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1
Heat a large, heavy cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 5 whole minutes and make sure the hood is on.
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2
Rub the fillet with 1 tablespoon oil, then sprinkle and coat evenly with black pepper.
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3
Brown the meat thoroughly on every side and the cut ends so that you have formed a nice crust universally around the fillet, creating a barrier for the coming salt crust.
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4
(This takes 7 to 8 minutes to brown correctly.)
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5
Remove the meat from the pan and let cool on a wire rack set in a sheet pan to have a cool and mostly dry piece of meat.
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6
Mix the salt with the water to form what looks like bright white wet sand.
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7
Spread a thin but solid and even layer of salt on the bottom of a 1/4 sheet pan and set the roast on it, then pack the remaining moist salt tidily around the browned meat, forming a solid case resembling a cast on a broken leg.
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8
Where there are cracks, redistribute the salt and fix them.
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9
This should be a fun and unfussy task.
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10
If you need more salt or more water or less water and more salt, mix up whatever mortar you need to get the beef encased.
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11
Place the salt-crusted beef on its sheet pan into a 250-degree oven and let it cook for 45 minutes.
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12
If you weighed it properly at the outset, 45 minutes at 250 degrees is fail-safe.
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13
Otherwise, use an insta-read thermometer and go in through a cut end to the direct center, and pull it when it hits 125 degrees inside.
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14
Crack the salt crust, dust the granules of clinging salt off with a clean, dry side towel, and set to rest on a tray in your station.
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15
Dont refrigerate, but label properly the time and date for Health Department.
