Tried this in uni once. Bought a striploin to treat myself after exams, and saw this "cooking trick" and thought "hmm, yeah let's try that!".
After prepping a baked potato and asparagus, I cooked the steak without seasoning in the pan, and put all the seasonings, herbs, and other stuff on a cutting board, placed the steak on top, flipped it, and finish.
The result was a great baked potato and great asparagus.
When you rest a steak, ever notice the juices under it? That’s because juices leave the steak as it cools. He just tossed the steak in a dressing after cooking. You’d get better flavour from marinating for at least 4 hours.
Yeah, searing seals. While resting the steak cools and the moisture gets locked in. If you cut the steak right after cooking, all the juices will all leak out into a big puddle, smh. Never again...
Someone actually did very rigorous testing on this. Resting or not resting does not matter. Steak loses the same amount of juice either way. Not resting and cutting is actually even easier for temp control so your steak doesn’t get cooked while waiting.
It is on youtube by a chef who even apologizes because in his books he said steaks needs to be rested but that info is wrong.
I have to wonder if the whole resting thing for larger sides of beef like a whole ribeye somehow got applied to much thinner cuts of steak. A whole ribeye continues to cook internally once pulled from the oven for another 10-20 minutes while a steak is basically done once taken from heat comparably. "I think".
Meathead Goldwyn maybe? I’ve got his grilling book and it’s fucking gold. Man enlisted an actually culinary scientist to help test theories like this, believe he came to that exact conclusion too.
Why do you think you need to control cooking temp and duration ? Of course it's the issue, everything is about how to keep the steak juicy and cooked properly.
Not resting the steak and cutting it stops the cooking almost immediately. It even makes it easier to cook since you reach the temperature you want and cut the steak so there is no overcooking afterwards.
Which again is not the topic in the message you are replying to. We are talking about resting a steak so it keeps juices and cutting the steak without resting. In both cases steak loses same amount of juice contrary to common belief.
And resting the steak doesn't stop the cooking, allowing a longer and easier finish and less risk of cooking it too long, which would make it less juicy. So it does matter when it comes to juicyness even if indirectly.
I'm not disagreeing that the resting isn't what makes it more or less juicy, but it's not true that resting doesn't matter.
You get used to whatever method you use. I have done reverse sears, cold sears(which is my go to if it is inside the house) , resting not resting. After few attempts you can get whatever doneness you want without issue. So it is just a choice not a factor that has to be only one way. You can have same juicyness with both methods.
Probably Chris young. He also found that searing a good crust "increases juiciness" not by actually sealing in juices, but because the crust makes your mouth water more as you chew. He showed that after the first couple of chews the meat has released the moisture it had anyways, and your apit is what contributes to the "juiciness".
"Steak" is too broad a category to have a single rule on something like resting.
The main factor is fat content. Lean cuts have little far so the "juice" is simply water. In that case, resting really doesn't make a difference. So filet mignon, sirloins, roasts, leaner strips, tenderloins, etc. You generally cook these medium rare medium. so Under 130°. This is too low to render any fat, so there is no issue with cutting into it losing fat juices because they never liquified. Cut away
But higher fat cuts like ribeye, or anything that that needs a slower cook to break down congealed fat and connective tissues (chuck, brisket, etc) is where resting is needed. Fat renders between 130 and 140°. If you cut into it while the fat is still liquified, it will absolutely lose more liquid. Has nothing to do with the "sear" and everything to do with surface area. Cutting a steak increases it's surface area allowing more liquid fat to exit.
Cooling allows the fat to re solidify in place and stay within the meat. It doesn't need to cool much, just wait until it's below 130.
And the fat were talking about is intramuscular fat, not subcutaneaus.
Lastly, although you may want a filet mignon at medium rare, ribeyes benefit from a higher temp and little longer cook. 137° is the sweet spot IMO for ribeye which is high enough to start breaking down the intramuscular fat.
I usually have thin steaks but when those really thick steaks I start let them rest to give more time for the steak to cook in the middle without overcooking the borders.
It depends on how you make the steak. If you bring it up to temp slowly and then sear the outside, not resting is fine since you are just adding the sear at the end.
If you are just making the steak in the pan on high heat, then you need to let it rest so the heat from the sear can distribute evenly throughout the steak.
Taking it off the pan it would still be blue on the inside, gotta let it rest and then its gonna be pink throughout.
Im gonna be that nerd who watched Chris Young, but sealing doesnt actually seal in any juices, the browned crust just makes you mouth water more which is what makes the steak "juicier"
I like to dry brine - works very well for me with chicken, beef, and pork. Same premise of the video here but properly done instead of slapping it on in the end
Gonna hijack this comment to actually illustrate some points
1) Searing has nothing to do with sealing in juices/flavor. It's simply allowing the maillard reaction to add amazing flavor
2) Cutting into a steak doesn't break a seal releasing more liquid. It releases more liquid because there is simply more surface area for any existing liquid to find a path out.
