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

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Hope you guys enjoy it! Thank you @gugafoods for such an interesting video! Become a Patreon: www.patreon.com/chefjamesmakinson

[@HyperHorse]

I like a steak rare to med rare. Anything more than that is not great imo and if you like your steak cooked well done, you should go to jail. I'm not a fan of Guga Foods channel, I forgot what video of his annoyed me but I'll post which one it is and tell you later. He's such a bastard, yeah you're cooking your steak on a charcoal grill of course it's going to taste good. BUT YOU DO NOT NEED TO SEASON YOUR STEAK BEFORE COOKING. And i never cook a steak with butter, only beef fat. Meh....

[@LabTech41]

Guga Foods is a good channel; haven't seen it in a while, but I used to binge it; basically, every episode I saw was him experimenting with different methods in order to get meat to turn out perfectly, such as cooking pork belly in different ways, and dry aging beef in different substances to see if that would improve the outcome. Baking soda is admittedly one of the more out there experiments, but the man's basically dedicated himself into tossing everything in the known universe at meat to see what happens.

[@mildanvongrius5530]

Which one would I choose? I'll go on diet then.

[@djrakman3909]

I have tried the same experiment in my test kitchen but I washed off the baking soda. It still had a weird tangy flavour to it and even though it is more tender, the texture is just weird almost mushy. there are better ways to tenderise red meat. Use a mallot, use kiwifruit juice. do both methods, put kiwifruit in a brine and beat it with a mallot for the ultimate tenderness. End of the day red meat has bite to it period. The whole point of eating a cheap steak is flavour. That is my favourite cut of meat to eat as well because I care more about the flavour. keep the fat on. It will retain moisture and also add flavour. If you are not in a production kitchen any scraps are only going to go to your cat anyway. Like you I have also done top end of cuisine and when I am at home I just like a bit of rump steak with some hot english mustard or some garlic butter. You have a great channel james. And you think just like I do as well. I can tell we have both had very similiar top end training....

[@edwardortiz3430]

Check out the KZbin channel Souped Up Recipes, a Chinese cooking channel hosted by a lovely, native Chinese lady. She uses baking soda in very small amounts to tenderize meat in several of her recipes. kzbin.infoYM23u9ecQfM?feature=share

[@ryanchen2155]

In Chinese cuisine, we would use a bit of bake soda with cornstarch and an egg to marinate the meat (especially the beef) and make it a bit more tender. We usually add soy sauce or oyster sauce too so that their flavor can be absorbed by the tenderized meat. But the amount of baking soda is little. And trust me, even a little bit of baking soda would be very effective. The amount used in the video definitely is a bit on the high side😂

[@Komatik_]

A lot of stir fries use lean meat cut pretty thin, though.

[@jackcox7178]

Thank you for that comment! I currently have some very cheap cuts of beef I want to marinate and use. Last time I pounded with a skillet, then refrigerated overnight in salt, fish sauce, and minced garlic and ginger. It worked really well, but I'll try what you said next because I want to try a few different approaches.

[@heartaloft]

Totally agree...!!

[@jaimedelgado7529]

In Portuguese cusine we use baking soda to cook cocaine and make free base

[@gojira2570]

*egg white

[@TheKillerAngel]

Guga's videos are really well edited. I think that's what really sets him up in the higher tier of KZbin home cooks.

[@AjZ530]

he has a proffessional background not just a home cook

[@bengaliinplatforms1268]

@@AjZ530 That's his house though

[@AjZ530]

@@bengaliinplatforms1268 so? thats not what home cook mean

[@Shinkajo]

It's not just the editing, but all the production value. He has top quality cameras, mics, lights, tools, utensils etc. Also lots of time the amounts and qualities of meats he used are really expensive.

[@GMartin407]

@@AjZ530 don't waste time on this person lol just because he cooks at home he is a "Home Cook".... lol...

[@austinfu2102]

