Thanks for sharing!

I agree with you on crystal shape affecting taste but then you have “sea salt” aficionados who are hooked on the additional mineral properties too no?

I also agree with using a brine baste. Outstanding results and I actually wrote about it here if you want to check it out: http://www.asadoargentina.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=68

Good luck with the ribs and let me know how they turn out!

Although all salt is sea salt, why does the stuff labeled “sea salt” taste different? If you look at the refined salt under a microscope, you will notice that all the crystals are uniform cubes, like little blocks. Not so with the less refined “sea salt,” which has irregular crystals. The irregularity of the crystals hit your tongue differently, hence the difference in taste. Pick up any book on food chemistry, and it will explain it better than I have here.

By the way, another method of applying salt, with or without other seasonings, is to create a brine. Dissolving the salt in water allows you to baste the meat as you cook.

I just returned from Buenos Aires and have embarked on a quest to try to replicate the parilla method of cooking either short ribs or middle rib. In Argentina they grill short ribs and the cut is quite flavorful. I need to figure out how to impart a taste similar to the hot coals method they use, as well as not to make the meat too tough.

Wish me luck!

The issue about the salt does not involve whether it comes from the sea or not. I just think sal fina works better than sal gruesa, it just seeps into the meat with greater ease. Why would coarse salt work any better?

And sure, if you have a big steak then you might want to add salt a little sooner than at the table in order to let it permeate the meat. But still I would do it once you flip the steak over, on top of the “sealed” side.

But of course, we should not seek consensus, otherwise what would we discuss by the grill? Classic debates such as which side of the chicken faces the coals first, whether to punture the chorizos or not, etc., are what asados are made of.

Some suggestions for further topics: a discussion about the equivalence of meat cuts. To what degree do cuts in different countries differ? For example, what muscle does the Chilean lomo vetado include that the bife ancho does not? Will you ever be able to find vacío outside the Southern Cone?

Also: the “V” shaped grooves which are common in Argentinean grills are seldom found in Uruguay, a country of master asadores, possibly because the Uruguayans regulate their grills diagonally, so to speak, facing an open fire with coals tucked beneath, while the Argentineans tend to prefer moving the grill up and down in perfect horizontal fashion (thus ensuring the grease does not spill over, which would happen in the Uruguayan design). Thus: how do Uruguayans avoid flare ups? I suspect they achieve this by placing the coals round the perimeter of the grill, but I’m not sure this would always work.

Finally, a health warning might be a responsible thing to include at some point – too much grilled meat, eaten too often, might lead to serious health problems, as I am sure you are aware. Once a week might be fine, though.

Re: Sea Salt

Actually, and I’m not sure how familiar you are with salt in Argentina, but most of the popular/common brands offer salt in three different forms; all of which are refined from salt fields. So when I stated coarse salt, I was referring to the refined salt, not sea salt. Maybe in other areas / countries coarse salt references salt from the sea?

I’m jumping around on topics while building this site. Keeps me from getting burned out. A post on the three salt forms (gruesa, entrefina, fina) is on the to do list.

RE: Salt before grilling

Ah! You are in the purist group. I wrote a bit about it here, Seasoning The Meat where I mentioned that salting is up to the cook because of all the debates. Although I agree that some meats are better salted at serving time, many do need some, in my opinion, before cooking.

I’ve tried not salting Bife ancho until it was on the table, but to me it just doesn’t have the same taste as salting beforehand. Coarse salt allows you to impregnate the meat better than the finer variety. With the cuts being well marbled and fatty, the salt works its way into the meat really well when the juices start flowing. Also, with the high amount of fat, I never noticed the cuts being more dry with the use of salt.