The stages of salting.Q: What about salting even further in advance? Any
benefit there?
Actually, yes. Salting your steak up to three days before you
plan to cook it while letting it rest uncovered on a rack set in
a rimmed baking sheet in the fridge is called dry-brining,
and it will improve your steak in three very noticeable ways.
First, as the steak sits, the salt will slowly continue to
work its way into the meat, seasoning it more deeply.
Second, as that salt works its way in, it will continue to
break down muscle proteins, allowing your steak to retain
more moisture when you cook it. This leads to juicier steaks.
Third, and most important, resting your steak uncovered will
allow the very outer edges to dry out a bit. This may sound
like a bad thing, but keep this in mind: that moisture is all
moisture you’re going to drive out when searing your steak
anyway. Getting it out of the way before your steak hits the
pan means that you get more efficient browning. Better
browning = better flavor, and faster browning = less
overcooked meat under the surface of the steak.