I don't work in a Chinese restaurant, but I am Chinese. And Yes, it is common to use baking soda in Chinese food during meat preparation. Some home recipes will even provide a version for those who want to use baking soda in their meats. However, it is uncommon to cover the meat in baking soda for that long. I did a little research on how to use baking soda as tenderiser in Chinese Internet. Comes out that the meat usually sits in the baking soda for from 5 to 30 minutes depends on how the meat is cut. The suggested proportion is to use 3 grams of baking soda for every 500 games of meat. And it's recommend to put sugar into the baking soda - beef mix to counter the baking soda flavour. And the meat should be rinsed properly after the treatment, before proper marination. Consider the steak is a rather thick cut of meat, the tenderization could last longer, but 4-hour does sound like an overkill. That said, now most professional kitchen in Chinese restaurants are ditching the baking soda and turn to tenderizers. Tenderisers are usually made with Papain (papaya proteinase, a type of hydrolase extracted from papaya). Which I believe does not have leftover weird tasts. Papain works just like Bromlelain(another type of protein hydrolase extracted from pineapple), they hydrolyse the proteins in the meats' muscle fibers which tenderise the meat. Differences are, Bromlelains are said to be a bit more delicate than Papains. So if one doesn't want to use baking soda to tenderize meats for whatever concerns one might have, Freshly made pineapple or papaya juice/paste is always an option. I think Guga tested the pineapple juice/paste route and did yield a quite positive result.

[@puppy2350]

Its an excellent tip we use in India too. Papaya juice/pulp works wonders and i have used it to make even the worst of meats tender. It does do its job too well sometimes, so its ideal for stuff like cutlets, chops and keemas where you want the meat to break down as much as it can during tenderizing. One good thing is that Papaya also has a very light taste and its flavour gets masked if you go for traditional spicy asian flavours. The only thing left after marination will be a slight sweetness that can be easily adjusted for in the ingredients when cooking.

[@jjessus9405]

I remember back home my mom once used green papaya skins blended and worked out really nice

[@flora5090]

I don't work in a Chinese restaurant personally, but my ex girlfriend comes from a family of Chinese professional chefs and I had the pleasure to learn from some of them. They definitely use baking soda to tenderise beef. Usually the beef is sliced thinly and then marinated in seasonings and sauces to which the baking soda is also added. This supposedly helps the beef stay tender when stir-frying in a wok at extremely high heat

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

cutting it thin also helps a lot!

[@DudeSoWin]

Yeah its obviously used in marinades. This whole dry before cooking thing is just another vegan meme. At least they aren't trying to get people to drink blood. If they aren't discussing canned beef or liquid smoke its just another glowie Influencer facade. One thing that does work is rinsing the rice.

[@zheckav]

The baking soda tenderises the meat, but it’s the cornstarch that plugs up the fibres and doesn’t let the moisture out keeping the meat nice and plump. It virtually looses no water at all when you stir fry it. Also, Gaga actually did the black pepper experiment video and the conclusion was that the pepper on the steak doesn’t burn on the grill. The only difference between applying the pepper after grilling was that the freshly ground pepper had a bit more potent taste, as opposed to doing it before the grilling.

[@RyTrapp0]

@@zheckav So is that why Chinese proteins can often have that unique 'mystery meat' look that you don't find anywhere else, corn starch? lol

[@CeliaHakusho]

I don’t work in a Chinese restaurant but my parents have always taught me to use baking soda to tenderize meat. We also sometimes put cornstarch on meat for a “slippery” mouthfeel.

[@D_Movin_Silence_like_Kudzu]

That slippery mouthfeel comes from the starch gelatizing, it also helps locks moisture in the meat as it forms a coating I believe. Japanese folks too uses arrowroot starch traditionally to coat meats/fish as well.

[@ruhiyyihbiuk-aghai3250]

I've never used baking soda to tenderize meat, but my mom used cornstarch too. We slice the meat then just coat it with marinate and cornstarch for 10 mins.

[@kjp2006]

@@baconoftheark the oldest tale I heard of "velveting" meat (using corn starch on meats) I think was an american chinese place adapting their traditional chinese with the locale. it's also similarly how mcdonalds stole their chicken nugget breading from a chinese place in the midwest as well lol.

[@frankcooke1692]

...I don't like the phrase "Slippery mouthfeel" at all :(

[@Notsosweetstevia]

I really love that you always have a chart in your videos to better explain the different ingredients. I always make sure to take screen shots so I can refer back later. 😊

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

I'm so glad! :)

[@clashwithkeen]

I'm a texture person. I've done this experiment, although with the baking soda in a marinade and there was no discernable negative impact in flavor but I will say the texture was amazing. I used the same marinade that I use for beef stir fry but just left out the egg whites and corn starch.

[@justaguy105]

Guga has a great channel. His experiments can be a little wacky but they are interesting and his side dishes are always money comfort food

[@JohnSmith-oe5kx]

Yes, Guga is great. The experiments have gotten wackier because he has tried SO many. If you are curious about a steak cooking/seasoning/tenderizing technique, chances are that Guga has tried it. Great resource!

[@anthonygonzales7748]

He reminds me of Soma from Shokugeki!

