has anyone researched this?

So I've seen plenty of people do testing to disprove the old adage that searing locks in the juices, but has anyone tested the opposite, if it seals them out? Meaning, will marinating meat after searing it be less effective than if you marinate before?

If you marinate before, you're adding moisture to the meat which will make browning it take longer, causing the inside to overcook more. Unless you dry it off before searing, in which case you're wiping off the flavor. It would seem that if you could marinate after searing without the contacted proteins preventing the marinade from penetrating as much then that would be superior. (Not that marinades penetrate all that much to begin with, which just makes it seem even more like this would be better. )

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tshewman

I'm not certain the sugars and proteins being cooked would inhibit marination. If that were the case, then searing would seal in juices (if marinade can't get in, how dow juice come out?). One could also easily inject the marinade bypassing the crust on the meat if marinading after was desired. Thinking out loud.

Afonso_Tito_de_Morais_164825

I might be wrong here but I don't think searing "locks in the juices". I think it's just for the purpose of creating a pleasant outer caramelized texture & flavor through the maillard reaction. Marinating after searing doesn't really compute in my mind, since you'd be washing away all those charred bits and adding moisture to the meat's surface, basically ruining all the work you had getting a beautiful sear. Good question tho.

Afonso_Tito_de_Morais_164825

And about the drying the surface of the meat post-marination and pre-searing wouldn't really wash any flavor from the marinade away, since a proper marinade should be allowed to penetrate the meat throughout, and not just the surface. Drying the meat before searing just removes any outside moisture to improve searing consistency and avoid oil splashing all over your hands when you sear it.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt tho, I'm just following my gut.

tshewman

Food for thought:

Marinade, chill sear, cook and re-sear - may add sugars from the marinade to the mallard reaction (more flavor without damaging the inside).

Chill, sear, marinade,cook and re-sear may do similar to above, but because no marinade present at initial sear flavor profile would likey be different at the surface.

The difference would be interesting to look at.

artstype

Marination does not penetrate deeply into the meat, so I tend to agree with Afonso, marinade, dry (you can try a faux-dry-aging by wrapping the dried off meat in paper towels and put it on a rack in the fridge for a few hours to dry out the surface), then sear, bag with whatever you want. and sear again before service. The purpose of the first sear, as I understand it, is to add the smokey/sweet flavor of the maillard reaction more deeply into the meat. The drying of the surface in advance of that searing minimizes the potential of "steaming" the meat when it is seared, and gives a much better crust.

brian_martin2001

You could use a meat syringe to inject the marinade into the muscle. Why not pick up a cheap cut of meat, and try out searing and then marinating?