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Comment by dataviz1000 | Hacker News Reader

"Searing the meat seals in the juices" -- every chef on every cooking show.

Can we do a study on that too?

hmmmmm. I want to grill two steaks, the same size, and to the same internal temperature on the same grill. Let one rest for ten minutes in a pie pan and cut the other into 4 pieces letting it also rest for ten minutes in a pie pan. Probably also wrap them in tinfoil. Then weigh the released juices at the end.

There is a huge difference between eating a steak that has rested allowing the vapor pressure decrease vs one that hasn't rested even though the internal temperatures in the middle are the same.

edit: I found a video of the experiment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYA8H8KaLNg

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Real cooks know the point of the sear is to create browning (maillard). Anyone who says otherwise either doesn't understand or is just speaking to a basic audience

the flavor enhancement of the maillard reaction does not mean that searing is not also sealing the meat. I'm not saying it is either, just, saying your statement is not an answer to his question, as anyone can see. almost anyone.

> "Searing the meat seals in the juices" -- every chef on every cooking show.

This was debunked a long time ago. You do want to sear the meat, but only to give it a nice and tasty brown crust due to Maillard reactions. Searing does not seal in any juices.

I can recommend the book Cooking for Geeks, it has some nice scientific explanations about this and some other stuff too.

Or "On Food And Cooking: The Science And Lore Of The Kitchen" by Harold McGee.

> "Searing the meat seals in the juices" -- every chef on every cooking show.

I could be wrong on this but I think Kenji was the first prominent writer to debunk this. I bring it up given the context of who all we're talking about.

I think Alton Brown covered this on his show Good Eats quite a few years ago as well.

And Meathead over at Amazing Ribs[0]. Their explanation[1] for the "stall" (evaporative cooling) in smoking large cuts of meat is great as well.

0 - https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cook...

1 - https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cook...

> "Searing the meat seals in the juices" -- every chef on every cooking show.

This is debunked. See myth #2 and #4 here:

https://www.seriouseats.com/old-wives-tales-about-cooking-st...

I'm not arguing in favor of "searing is sealing", but that whole article is trash imho. I can see flaws in every empirical test he sets up. (ok, not every one, i quit reading in horror after I read a few)

cauterizing a wound, btw, does seal in the juice.

Chris young is great. Serious eats from the linked article also has some tests of this.

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