[@raviiyer3761]

Also , baking soda is added into the batter for the batter to become more fluffy in dishes like bhajias (fried bengal gram fritters) in india , though the amount has to be absolutely miniscule .

[@sophiaisabelle027]

Baking soda on steak seems cool the closer you look at it. I’m always fascinated by other chefs’ cooking techniques. Seems like they have a broad knowledge when pulling off recipes similar to this one in particular. Honestly, I find Chef James’s insights rather useful. I hope he continues to work hard.

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

thank you!

[@civilisedhumanbeing]

among us

[@LadyMitcly]

@@ChefJamesMakinson check out Made with Lau. ‘Daddy Lau’ is a retired Chinese chef who’s cooked in and had restaurants for 50 years…he mostly uses corn flour in his marinades to achieve tenderness (they call it velveting), while he does occasionally add just a pinch of bicarb, he always warns to use a minimal amount because of the bad flavour. I hope you enjoy their channel 😊🇦🇺

[@JSFMD]

Agreed. Maybe next time soak the steak longer in cold water, then let it dry out in the fridge? Baking soda is also used to soften up chickpeas (hummus) and peas (mushy peas).

[@nejko5568]

In the Balkan, baking soda is used for burgers and kebabs. Makes patty soft and delicius. mmmm

[@Windnews1]

In France we called this technic "steak du truand" meaning "thief steak". Because some chef would use baking soda on a tough and cheap cut, make it tender and sell it as a good cut. Obviously it doesn't make it as good as a good cut but it makes it tender. You don't want to put the baking soda directly on the meat, dissolve one large spoon of baking soda in 2 cups of water and let the steak in this for one night . A lot of countries use tenderizer, butter milk, onion, pineapple, Asian pear or kiwi works pretty well. Be careful not to overdo it you'll end up with a mushy piece of meat.

[@Spymask-AoC]

Hey there, I actually do this with baked baking soda (sodium carbonate) since it's much more basic, you can use less of it for the same effect witouth imparting any weird flavors. It is also excellent when roasting chickens and ducks to get crunchy skin

[@adamfreeman5609]

Fascinating, can you please explain the process a little ?

[@phoenix1977]

i love the enthousiasm Guga has in his video's. so much joy in eating good food.

[@aceme9514]

I feel like it would definitely work better for Asian cooking because all the different flavors and spices would probably cover up the little baking soda used. If I may suggest, I'd love to see some storytime videos about your experiences as a chef! I'm sure viewers would love to get to know you more better, chef! 😁♥️

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Story videos? 🤔 that could be a good idea! I may add some stories in with some other videos. :)

[@Maplecook]

James has mountains of information in his cooking videos, wherein he also goes into his various adventures in the culinary world. He even has travel videos. Too bad the world seems to focus on his reaction videos, because he's so much more than just that.

[@ayayoutuber]

no... I eat lots of Chinese food and can still taste out the baking soda or just odd softness and bounce-ness of the meat. You can tell right the way they used it. Higher end restaurant charges more for the same dish, so they use better meat for the same dish...so they can avoided using baking soda.

[@MarkoK02]

@@Maplecook I belive this and agree with it. James is a fountain of culinary knowledge

[@MarkoK02]

@@ChefJamesMakinson yas, please... :D

[@cohan000]

I generally don't like react videos, but your videos hits me differently. Honestly, I wouldn't really call them react videos. They're more like professional reviews, which to us aspiring cooks is like a gift wrapped in gold. I get why you have to use the word react (algos and all that), but I can't help wishing that you'd give yourself more credit for your work. You sure as hell deserve it!

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Thank you, I feel the same about reaction videos but at least people like mine! :)

[@gwho]

i just wish it wasn't 20 minutes. just give me the tldr of why baking soda on steak is so surprising and what it does

[@turbobanana]

Guga has a ton of content and it's all great. All the things you never wondered about seasoning/aging steaks with he tries, with varying degrees of success lol.

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

I'll be watching more of his videos!

[@MohamedFaris]

please do so, he also have a second channel called sous vide everything. you might want to check it out. 👍🏼

[@chucknorris8630]

@@ChefJamesMakinson Careful, you might say you're going to watch 1 video from Guga and before you know it you've watched 3, 4 videos lol. It's so addicting.

[@jeffs.4313]

Well done Chef! Enjoyed the information and the technique used by the Chef in the video. Your comments and insights were spot on. Keep up the great work! Looking forward to your next video.

