Should meat be seasoned before or after cooking?
When should meat be seasoned?
I heard that salting meat prior to cooking draws out the moisture but I have noticed that a number of chefs season their meat prior to cooking.
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I am hooked on Dario Cecchini's seasoned salt. I have found that grilling the steak first and then seasoning just before removing from the grill gives me better clarity with the subtle flavor of his very fine grind seasoned salt. And I use much less which is good because trips to Chianti are rare. Also, I do not grind pepper on the steak which would compete with the seasoning. Bottom line I am now in the season after camp (only when grilling) because I like the pure steak meat taste combined with the mouthfeel of the seasoning as a power chord from the outside crust of my steak as opposed to the melted in flavor of a seasoned and slow cooked braised meat like short rib that carries the same flavor throughout the meat.
There are different 'camps' when it comes to seasoning but essentially If you season meat too early before cooking, the salt will draw out the moisture, meaning a less juicy piece of meat, however if you season just before cooking the seasoning will help to impart flavour into the meat. If you seal the meat and then season it, the sealed meat will not release any juice. Hence the two theories.
Salt is a very unique "spice" (technically it's a rock). You could literally spend an hour just learning the various ways it affects foods.
A general rule of thumb is that the longer the meat is exposed to the spice, the more it will pick up the flavor, but there are many variables in how fast this happens, how deep the flavor penetrates, etc.
For example, in brining (soaking the meat in a salty liquid), first the lower salt juice is drawn out of the meat, then the saltier water is drawn in along with the other spices in the brine mixture. The salt actually helps the meat retain the moisture better during cooking.
Covering a raw steak with salt for a while before grilling will draw out the moisture and change how the steak is seared.
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