly see a little bit of baking soda left so  it seems like it did not penetrate as much as the   baking soda by itself but surprisingly this one  feels even more tender if I had to give a scale   from 1 to 10 control would be zero the previous  one with baking soda only I would give it a five   but this one I would give it an eight that's very  interesting to see the difference between the two   or between the three I should say very interesting  but now the next thing to do is to make sure I   wash it all off hopefully this will take out that  weird flavor from the baking soda if you don't   rinse that off extremely well you're gonna have  the residual flavor of baking soda and even still   if you do have that flavor and you do want to try  this at home then if you have that flavor I would   suggest putting a sauce or something on it to try  to get rid of that flavor because otherwise you'll   notice it if you don't wash it off I already know  it's going to be terrible because when I tell you   baking soda tastes bad it does I made sure to  rinse every single steak and of course also   Pat it dry as I'm doing this I am totally aware  that I'm also removing a little bit of the salt   other means that we use the tenderize meat is by  using a meat mallet or a hammer by pounding them   to help tenderize it another method is also  with a marinade the marinades will penetrate   the meat help break down the fibers and it will  help tenderize them as well so I went ahead and   re-seasoned both experimental steaks the control  one however there was no need for salt to season   them I added in all of them a good amount of  black pepper and garlic powder because as you   already know that is my favorite seasoning now  chefs are a little divided on this some say use   some say don't you don't want to use freshly  cracked black pepper on a steak and then put   the steak on an open flame it can burn the black  pepper and burnt black pepper will impart a very   bitter flavor on the meat now not every kitchen  does this some chefs like I said do use black   pepper with seasoning in the steak but the other  thing is that anytime you have a very good quality   piece of steak the last thing that you want to  do is to cover that up with another spice salt   is the most important ingredient in the kitchen  it brings out the flavor with anything most of   the time when you have a high quality piece of  meat all you need is a little bit of salt that's   it nothing else then again if you have you know a  cheaper type of meat you may want to put a rub or   something on it and there are some excellent dry  rubs and sauces I wish to go ahead and cook them   and for that I'll be first putting a beautiful  sear on them using butter once that's done I'll   be cooking them in indirect heat until I reach  an internal temperature of 135 degrees Fahrenheit   once that's done it's time to taste so now I say  it is enough talking and it is time to cook them   so let's do it guys let me know what your favorite  temp for meat is write down in the comments down   below and tell me is it rare or is it blue is  it rare is it medium medium well well done mine   personally is between medium or medium rare so  everyone is different you can always cook a steak   more if it's not done enough but for me overcooked  or well done is a little it's a little too much this is a very good song  I like it I like his style foreign this is an important thing he's letting the  meat rest this is very important to let it   rest for about the same amount of time that  you cooked it all right everybody here we have   our beautiful steaks Mama are you hungry starving  this thing smells amazing it does smell fantastic   we obviously have an experiment when you see three  steaks like this that goes what I'll say oh you're   already used to I don't need to tell that we have  an experiment everybody that's what I love to do   everybody I love to learn new things and I'll  tell you one thing every single experiment I do   even if it's a fail I learned something new yeah  you agree on my mom I agree yeah that's very true   you learn from your mistakes and sometimes you  learn more from your mistakes than from your   achievements today we are testing tenderness  that's all I care about and if there's enough   flavor because well I'm not gonna say anything  yes of course there's gonna be enough flavor   my mouth is already sweating bullets and I like  it okay let's go for the very first one okay oh like a shoe ladder my mouth I see you even  went for a small piece some of them all have   to use no I don't want to be chewing gum for  an hour very first one cheers everybody yeah even though it was hard when I spoke it it's  not that bad no it's not that bad it tastes   amazing but you still chewing it feels soft the  way you chew but it doesn't break apart so you   have to keep chewing it if you're gonna be using  this cut I highly suggest to Tender your eyes at   not just using a dry brine uh pound it slow cook  it really try to tenderize it because otherwise   it's going to be like they said it's going to be  like rubber it's going to be like shoe leather   ain't you in it yes and then a little bit more  after that the flavor is phenomenal everybody I   would say that this is a very tasty steak It's  just tough when you bite it it has a nice gift   yeah it's just the fibers are not breaking apart  I agree that's what you get when you eat an eye   around mama that's an eye round it's softer than  the regular than usually it is a little   bit softer than the regular eye round and that's  probably because I dry brine it you know what   I mean every time you dry brine it it gives a  little extra uh uh it makes your steak better   everybody