The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

that was only superficial—the amount of drying that occurs
with overnight rest (about 5-percent moisture loss) is
negligible compared to the amount of moisture driven off
during cooking (upward of 20 percent, or even more in the
hard-seared edges). And after cooking, the steak that had
been salted and rested overnight actually ended up with 2-
percent more moisture than one that was salted and cooked
immediately, due to the beef’s increased ability to retain
water as the salt loosened the muscle structure.
Also, as the salt makes its way back into the meat in the
longer-salted steaks, the meat becomes a deeper color.
That’s because the dissolved proteins scatter light differently
than they did when they were still whole.
Moral of the story: If you’ve got the time, salt your meat
for at least 40 minutes, and up to overnight, before cooking.
If you haven’t got 40 minutes, it’s better to season
immediately before cooking. Cooking the steak anywhere
between 3 and 40 minutes after salting is the worst way to
do it.