Steak Misconceptions

One of the biggest misconceptions about steaks (and other proteins) is that you need to sear them to seal the juices in. It’s now pretty widely accepted that that is not true – searing makes little difference to the juiciness of a steak; it does, however, improve the flavor through the Maillard Reaction. But other misconceptions about grilling or searing meat linger. Kenji Alt over at SeriousEats conducted some indepth studies to get rid of those in his article, 7 Old Wives Tales About Cooking Steaks That Need To Go Away.

Among the premises he tackles are:

• You should let a thick steak rest at room temperature before you cook it.
• Bone-in steak has more flavor than boneless (though there are advantages of cooking with the bone in).
• Only flip your steak once.
• Only season your steak after it’s cooked.
• Don’t use a fork to turn your steak.
• Don’t cut a steak open to test its doneness.

He backs up his contentions with some pretty solid science and also makes some excellent recommendations along the way on how to cook a great steak. So before you light up the grill to cook your expensive steak, you might want to check it out.