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A wet steak can't brown: water holds its surface near 100°C (212°F), and browning can't speed up until the surface is dry.
Here is a secret that makes restaurant cooks smile: the best part of a steak is not the meat. It is the crust.
That brown crust is flavour, built by the Maillard reaction. Amino acids and simple sugars rearrange into hundreds of new compounds, most of them in tiny amounts, and together they make the smells of roasting, baking and frying.
There is a catch. The reaction needs the surface of the food to get properly hot, and a wet surface cannot: while there is water on it, the water holds the temperature down near its boiling point.
So the first trick of restaurant cooking costs nothing:
Dry the surface.
Restaurant kitchens are fussy about safety, and it is not a mood. It is why the food is a pleasure and not a regret. The rules below come from the U.S. government's food-safety site, and they are short.
The four steps
Every module ends with a game.
Module 1: Why restaurant food tastes different
FreeQuiz
Module 2: Safe first: the four steps and the danger zone
FreeMatching game
Module 3: Salt: season early, season on purpose
FreeTrivia
Module 4: Heat: the science of the sear
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Pre-register to get this courseA wet steak can't brown: water holds its surface near 100°C (212°F), and browning can't speed up until the surface is dry. This course is a handful of ideas like that one, the ones that make restaurant food taste the way it does: dry heat for browning, salt at the right time, a thermometer instead of a guess, pan sauces from the browned bits, bright vegetables, dressings that hold together and a final balance of salt, fat, acid and heat. Every rule is tied to a source you can open, and food safety comes first.
Ten short modules and a Finals, each ending in a quick interaction. You will learn why a wet steak will not brown, how to season and when, what internal temperatures are safe and why resting counts, how to turn the browned bits in a pan into a sauce, how to blanch and shock vegetables, why a vinaigrette separates, and how to cool rice and leftovers safely. You finish with a first step you can cook tonight. This is general cooking education, not medical or dietary advice.
Everything here is for informational and educational purposes only. Do not take it as medical, financial, legal or any other professional advice. We are not liable for decisions made based on this content.
Any brands mentioned during the course are used for educational and informational purposes only. We are not affiliated with them, and there will be helpful links to their sites at the end of the course.
Source: FoodSafety.gov
Don't wash raw meat, poultry, eggs or seafood before you cook it.
It is on the same government list as the four steps.
20 min
Bacteria can double in as little as this in the "danger zone", 40°F to 140°F (4°C to 60°C), where germs multiply quickly. Keep food out of it.
Source: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
Cool leftovers in shallow containers. Thaw and marinate in the fridge, never on the counter.
This is general guidance, not medical advice. People who are pregnant, older, very young or have weakened immune systems may be told to follow stricter rules, so check with your health authority.
Then comes a matching game, playable when courses open.
Salt is the cheapest upgrade in your kitchen, and the one most home cooks under-use. Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, describes salt as the element that boosts flavour. In an NPR interview she urged cooks to season more generously than feels comfortable, especially the water for boiling. Food spends so little time in that water that it has to be well seasoned for the food to pick up salt from the inside, and seasoning inside the food often means less salt overall.
When to salt meat? Science Focus put the question to a scientist, and the honest answer was that there is no definitive one. Many cooks recommend salting at least 40 minutes before cooking. Salt draws water out of the meat by osmosis, and given time that water is reabsorbed, carrying dissolved salt deeper in. Salt also changes proteins so that they hold water better during cooking. Salting right before cooking seasons the surface without drawing out as much moisture. And a very high concentration of salt can dry meat out.
When to salt meat
40+ minutes ahead
Right before cooking
Source: Science Focus
Two habits of ours (not from a source): salt in layers rather than one big dump, and taste as you go. If you salted ahead and water has beaded on the surface, pat it dry again before the pan. That is module 1 doing its job.
Then comes a trivia question, playable when courses open.
Module 5: Done is a number: temperatures and resting
Opens with an account.Surprise game
Module 6: Pan sauces: cooking with the browned bits
Opens with an account.Surprise game
Module 7: Vegetables: blanch, shock, roast
Opens with an account.Surprise game
Module 8: Emulsions: dressings that stay together
Opens with an account.Surprise game
Module 9: Starches: pasta, rice and leftovers
Opens with an account.Surprise game
Module 10: Balance: salt, fat, acid, heat together
Opens with an account.Surprise game
Finals: Cook like you mean it
Opens with an account.Mixed review of the whole course
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