How to tenderise steak comes down to matching the method to the cut: salt firmer steaks ahead, pound them even, slice across the grain, keep bicarb for stir fry strips and leave tender cuts such as eye fillet alone.
None of it helps if the steak is cooked past medium, so doneness is part of the method.
This guide compares the main methods for rump and other firmer cuts, explains velveting and sets out when to skip tenderising altogether.
What Makes Steak Tough?
Steak is tough when it comes from a hard-working muscle with more connective tissue, when it is sliced along the grain, or when it is cooked past medium.
Muscle is made of bundles of fibres wrapped in connective tissue, and Meat Standards Australia explains that the harder a muscle works, the more connective tissue it carries. The tenderloin does very little work and has almost none, which is why eye fillet is so soft, while the rump drives the back legs and eats firmer.
That variation is why MSA grading predicts eating quality for each muscle and cooking method rather than for the carcase as a whole.
Heat is the other half. Lean steaks have little fat to cushion them, so they firm up quickly past medium. Aim for a final 60 to 63C for medium rare or 65 to 70C for medium after resting, taking the steak off the heat 3 to 5C early.
So how do restaurants get steak so tender? Mostly by choosing tender, well-graded cuts, salting them, cooking to an exact temperature, resting them and slicing across the grain.
How to Tenderise Steak: The Main Methods Compared
How to tenderise steak depends on what you are cooking: salt, a mallet and careful slicing suit whole steaks, while bicarb suits thin stir fry strips.
The table compares the main methods for firmer cuts such as rump and AMG grass-fed Angus rostbiff.
| Method | Best for | How it works | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt (dry brine) | Whole steaks | Draws out moisture, which dissolves the salt and soaks back in | At least 40 minutes, or overnight |
| Meat mallet | Whole steaks | Evens out the thickness | Minutes |
| Slicing across the grain | Steaks and strips | Shortens the fibres in each bite | At serving |
| Acid marinade | Thin steaks and strips | Softens the outer layer | 2 to 4 hours at most |
| Enzyme marinade | Thin steaks and strips | Fruit enzymes break down muscle proteins | Short soaks only |
| Bicarb (velveting) | Stir fry strips | Raises pH so the meat holds more water | 15 to 30 minutes |
Salt It Ahead
Salt the steak and leave it uncovered on a rack in the fridge, a method called dry brining, then pat it dry before cooking. The rack lets air reach every side, so the surface dries for a better sear.
Timing matters. Salting at least 40 minutes ahead gives the salt time to draw out moisture, dissolve and soak back in, and the homemade steak seasoning recipe warns against salting 5 to 30 minutes before cooking, when that moisture still sits on the surface and the steak steams instead of searing.
Pound It to an Even Thickness
A meat mallet flattens a firmer steak to an even thickness so it cooks evenly. Needle and blade tenderisers pierce the meat instead, and the Food Safety Information Council says mechanically tenderised meat should be cooked to 75C in the centre, like mince.
Slice Across the Grain
Cut cooked steak across the lines of muscle fibre, not along them, so each mouthful holds short fibres that chew easily. On a whole rump the grain changes direction from muscle to muscle, so check each piece before slicing.
Do Marinades and Enzymes Tenderise Steak?
Marinades mainly add flavour: acids and fruit enzymes can soften the outside of a steak, but they will not make a tough steak tender all the way through.
Acidic ingredients such as vinegar, citrus and wine soften only the outer few millimetres, and leaving a steak in them too long turns that layer mushy rather than tender. That is why marinating beef in a strongly acidic mix is best kept to 2 to 4 hours.
Kiwifruit, pineapple, papaya and ginger contain protein-digesting enzymes. MLA-funded research on enzyme tenderisers notes that papain from papaya and bromelain from pineapple break down meat proteins indiscriminately and can over-tenderise meat, because they need temperatures above 80C to be fully inactivated, while kiwifruit and ginger enzymes act more mildly.
In that study, where extracts were injected into beef topside, kiwifruit juice was the only treatment to tenderise the meat significantly, and some samples broke down too far.
At home, keep enzyme marinades short and use them on thin steaks or strips. Scrape off the marinade and pat the meat dry before cooking so it sears rather than steams.
How to Tenderise Beef for Stir Fry with Bicarb (Velveting)
Chinese restaurants keep stir fry beef tender by velveting it: thin strips are tossed with a little bicarbonate of soda, cornflour and soy before they hit the wok.
Bicarb raises the pH of the meat so it holds on to more water. A 2022 study of marinated beef in Food Science and Technology found that adding sodium bicarbonate raised the meat's pH and improved both its water holding capacity and its tenderness.
- Slice the beef thinly across the grain; our stir fry recipes cut strips 3 to 5mm thick.
- Toss the strips with bicarbonate of soda, cornflour and soy. Our beef stir fry uses 1/2 tsp of bicarb for 500g, and too much tastes soapy.
- Rest the strips for 15 to 30 minutes, as our recipes do, refrigerating them if you leave them longer.
- Sear in small batches in a smoking-hot wok so the beef browns instead of stewing.
The cornflour forms a light coating that protects the strips in the heat of the wok.
Use velveting on strips only, never on whole steaks, which need salt and careful cooking instead. Rump and rostbiff strips are the best beef for stir fry, giving beefy flavour at a lower price per kg.
When You Should Not Tenderise Steak
Skip tenderising when the cut is already tender: eye fillet, Wagyu, scotch fillet and porterhouse need only salt, accurate doneness and a rest.
Eye fillet is the most tender cut of all, and the MSA research above explains why: the tenderloin does almost no work and carries almost no connective tissue.
Roam grass-fed Wagyu cuts carry their own marbling, graded MB2 to MB3+, and scotch fillet and porterhouse are tender enough to need nothing more than good cooking. A long acidic or enzyme marinade can turn the surface of these cuts mushy rather than better.
For these cuts, salt them ahead, cook them to a final 60 to 63C for medium rare and rest them well before slicing.
The cuts that do benefit are the firmer ones: rump, rostbiff and rump cap for whole steaks, and rump or rostbiff strips for velveting.
Tougher cuts such as chuck, blade, brisket, flank and skirt, which Cost Cut Meats does not sell, generally need slow cooking or very thin slicing instead.
Conclusion
Tenderising steak starts with the cut: choose a tender one, or match the method to the job.
Use salt, a mallet and sharp slicing for whole steaks, bicarb for stir fry strips, and stop at medium.
For a firm, flavour-packed steak that rewards every technique here, try grass-fed rump steak from Cost Cut Meats, delivered chilled.
