How many times have you heard, ?Salting raw meat (or poultry or
fish) will draw the juices out and make it tough?? I see this
statement repeated in cookbook after cookbook as if it were a
fact.
Yet in older cookbooks, especially the ones based on European
cooking techniques, salting meat before cooking is done
routinely, without loss of juices. In fact, if you do it right,
meat that is salted before cooking can be much juicier and more
succulent than meat that isn?t salted!
So who?s right? Is it the people who say don?t salt, or the
old-fashioned cooks who say you SHOULD salt? They BOTH are. The
issue isn?t the salt. The issue is WHEN you should apply salt to
raw foods, especially meat, poultry, and fish.
The basic rule is, if you?re going to use salt, do it early.
Never apply salt to meat right before you put it in the pan or
on the grill. Salting at the last minute will definitely pull
juices out of the meat. It will toughen and dry out the surface
of the meat, without adding any extra flavor to the inside.
But if you salt your meat early - even a few days before cooking
- you will be pleasantly surprised at the results! Many
old-fashioned cooks, especially chefs who were trained in
classical French or German methods, salt their meat well in
advance of cooking. They sprinkle salt evenly and lightly over
the meat as soon as it comes into their kitchen. Then they wrap
it carefully, and refrigerate until it's cooking time.
This early salting will actually improve the texture, juiciness,
and flavor of the meat. It has an almost miraculous tenderizing
power, without MSG and without turning the meat to flabby mush.
Salting is especially beneficial for cuts of meat that are firm
or tough, like wild game, the chewier types of steak (such as
skirt and flank steak), firm roasts, brisket, and pot roast. But
you can also lightly salt tender steaks, poultry, and fish ahead
of time. An added benefit is the salt will help keep the meat
fresh and lively tasting, even after several days of
refrigeration.
Why does this early salting work so well? Salt reacts with the
proteins inside the muscle fibers in meat. Given time, it
dissolves them slightly, making the meat more tender. But what?s
more important, salt encourages the movement of moisture inside
the meat cells.
When salt first hits the meat, it pulls moisture OUT. That?s why
the meat will be dry if you salt right before cooking. But if
you give salt time to penetrate the meat, the cells start to
REABSORB the moisture. And because the proteins are now nice and
soft, the cells absorb the salt flavor - plus any herbs or
spices you may have added to the salt - deep inside the meat. So
now you have happy meat that?s evenly seasoned and tenderized
all the way through!
If you?re skeptical about salting your meat ahead of time, don?t
take my word for it. Respected food authorities like Judy
Rodgers, the award-winning chef who runs San Francisco?s Zuni
Cafe, has a whole section about the early salting of meat and
other foods in her ?Zuni Cafe Cookbook.? She goes into all the
chemistry in great detail.
But trust me, you don't need to understand cell osmosis to get
the tenderizing benefits of salt. Simply try this early salting
method just once, and you will be amazed at how much better your
meat tastes.
And you won?t see your guests covering their meat with salt at
the table, since the meat will be gently flavored with salt all
the way through. In fact, if you?re watching your salt intake,
by salting lightly but early, you can often get superior flavor
and even eliminate the need to add salt at the table.
How much salt to use? That?s a matter of taste. Start with a
very modest amount. Sprinkle on the minimum you would use if the
meat were already cooked. I use about 1/4 teaspoon of salt per
pound of meat, but thin cuts need less, and thick cuts like
roasts might need quite a bit more. Go easy at first, and
eventually you?ll get the hang of it.
Two more tips about salting early. First, the salt will
tenderize and moisturize the meat faster at room temperature
than in the fridge (don?t bother salting meat if you?re going to
freeze it, it?s pointless). So the colder your fridge, the
earlier you need to do the salting. Second, poultry doesn?t need
to be salted as long as beef, and fish may only need a few
hours.
You can also add seasonings to the salt. One of my favorite
seasoned salts for steaks is very simple: one tablespoon of
plain sea salt, 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of
sweet Hungarian paprika. Mix these three ingredients well, then
sprinkle lightly on steaks, wrap them individually in good
quality plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you?re ready to
cook. The sugar will help the meat sear nicely without excess
heat, and the paprika adds a subtle, warm taste and a wonderful
aroma.
About the author:
Emi Dela writes Happy Eats, the blog dedicated to seriously
happy food. A menu consultant and kitchenware tester, Emi's site
will show you how to cook, eat, and be happy, without stressing
your nerves or your diet. Check out her scrumptious recipes and
kitchen-tested cooking tips at http://www.happyeats.com.
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