I'm telling you if you're not using  the dry brine technique do it let's go for the   second one mama if you have a really tough piece  of meat it's good to dry brine but beef tenderloin   a little different so you probably can tell  that that one is our control already and you're   still chewing now look at them all you're still  chewing so that's our control if any other ones   is more tender than that I want to know but most  importantly if there's a weird flavor yeah okay um I think there's a bit of a flavor to it what do  you think Mama we're literally from the same piece   of meat same piece of meat same roast that one is  weird because this one was soft when you chew but   the fibers didn't break it that one is tougher  windy too but the fibers break so you would say   that it is more tender it is more tender I agree  100 it is more tender but I will say this it has a   different flavor can you tell yeah I'm not happy  with the flavor that's why I ask you feels the   same because it didn't taste like it didn't taste  it yeah I'm not happy with this uh a little bit uh   different flavor how do you like it it's not the  best it's not enough I would say this is a much   more tender steak but overall I prefer to eat  that one because the taste is better I prefer   what would you guys rather have would you rather  have excellent flavor and it be like rubber like   true leather or would you rather have something  that is a perfect texture to it but it doesn't   taste that good let me know you're prefer doing a  tasting your steak than a softer steak so that's   what happened with this one and if you ask if  it is more tender absolutely it is more it is   more tender yes it is okay this one here you  ready all right I mean it's just it feels weird   right when you stab it just so so so not tender  right it's crazy very last one cheers everybody went down there but I can't do you feel that  flavor is it just me you feel the flavor right   yeah that flavor is weird Everybody that's a weird  flavor man I don't enjoy that flavoring whatsoever   it looks like you're gonna need a sauce with it  to really cover that flavor up oh he takes the   beefiness from the from the steak yeah absolutely  that's what it is everybody if you ask me does it   work is it more tender mama absolutely it is  more tender but I am going for the first one   because the flavor of the first one is amazing  I was going to say this one feels like a mix of   this too because this one is soft but it doesn't  break apart that one breaks apart but it's not   that soft that one is soft and breaks apart and it  has a weird taste I'm gonna fight that Mama you're   a big gummy yes expert everybody because you're  right on the money here's the deal this is the   baking soda experiment for tenderizing I added a  little bit of baking soda I know it sounds weird   but hey don't be alarmed because you know when  you go to Chinese restaurant and they make that   you know chopped up beef beef with broccoli  and stuff yeah they always put a little bit   so it's not like out of the ordinary if anyone  does work in a Chinese restaurant let me know   if this is true because I want to see if this is  true or not please let me know all the time yeah mistake man I'm telling you right now I do not  do not steak but in regards to does it work does   it work it works it works it makes the steak more  tender at the same time I will be going back for   the first one the first one is the best no first  one oh my God it's Chewy though everybody losing   like 10 more calories just by chewing with your  mouth there you go hey yeah you have to work the   cheek muscles a little bit the jaw muscles  maybe if you're going to put a sauce on it   that's probably why they're doing the Chinese  restaurants yeah yeah then you can cover the   flavor the flavor and you'll cover that if you  cover the flavor it will be good but if you're   doing it as a steak for a tasting steak an  amazing grilled steak it just doesn't work   it doesn't work whatsoever but it does make the  steak more tender let's be clear let's give it   up where the credit is doing yeah there you go  it does work that was a very interesting little   experiment I'm definitely gonna have to check out  more of Guga's Foods he did an excellent job but   I like that this because you know in the end if  we don't experiment we never find new techniques   or new methods new combinations that take us to  say another level or help improve something that   it could be improved in the end guys let me know  your thoughts down below in the comments but I do   have to agree with them I don't think baking soda  would work with steak at least for the flavor it's   not going to work but if it does tenderize it and  if they do use it in Chinese restaurants that is   quite interesting in any case I hope you did enjoy  this video share like And subscribe if you haven't   done so already and guys if you want another  interesting video or a delicious recipe then   you should click on this video here and I will see  you guys again very soon until next time take care

Channel: Chef James Makinson

Views: 187,622

Keywords: cooking, food, how to cook, kitchen, James Makinson, Chef James, cooking video, guga food, guga foods baking soda, guga foods steak seasoning, guga foods steak, guga foods steak every way, pro chef reacts to guga, pro chef reacts to guga food, chef james, baking soda on a steak, steak recipe, how to cook steak on grill, guga foods eye round, guga foods ribeye, guga foods wagyu eye round, guga food salt bae, guga foods wagyu, muk bang, steak, baking soda, steak guga foods

Id: 3NL-8K3hn-g

Length: 19min 13sec (1153 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 02 2022