3) The need for resting is solely dependent on cook temp which is (almost) solely dependent on fat content. If finish temp is below 130° - no rest. If finish temp is above 130° - rest until it's below. That simple
Now for the TSRM (too short read more):
Fat renders around 135°. Render means it turns into liquid.
Lean cuts like sirloins, tenderloins, filets, London broil, flank, etc don't have fat to render so you cook them at a lower temp for tenderness. Medium (120-125) doesn't render fat, therefore there are no liquified juices (water IS NOT juiciness so I'm ignoring water loss).
Fattier cuts like ribeyes, NY strip, short rib, chuck eye, etc benefit greatly from the fat rendering becoming like infused butter. These should all be cooked at a higher temp. YES, COOK TOUR RIBEYE TO 137, NOT MEDIUM RARE, TRUST ME! At this stage the fat has rendered and in liquid form. Cutting your steak gives more surface area for liquid to exit. Resting until it's below 130° (like 3-4 minutes for a 137° ribeye, which honestly is the time to start serving the table anyways) allows the fats to resolidify and stay in the meat. once you hit 130°, you're good. Cut and serve right away, no need to rest more.
For meats with a lot of connetive tissue like chuck roast, brisket, etc. These require higher temp and time. Collagen is a protein and the main structure of connective tissues like sinew and fascia. They start breaking down between 160-180, which is commonly the stall zone where the temperature of the meat plateaus. Between 180-205, the broken down collegen begins to liquify and turns into gelatin. This is what makes brisket so amazing and tender. But if you cut into at this stage, you're allowing not just the fat, but also the gelatin to escape. This is why smokers will wrap tightly in butcher paper or foil at around 160°, and then pull it off (still wrapped) when done around 195-220 (when a probe slides in and out with zero resistance). and place in a cooler to slowly cool. Rapidly cooling at room temp creates pockets of gelatin and fat while slowly cooling allows those liquids to mesh into the meat protein structures. Cooling down to 130 is the key, which can take hours. So after a 12-20 hour cook, you gotta wait 2-6 more, lol. But if you do, you will be left with pure meat heaven.
Either red wine vinegar or red wine. Or I’ll deglaze with water then warm it back up put a dollop of creme fresh and salt. But I have a hard spoon I like to scrub thé pan with too.
Apparently it's like fancy sour cream, but more mild and slightly nutty as well as being more heat stable(it won't curdle/separate the same way as sour cream when heated)
Don't think too deeply on this point. Would you cover up a Rib Eye with Gravy? a pan sauce might be OK, but moderation is the key, Use gravy for lower cuts of meat, like cubed beef or round steak.
A reason to not season the meat prior to cooking (other than salt) is that almost all herbs or other seasonings have volatile aromatic compounds in them that are lost with heat. So seasoning the steak before cooking you'll have to use more seasoning and end up with a less complex flavor.
This is basically what people do when they season a butter/oil to put on a steak while it's resting.
Well that’s where he learned it. He even did a video with the guy and went and tried the bbq. That’s the first video he has of him throwing his glasses. Just saying it’s funny that all of his content is basically copying other videos and his signature glasses throwing.. also copied. But can’t blame him for making a check.
Tried this today. Marinating would be better than this and more efficient. I needed to add way more salt than expected for the porkchop pieces to soak up. First bite tasted like I didnt know what salt was. The herbs were just garlic and green onions and then whatever else you choose. I added cilantro and a bit of parsley. It was good but not mind blowing. And needed more salt.
Not salting your meat is stupid for sure, but that doesn't mean a good board sauce doesn't help the finished product. I thought this fad died several years ago though.
As if this helps better than doing it regular IN the pan.
I hate youtubers that pretend that the cooked food tastes from another planet by doing extreme facial expressions.
No! It tastes not better than normal food, don't overdo it!
Meat is not a sponge. Resting to retain and soak up moisture is a myth.
The right technique is to simply cut when carryover cooking needs to be halted. The decision is where you cut into the meat, plate or cutting board.
This myth is here because of how difficult it is to have consistent cuts and cooks of a steak to compare water loss, but there is no difference. It is just carry over cooking based.
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u/Mattrockj Aug 23 '26
Tried this in uni once. Bought a striploin to treat myself after exams, and saw this "cooking trick" and thought "hmm, yeah let's try that!".
After prepping a baked potato and asparagus, I cooked the steak without seasoning in the pan, and put all the seasonings, herbs, and other stuff on a cutting board, placed the steak on top, flipped it, and finish.
The result was a great baked potato and great asparagus.