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Glad you enjoyed it Jeff! I wish I could review more per week! ;)

[@dolan-duk]

Baking soda and salt brine. The amounts have to be pretty precise and has to be rinsed off thoroughly. Results in very tender meat that is great for absorbing marinades for stir fries. Some places use egg white and corn starch which is milder and harder to screw up but I feel that it requires more effort.

[@patricknez7258]

I really like Guga's experiments. It's nice to have someone that will try stuff so others don't need too 😅 Good info. And I like his methods like having a control and trying dif combos. I'm always interested to see how things turn out

[@adamboggs4745]

I've heard that a little baking soda can help accelerate the mallard reaction, for instance when carmelizing onions a tiny pinch can speed it up if you're in a rush. Granted it's not as good, but I had wondered if it would work with steak too and was surprised there was no discussion about it.

[@libin6731]

Baking soda will make the beef super tender, but as a trade-off, it will also completely change the texture of the meat and remove almost all of the beefy flavor from the meat. So even though the tenderizing effect is great, the beef no longer tastes like beef, and that is why it is mostly only used in stir-fry dishes with cheap cuts and flavorful sauces to improve the meat texture and make up the lost meaty flavor.

[@kaminoyami30]

What guga did here is very similar to how my mom taught me how to tenderize steak as beef here can be so tough to eat, however the amount of ingredients we use to cover that flavor from the baking soda may be too muh for someone who doesnt love a strong flavor, great vid once again chef much love.

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

thank you for the info! :)

[@belalabusultan5911]

Guga is great for saving you the costs of doing these experiments, any experiment I thought of, and even things tha would never come to my mind, he did it, and had taste testers to try it. he learnt a lot, and plenty of KZbin food channels did like his food, he is the steak expert, but he shines the most with his experiments.

[@greyham123]

This is what a 'react' video is supposed to be! An expert being insightful. Only just starting watching your videos and I am enjoying them.

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Thank you so much!

[@jmrs_]

Baking soda is used in a process called "velveting" which tenderises the meat and also helps to hold more flavour. It's used with other meats too, not just beef.

[@fredsmith5782]

Hi James, as many people mentioned in the comments that Chinese restaurants do use a lot sauce and marinades to cover the baking soda taste. I had something like this as a thinner steak but it was marinated heavily and more closer to a stir fry. As far as rareness in my steak it really comes down to the cut. For rib eye for instance, I want it in between medium rare to medium as I want the fat to be at least at little bit rendered.

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

I'm surprised to see how many people use it! haha

[@lluisg.8578]

I don't know the reason/origin of using a lot of spices and sauces in chinese recipes. In fact it covers the taste, not just of the baking soda but any ingredient. You cannot fully appreciate meat or vegetables flavour with this cooking. In the other hand, the mix of flavours results in something really tasty. Lots of layers that you cannot get without seasoning. It's a different approach to cooking, both valid and so different.

[@briankerbs]

I must say, my last video I watched of you, I didn't like, but this one I really did!!! I have been watching Guga Foods for a while now, and he has helped me with my sous Vide recipes!!!

[@seki2059]

I never knew there are several ways to tendering meat 😮 I used to covering the meat with papaya leaves tightly and wait for 4-5 hours. I will try using baking soda later.

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

There are many ways!

[@lluisg.8578]

I'm curious about that. What are exactly the leaves doing? Something that penetrates the meat and breakes fibers is needed. So are the leaves expulsing any liquid or so?

[@seki2059]

@@lluisg.8578 as far as I know, there is a substance called papain in papaya leaves. It breaks some enzymes and tendering the meat.

[@lluisg.8578]

@@seki2059 nice, thx for the info 👌🏼

[@jenssimmoleit5103]

I often use baking soda and bottermilk to tenderize chicken overnight (throw in some garlic, herbs, etc.). The next day I pan-fry them in a cornflakes crust. It is way better then KFC. I love it!

[@marklock6421]

Love your videos James keep them coming… I watch all Gugas stuff, he does some crazy experiments… but unlike most of the ones you review he doesn’t make many errors … I always tell my wife I don’t want to know what’s going on in a kitchen as I would never eat out again 😂

[@pedrocervantesism]

Great video, and reaction! Muchas gracias from Santa Cruz California

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

thank you!

[@OuroAzura]

An interesting thing I learned is that they didn't use baking soda in traditional Chinese marinades, they used egg whites. Egg whites are apparently alkaline which tenderizes the meat as we've seen in the video. Baking soda is used as an easier substitute to get that alkaline marinade, but only in small amounts compared to the whole marinade. You don't usually put baking soda directly onto the meat either since it'll require an inordinate amount of baking soda to evenly coat the whole meat, and we saw how that turned out.

