Salting your steak well before cooking is called dry brining. Put simply, the salting removes excess moisture in the steak and alters the proteins, creating extra tastiness. The Denver steak is a support muscle from the underside of the hard working shoulder blade. Because it’s not a muscle doing all the hard yakka, it’s quite tender and has a lot of marbling. It’s suitable for quick cooking like grilling and stir-frying. It’s essential you cut across the grain. This means when slicing look at the piece of meat and slice 90 degrees across the lines of the muscle fibre.

serves 3-4

400g grass-fed Belted Galloway Denver steak

sea salt

Place the steak on a plate and rub 1-2 teaspoons of salt over the steak on all sides. Cover and transfer to the fridge for a minimum 2 hours to 8 hours.

Remove steak 30 minutes before cooking. Pre-heat the barbecue or cast iron grill over a high heat.

Pat the steak with paper towel to remove excess moisture. Place the steak on the grill and cook for 2 minutes. Turn over and cook another 2 minutes. Turn over again and cook for one minute, then continue to turn and cook for one minute until the total cooking time is 10-11 minutes for medium-rare. The outside will be dark brown but not charred. Transfer the steak to a plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 10 minutes.

To serve, cut across the grain into thick slices. Season with extra salt, if desired.

Recipe by Fiona Hammond, December 2022