Any cooking enthusiast will eventually tackle the question of when to season meat. Generally, an opinion is formed soon after that lasts indefinitely. This is certainly true of me, and of the friends that openly disagree with my methods.
In the July issue of Food & Wine, an article caught my eye. It aimed to tackle the question and I was surprised to see it was authored by a name I’ve certainly seen before. Oliver Schwaner-Albright hosted some experienced friends and put together a nice little experiment by salting meats and allowing the group to decide which was better: 24 hours before, or just before cooking. The results were interesting:
- Salting does not cause meats to lose water weight
- Chicken was more succulent when salted the day before
- Rib eye steak was a matter of taste
- Pork seasoned the day before was dry
- Lamb seasoned the day before was “exquisite”
Surely, this won’t end the debate, but the article – The Juicy Secret to Seasoning Meat – is definitely worth a read. What do you think?