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

very good to know!

[@DjOzKid]

Cracked black pepper on the service side up, at last turn! It’s my little trick, it helps to bring out the aroma and oils! If you don’t believe me crack black pepper over melted cheese wait ten seconds and the smell! Pepper may be dried but adding it to moisture and heat wakes it up and it comes to play

[@jeremiahsmith6689]

vinegar is my go to tenderizer most marinade packets require some form of it. my preference is balsamic but the amount of time in the marinade effects how much of the vinegar you taste. like 1 hour, over night or all week. of course it does depend on the other seasonings whether or not a long marinade is worth it

[@Kastagaar]

Why not try both the bicarb and the vinegar? What could go wrong!?

[@kyleabayon5458]

guga's voice is so satisfying I wonder if all the food channels ever called him... nice video chef! I also heard that baking soda preserves the green color of vegetables in Chinese cuisine...

[@FrankM0613]

Glad you liked guga, his videos are fascinating haha

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

I'll have too see more of his!

[@amitnachman3840]

I (well a lot of people) use baking soda for Kebab (the minced meat version, like mitetei). It helps make the meat fluffier. But then again this dish is seasoned with a lot of cumin and other spices.

[@999ThingsToCook]

I remember this episode.... Can't say I would use baking soda. I'd do the pineapple juice though. Great tip on trimming the meat. internal temp, for me, depends on the cut really, I find sirloins to be best at medium, while most others mid-rare.. oh, and it's not a steak without black pepper LOL. Great video buddy!

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Thank you Buddy! :)

[@EddyWoon]

Excellent video. I usually order my steak to be medium rare and will happily accept medium. A few months ago I ordered a medium rare steak at my local pub but they had delivered a well done steak. I had sent it back as it was way past medium.

[@geniusdexter6]

Awesome, I love guga foods (and his other channel Sous Vide Everything)! They are like the Top Gear of cooking youtube 👍 Can't wait for more of your reactions to their content! EDIT: You should react to the absolute monstrosity titled "1 Month Brisket" on the sous vide everything channel! (it's guga's other channel). Basically he sous vided a whole brisket for a whole month lol

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

I'll have to take a look at more of his videos! thank you for the suggestion!

[@MsJavaWolf]

Yeah, love the guy but that one was grim, lol.

[@Alexlalpaca]

It is true that baking soda is used in Chinese cooking to tenderize meat. The technique is called velveting and it's great, you do it by: - Thinly slicing the meat, ant kind. Can be chicken, pork, beef, even fish- - Wash the meat to remove the myoglobin, though be careful not to overdo it. - Marinate the meat, this is where the baking soda comes in. You use a small amount of it alongside salt, corn starch, and any particular flavouring components, sometimes the baking soda is substituted with egg white (since both are alkaline, which is what tenderizes the meat). - Briefly deep fry or boil the meat to form the outer starch coat. After that it's ready to use, generally on stir fries but I've gotten creative with it in the past.

[@aselrahc]

I've used baking soda and cornstarch on chicken before when making Chinese inspired dinners. It was an Aha moment the first time I did it as to how Chinese restaurants get such softness in their dishes.

[@Zuub470]

Many places do what is called velveting, where they marinate the meat in egg white and cornstarch before giving it a quick dip in hot oil to par cook before the final actual cook.

[@powkung45]

I remember decades ago being taught about using TSP to tenderize the meat, in the same vein as baking soda... I never tried myself, I've used starch+soda when making Chinese style stirfry dishes, also usually with tough strips of beef

[@lucasbarefski351]

As for Chinese restaurant, yes they use baking soda and potato/corn starch for stir-fried dishes. It makes the meat tender and has slippery, somewhat slimy texture.

[@shadowtheimpure]

There's a reason that the Chinese places that use this technique use it for dishes with a flavorful sauce like Beef and Broccoli.

[@tonycolle8699]

When I use ground beef (hamburgers, chili, meatballs), I add maybe 1/8 tsp to 2 lbs ground meat. It helps with browning by raising the pH too

[@SakuraShirakawa]

Hank Hill - "Bobby, what do we do if someone asks for their steak well done?" Bobby Hill- "We ask them politely, yet firmly to leave dad!"

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

😂

[@MrSanemon]

Worth noting that dry brining only works well if your meat is fairly thin, the thicker it is the less the salt will penetrate and the longer it will take. For anyone interested in trying it. And if you don't have a meat mallet you can use the rim of a dinner plate. But if you are going to tenderize your meat with a plate maybe put the meat in a plastic bag to keep it from splattering everywhere.

