| How many times have you heard, "Salting raw meat | | | | the old-fashioned cooks who say you SHOULD salt? |
| (or poultry or fish) will draw the juices out and make it | | | | They BOTH are. The issue isn't the salt. The issue is |
| tough?" I see this statement repeated in cookbook | | | | WHEN you should apply salt to raw foods, especially |
| after cookbook as if it were a fact. | | | | meat, poultry, and fish. |
| Yet in older cookbooks, especially the ones based on | | | | The basic rule is, if you're going to use salt, do it early. |
| European cooking techniques, salting meat before | | | | Never apply salt to meat right before you put it in the |
| cooking is done routinely, without loss of juices. In fact, | | | | pan or on the grill. Salting at the last minute will definitely |
| if you do it right, meat that is salted before cooking can | | | | pull juices out of the meat. It will toughen and dry out |
| be much juicier and more succulent than meat that isn't | | | | the surface of the meat, without adding any extra |
| salted! | | | | flavor to the inside. |
| So who's right? Is it the people who say don't salt, or | | | | |