YSK: You should dry off beef before cooking. Doing so promotes the Maillard Reaction, which will make the meat taste and look better.
seriouseats.com
Why YSK: When you cook meat, any water on the surface must first evaporate before much browning can occur. You want to get as much of a Maillard reaction as possible in the limited cooking time you have before the meat reaches the correct internal temperature. Removing the moisture first means that the heat of the cooking surface isn't wasted on evaporation and can instead interact with the meat to form the complex sugars and proteins of the Maillard reaction.
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Yes, lots of people don't dry off the marinade when cooking marinated meat. Which shouldn't be an issue with a steak but just as an example.
Then sometimes people don't dry off meat well enough after washing it. Just a quick dab with some paper towel is often not enough.
But yes, the title isn't the best and the Article itself uses a different one and goes more into detail. It suggest air drying your steak for hours in the fridge. That's definitely not something everyone does. It also goes more into detail about the Maillard Reaction.
My parents ALWAYS marinate their steaks in a ziplock bag of liquid marinade, immediately slap those soggy slabs on the grill without drying, and subsequently cook them to a rubbery puck of grey meat. Suggestions to change their ways is futile - Americans don’t like being told they bbq incorrectly…
I did this on Sunday, but it was cooked maybe medium rare. I haven't cooked a lot in my life. What should I do if I want to marinate next time?
Honestly, I’ve stopped seasoning my steak beyond salt and pepper and wouldn’t personally marinate anything other than something like a skirt steak for fajitas anymore.
If I were to marinate again, I would pull the steak out of marinade and let if drip dry over a towel for 30 minutes or so (or as long as I had patience for - I’m guilty of allllllways cutting corners).
But why on earth are you washing your meat?