[@scarredable]

I worked in a fast chinesee food restaurant, i don't remember using bicarbonate or the powder had bicarbonate, but we used something named "meat tenderizer powder", and the way to use it was directly pouring when meat was cooked in the wok, after that we mixed rest of veggies, sauce, etc.

[@critterfritter69]

Most Chinese recipes that use baking soda use thinly sliced beef, about 1/8 inch thick, about 1/2 to 1 tsp of baking soda for a pound of meat, and recommend marinating for no more than 20 minutes. It gives the meat a soft, spongy texture, and there is usually a strongly flavoured sauce involved, such as black bean or pepper.

[@paul72002]

love your enthusiasm and pure joy at seeing this. FYI guga also does two other channels with more expiriments

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

I will check it out!

[@pjtruslow]

I have found baking soda does wonderful things for stir-frying meat. for stir frys, I take thin sliced beef and aggressively massage in corn starch, baking soda, maybe half a teaspoon for a pound of thin sliced beef, and a bit of soy sauce. 15 minutes later it is cooked, and importantly no acidic sauces are added until after cooking. It makes a huge difference preventing the meat from toughening up. not sure I would do it for a steak though, but I think after adding a sauce that inevitably contains acid, the remaining baking soda gets consumed and converted into a sodium salt, leaving no offputting flavor behind. This method also works for sliced chicken, and can be improved by blanching the chicken before stir frying.

[@Chamomileable]

The mechanism behind why baking soda is that as it penetrates the cut of meat, the rising pH makes it more difficult for meat proteins to maintain their bonds, causing them to go "slack" or break and imparting a greater tenderness. A similar process happens in the other direction with acids (which are extremely common in marinades as you know) where these bonds are directly broken down instead of being degraded. Both directions will tenderize meat but the reason most people use acidic brines and marinades is due to the fact that acids tend to taste better and be less dangerous than alkaline compounds. A notable exception is hominy. The highly alkaline lye used to make hominy is part of why it has texture it does.

[@rawyin]

Been a Guga fan for a long time. He tested the black pepper question in one of his videos. Worth watching.

[@1995Milky1995]

bicarb is also good for removing or preventing stains and I believe it helps with relieving cramps

[@Phantomlight26]

Not baking soda, but in Japanese restaurant we use Koji, which is a soybean paste, and use it for marinating fish and other proteins. It does tenderize the meat and adds salt to The dish.

[@TennSeven]

I don't know anything about just sprinkling baking soda on steak, but I "velvet" chicken and pork for stir fry all the time and it definitely makes it way more tender. Velveting though involves cutting the meat into slivers and vigorously mixing it up with small amounts (like 1/2 tsp per pound of meat) of corn starch, baking soda, salt, pepper, sugar, cooking wine, and an egg white (maybe a little fish sauce, and maybe a little sesame oil too), then letting that sit for like 30 minutes to a couple of hours (you don't need to do it overnight).

[@KT-up9nt]

Medium to Medium rare is my favorite temp Favorite cooking method: Sous Vide 137 for 3 hours put in freezer for 5 mins sear on cast iron pan for 1.5 mins per side in some beef tallow bathe in butter to finish Rest for ~5 mins

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Nice!

[@morganalori]

Guga is great for his experiments. many wonderful and some not so much. His videos make you want to be there and taste test with him. His side dishes also look wonderful. Thanks for reacting/reviewing. lots of fun all around

[@suewardastrologer]

I’ve used bicarb with potato flour, soy, etc, marinating the beef for a while. It was very good at tenderising.

[@waveman0]

I reverse sear my steaks, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in the bullet smoker at 100ºc and then sear to medium

[@romelbdp]

yes, its true that Chinese restaurants use baking soda to tenderize sliced beef such as mongolian beef or beef stir fry. its called meat velveting by term. but they use it for a short amount of time in a tiny amount of soda and rinse off every bit it from the surface. mongolian beef or stir fries usually have some acidic wine or soy vinegar to cover up the alkaline taste of the baking soda.

[@AhmedEtman79]

In Egypt we use onion or onion water (onion juce) as a marinade to tenderize tough meat, or a mix of onion water and yogurt.

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

very interesting!

[@malkiawagiza1327]

I usually use baking soda to clean pots or pans. It tenderizes the dirt overnight and the next day you don't need to scrub them, tender sponge is enough and voila, pots and pans are clean and shiny again.

[@RayMrRobert]

James, it is a chemical reaction. When I sauté onions and want them to basically “liquefy” I use 1/2 tsp baking soda. I do that to make my polpette. It can increase the Malliard reaction on a piece of meat. It is a great tool to use for cheap meats without marveling.

