Quote:
Originally Posted by calumniate
Agreed.. Kenji Lopez-Alt has a nice description (and bit of science experiment) to do with salting here:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/t...ct-steaks.html
He recommends salting and letting sit (often overnight in the fridge). The salt will begin to draw out the liquid, but after 40 minutes will begin to be re-absorbed back, creating an internal brine. If you don't salt enough, you don't get any brine going and are just ignoring chemistry |
A major issue is that people equate water in the steak with "juiciness" and/or flavor. Most of that water in the steak burns off anyways, and will have an undesireable boiling effect on the meat. It also inhibits your ability to get a proper sear.
The best meat is aged. The philosophy behind "aging" a steak is getting rid of a lot of the water and concentrating the meat. I've started salting all my steak over night. Similar, to dry aging, but to a lesser degree, it will tenderize the meat as well.
Also, when salting a steak, you need to remember that you are only salting the outside. So you need to salt more liberally than you think you should, but give the salt time to sink in. There's nothing worse than a steak that just bleads random liquid but hasn't been seared properly. You end up with a horrible texture and little taste.