Quote:
Originally Posted by asphaltgambler
From an old skool cook, agree with most above - except for salting prior. Don't do it. Just don't. In this case with steaks, the salt will dry out your meat. I do my other seasonings before cooking, then just as I'm plating and serving, then I'll salt it.
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The salt will dry the SURFACE of the meat, which you DO want. The sizzling sound? That's water in the meat boiling off, which is stealing heat from the meat itself. The more sizzling, the less actual cooking.
You want the surface to be bone dry, no noise at all when it hits the grill/griddle. THEN all of the heat is going into cooking the proteins and such, so you're not wasting time.
Salting the surface (as well as patting it dry, adding cornstarch to it, freezing it, etc) all dry the surface of the meat so that the Maillard reaction can start sooner, and you can get a good brown crust without overcooking the middle.
Pepper should be applied at the end, since it's a biological and it will burn and taste bad.