[@kylebeatty7643]

Arm and Hammer makes a baking soda tooth powder that is very effective. When I shared it with a friend, their emphatic response was "This tastes like punishment!"

[@D_Movin_Silence_like_Kudzu]

Most Chinese restaurant uses a lil bit of baking soda in their meat stir fry, be it chicken, pork or beef. Most folks working or worked in Chinese restaurants usually stay away from those dishes, as they tend to use a over powering sauce to cover up the flavour of the baking soda and it tastes like nothing but the sauce. That being said most of my friends loves those dishes😂😂😂 when we hang out at Chinese restaurants. All things aside, I’d say for a full 4” 1/2 Hotel Pan of sliced meat, Chinese restaurant usually puts in a certain amount of eggs, oil, starch, baking soda (roughly 1-2 teaspoon).

[@foolsplay5880]

I recently found your channel, and it has already become a favorite. I chuckle as I watch your expressions for the comments that will follow. I was raised in a culinary family, so tricks, remedies, and secrets of cooking are vast. I started working the family business as a garde manger at 9 (Papa taught us knife skills early), then progressed to meat and fish. Putting any artificial substance like baking soda is sacrilegious to an Italian. We honor our food too much to ruin it with this sort of ingredient. I like Guga a lot, and I am glad he experiments for his viewers so that they may learn. There are many ways to tenderize and flavor beef, but sodium bicarbonate is NOT one !! Here's one secret ingredient from Sicily: Blood Orange rind and anchovies. Thank you for your videos. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will be waiting for your next video(s).

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Thank you very much!!

[@ThorOdinssohn]

Chef James, I would LOVE to see you visit Guga and cook something awesome! Every time that he hosts someone, both he and they learn something new. (Not everything that Guga does is "good", but it is a learning experience!)

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

I would too! Chef Brian tried to get all 3 of us to do something but so far nothing

[@j3ffro738]

I was taught to use cornstarch and Shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine) to tenderize a cheap cut of meat for Chinese cuisine.

[@wornoutpages7896]

Keep up with the good work man!

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Appreciate it!

[@stevenygabbyperez695]

The world is discovering our little round Brazilian steak master. I have been hearing his name a lot lately.

[@kentohamaoka4063]

It's true that in many chinese preparations they tenderize the meat with baking soda, but at the same time they don't just grill it on charcoal, those soda tenderized meats usually go into recipes that include sauces, stews, even soups. They wash the meat thoroughly before cooking too, not just rinse.

[@Syntryss]

I had no clue people use baking soda for steak, learn something new everyday Was a good video, just subscribed

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

yes we do! thank you!

[@sililmilil]

Another use for baking soda is to neutralize acids. So if you going to deal with any acid that can cause a skin irritation, it is good to have a high concentrated baking soda solution ready nearby. In case of any accident you can use that solution instead of rinsing with water. We generally season meat with salt for 2 purposes. Salt drives some water content out of the meat. That gives us 2 advantages. As salt drives the water out of the meat, 1st some of the blood that trapped inside of the meat also comes out, which reduces any irony aftertaste, 2nd water is one of the best solvents (well it is after all the main actor of water soluble world) and as it takes out the water the meat become more dense in flavors.

[@michaelpalmer4387]

I think the control steaks will be the best. I've read using baking soda to speed up onion caramelization leaves them tasting of baking soda.

[@lookin4ward1]

I work in mining in Australia and yes this is a common practice among camp chefs

[@Americaninparis2012]

I don't work in a Chinese restaurant but I do cook. I've been taught to tenderize meat with corn starch and touch of soy sauce or other marinade.

[@markiangooley]

My late father used to serve eye of round to guests. I was an innocent boy and I thought that, due to his enthusiasm for it, it must be special. I wondered why it was so tough! I have not eaten it in twenty years and maybe I’ll try sous vide on it for 36 hours …

[@LilT2o00]

O.G. Genesis uses baking soda with the Coco to cut the product; "Baking soda I got baking soda! whip it through the glass. I'm gettin money fast whooo. I'm in love w/ the coco"

[@BeluOranje]

That is why it is used in Chinese cuisine or Saucy dishes. The soapy taste is covered by the sauce. But on steak it needs rinsing beforehand but while rinsing you can feel the beef is getting very soft and prone to break.

