• Immediately after salting, the salt rests on the surface of the meat, undissolved All the steak’s juices are still inside the muscle fibers So searing at this stage results in a clean, hard sear • Within or minutes, the salt, through the process of osmosis, will begin to draw out liquid from the beef, and this liquid beads up on the surface of the meat Try to sear at this point, and you waste valuable heat energy simply evaporating this pooled liquid The pan temperature drops, your sear is not as hard, and crust development and flavor-building Maillard browning reactions are inhibited • At around 10 to 15 minutes, the brine formed by the salt dissolving in the meat’s juices will begin to break down the muscle structure of the beef, causing it to become much more absorptive Then the brine begins to slowly work its way back into the meat • After 40 minutes, most of the liquid has been reabsorbed into the meat A small degree of evaporation has also occurred, causing the meat to be ever-so-slightly more concentrated in flavor Not only that, but I found that even once the liquid has been reabsorbed, it doesn’t stop there As the meat continues to rest past 40 minutes, the salt will slowly work its way deeper and deeper into its muscle structure, giving you built-in seasoning beyond just the outer surface you get if cooking right after salting The absolute best steak I had was one that I salted on both sides and allowed to rest, uncovered, on a rack in the refrigerator overnight It appeared to dry out slightly, but that was only superficial—the amount of drying that occurs with overnight rest (about 5-percent moisture loss) is negligible compared to the amount of moisture driven off during cooking (upward of 20 percent, or even more in the hard-seared edges) And after cooking, the steak that had been salted and rested overnight actually ended up with 2percent more moisture than one that was salted and cooked immediately, due to the beef’s increased ability to retain water as the salt loosened the muscle structure Also, as the salt makes its way back into the meat in the longer-salted steaks, the meat becomes a deeper color That’s because the dissolved proteins scatter light differently than they did when they were still whole Moral of the story: If you’ve got the time, salt your meat for at least 40 minutes, and up to overnight, before cooking If you haven’t got 40 minutes, it’s better to season immediately before cooking Cooking the steak anywhere between and 40 minutes after salting is the worst way to do it ... immediately, due to the beef’s increased ability to retain water as the salt loosened the muscle structure Also, as the salt makes its way back into the meat in the longer-salted steaks, the meat becomes...that was only superficial? ?the amount of drying that occurs with overnight rest (about 5-percent moisture loss) is negligible compared to the amount of moisture driven off during cooking (upward of 20 percent, or even more in the. .. for at least 40 minutes, and up to overnight, before cooking If you haven’t got 40 minutes, it’s better to season immediately before cooking Cooking the steak anywhere between and 40 minutes after salting is the worst way to do it