Kitchen Myths

Facts and fiction about food and cooking, by Peter Aitken

Searing meat seals in the juices





8 responses to “Searing meat seals in the juices

  1. Pingback: In the Mailbox « Cooking • Through • The • Ages

  2. Alex July 31, 2011 at 5:00 am

    Not everyone agrees with how the two samples loose the same weight as proof of this:

  3. kitchenmyths August 7, 2011 at 2:37 pm

    Thanks for the article. I am afraid I can accord it much respect because it is not very well thought through. First of all, I agree – as stated in my original myth-that searing results in much better taste, so there’s no disagreement there. But, “sealing in the moisture” means more than just water-it means whatever makes a steak juicy, and that includes fat. And indeed, as the article notes, fat loss should be taken into account.

    So, we cook 2 steaks, one with and one without searing. They both lose the same amount of weight (we know this already). Assuming that only water and fat are lost, we have 3 possibilities:

    1) The seared steak looses the same amount of water and the same amount of fat as the unseared steak.
    2) The seared steak looses more water and less fat as the unseared steak.
    3) The seared steak looses less water and more fat as the unseared steak.

    We don’t know which of these is true. But, in any of the 3 cases, searing did not seal in more “moisture.” The only logical conclusion is that “searing meat seals in moisture” is, indeed, a myth.

  4. Elton John February 5, 2012 at 10:05 am

    Hmm So reading your post above you say that “moisture” would be classified as the water and fat content in the steak.

    If that’s the case than we can probably assume that if scenario #2 is actually correct then there is more “fat moisture” than water moisture.

    I think most people would agree that the fat would provide more flavor so if searing the meat actually does lead to scenario #2 we can assume (like you said) it makes the food taste better.

    Basically I think the confusion is over your definition of the myth. When people said “sealed in the moisture”, or “sealed in more moisture,” they really mean “sealed in the moisture that provides flavor” (and as we stated if scenario #2 is correct, this is exactly whats occurring).

    It’s hard to believe people would be claiming that water was the source of a dishes favor (and I think many people are familiar with this “myth”).

    Let me know what you think as it seems like there could be truth to this myth if scenario #2 could be proven (and as you stated its an important factor, and just as likely as the other two scenarios).

  5. chefchez February 10, 2012 at 10:58 pm

    I see it this way, Searing meat evaporates water from the surface of the meat leaving behind concentrated juices on the surface hence it is still with the meat, Where as if it was not seared it would loose juice and not just water.

    An other good myth is: “Fat equals flavor” Go get that one! Here’s a hint, Fat can carry flavor.
    And thanks for the myths!

    • Poe chef wanna be November 13, 2014 at 3:25 pm

      Fat and water do not fix, meat is mostly made up of water. so there is no way the fat is going to flavor the meat, unless you eat a piece of fat with the some flesh

  6. télétravail May 17, 2014 at 9:56 am


  7. Susan J Freed December 2, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    Slice the pork into managle pieces.

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