[@homesignup]

In Chinese restaurants, they often use egg-white and cornstarch mixture for tenderizing. Baking soda/water is often used too. My mother used a mallet to do brief pounding, then baking soda + water paste to tenderize pork or beef for 1 hr, then she would rinse it out and then coat it in a marinade for 5-10 minutes and cook it shortly afterwards. Because Chinese marinades are thick and flavorful you do not need to need to leave it in the fridge for a few hrs - like you would with say a European dish. Also, if you are doing a stir-fry you would always create a cornstarch slurry and mix with condiments like soy, oyster sauce or hoisin sauce, sherry or cooking wine, some sugar to flavor the sauce before serving. That is why your beef and broccoli is so incredibly tender and tasty. For Indian cooking, they would normally use yogurt instead for several hours to overnight. It seriously tenderizes the meat and tastes fabulous vs not using the yogurt for several hours. (I've done the experiment with both).

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

very interesting! I would still use something else for tenderize the meat. :)

[@mckidney1]

it is true, but I think they did not rinse it properly. flavor from the soda is deep inside the tissue. 30-60m in slightly acidous water 3:1 by weight.

[@adamwee382]

9:30 I don't think black pepper detracts from the taste of beef. I feel like it really enhances it. I'm usually don't use garlic or thyme on steaks, but salt and black pepper are mandatory. IMO

[@tr0mpwned]

Love your channel! Keep it up! I’d love to see more guga reviews! He’s the man!

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Thanks! Will do! :)

[@viper1431]

Yep called "velveting". It's how they make the meat tender in chinese cooking. Sometimes uses egg white instead of baking soda.

[@jamesfoo8999]

I'm glad you reviewed a Guga video, I like watching his channel. Honestly, I'd give my right arm to try one of his barbecued New York strips. Here in the UK unless I pay half a mortgage at a butchers, good steaks are hard to come by. The supermarkets sell terrible steaks, even "extra special" versions.

[@austinh7110]

I’m glad I got your channel suggested to me!

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Welcome!

[@jacobhobbs08]

Welcome to the Guga video rabbit hole. So much crazy content from this guy.

[@LorienDrechsler]

"Guys, let me know what your favorite temp for meat is". I thought about this a lot, actually. And I looked at my smoker and it hit me. I like my meat around 205 F. But for a plain steak, I'd go about 135 F to 140 F.

[@nikolakrstic1177]

As allways a great video, my sugestion for future videos is that u make a different types of marinades that u use for different types of meats.

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

Great suggestion!

[@artemis0666]

Oh lord. This video was good! Guga definitely helped me push up my cooking with meat as well, learned a lot from him! My favourite meat doneness? Medium, at most. further than that and it's as you say: overdone. Not to mention the cut looks super dry. Guga has done a number of interesting experiments, but some are just...hoo boy. Too crazy for me to say Keep up the good work, and happy 2023!

[@whoizrez]

not on meat but my family uses baking soda to tenderize(?) collard/mustard greens. i always was fascinated by this as a kid because on the box its listed as a cleaning agent lol. but the greens always came out spectacular so i never questioned it

[@HyperionTechOfficial]

Cornstarch and baking soda plus marinade a bit of oil right before going in wok to seal it up but not before because oil repels marinade

[@Matt-sk6hi]

Velveting meat as is done with a dish like beef and borccoli, is done with baking soda and corn starch mixed with savory sauces like soy sauce or oyster sauce. That way the meat absorbs those flavors instead.

[@Hiroro6677]

Chinese restaurants also use a little bit of baking soda to tenderize calamari

[@stevenxx21]

wow you're one of the first I see talking about the bitterness of cooked pepper outside a great (and already dead) 3 star French chef, I'm French and I think there's a lot to learn in of cultures, for my part especially Japanese / Asian I also like Mexican food, and you, you know your subject 🤣🤣🤣

[@ilovemangobingsu]

I'm actually Filipino-Chinese. When I was little, I remember my grandmother would add a little bit of cornstarch and baking soda to the meat and let it sit for a few minutes before adding the marinade. She do this when the cut of meat she's using was tough. The marinating would not take more than an hour because according to her, the baking soda will make the meat absorb the marinade fast aside from tenderizing it. She said she learned this method from my grandfather who is originally from China. Usually, she would use this method for stir fried dishes because as you know, stir frying in a hot wok should be done fast to prevent the ingredients from burning. Therefore, the ingredients need to be cooked fast. This is also the reason why the meat in stir fry dishes is cut thinly. But then again, only a small amount of baking soda should be added so it does not affect the flavor of the dish. From what I can recall, my grandmother would use not more than half a teaspoon sometimes less (depending on the amount of meat).

[@ChefJamesMakinson]

thank you for sharing! :)