Why I Season My Cutting Board, NOT My Steak

Just like a dry sponge absorbs water, meat will (to an extent) absorb liquid as it cools. So, instead of flavoring your steak before you cook it (or in the pan while it cooks), you can simply flavor the cutting board with seasoning, citrus, herbs, butter — anything you'd like. Rest the steak on the board, then slice it thin and toss it in its own juices and your flavorings. The meat will suck everything up and deliver the goodness TO YOUR BELLY.

MY COOKING PHILOSOPHY: I don't like weighing or measuring things if I don't have to, and I don't like to be constantly checking a recipe as I cook. I don't care that volume is a bad way of measuring things — it's usually easier. I like for a recipe to get me in the ballpark, and then I like to eyeball and improvise the rest. If you're like me, my goal with these videos is to give you a sense of how the food should look and feel as you're cooking it, rather than give you a refined formula to reproduce.

[aragusea]

Q: Is that steak raw inside?
A: Nah. It is on the rare side, which is how I like it. One thing I've learned since I started making videos (I'm a radio guy) is that cameras lie, especially about color. You can't trust the colors you see in a video. I can make some tiny tweaks to a filter or a light, and a steak will go from pink to red to gray without actually changing. Keep watching my videos, though, and I'll be able to afford a nicer camera with better color reproduction. I'm shooting on a real cheap DSLR with a kit lens.

Q: Is that steak burned on the outside?
A: Nah, see the above answer. Cameras tend to make dark brown look black. That's one of the reasons why food stylists do crazy stuff like painting food with shoe polish or whatever to make it look brown.

Q: Will this method work with other meats?
A: Yeah, anything you would consider slicing thin before eating.

Q: Why not season the outside of the meat before cooking? Won't that make it taste better?
A: Seasoning the outside right before cooking will definitely result in a salty crust, which can be nice. But with this recipe, I'm going to toss the steak in its own juices, which would redistribute the salt from the crust to the entire surface area of the meat anyway, so there simply isn't any point. And seasoning right before cooking absolutely will not flavor the interior of the meat. Kenji's experiments showed that it takes at least 40 minutes for salt to draw moisture out of raw meat, dissolve into the moisture, and then be reabsorbed. You should try his method sometime, which basically involves seasoning the meat the day before.

Q: Are you sure the pieces are really absorbing the surrounding liquid?
A: I think so! The commercial meat industry refers to this phenomenon as "pick-up." At the same time, though, I'm sure what's also happening is the "sauce" is congealing as it cools and is simply sticking to the surface of each piece. That's a desirable result, too, right? So I figure, who cares how much of either factor is at play?

Q: Didn't you already make a video about this?
A: The first food video I ever made, about a year ago, was a more complicated version of this recipe. I wanted to do it again, now that I'm a little better at making videos. Gonna redo my old roast chicken one, too. June 6.

Q: Will you ever cook any damn vegetables?
A: Yes! I've been waiting for stuff in my garden to ripen before I do a bunch of vegetable recipes.

[glocktane]

I normally tend to snort the spices and then deepthroat the raw steak

[Vrga]

I actually season my meat before I eat the cutting board

[danielbyrd]

I actually prefer to season the tree before making the cutting board👍🏼

[theoriginalhoot]

This is so delicious! So tender and chewy, i never knew that cutting boards were that flavorful, I’ll definitely try this again, Thanks Adam!

[_superintendent]

i prefer to
1: heat up the steak
2: season the pan
3: put the pan on the steak
4: eat the cutting board

[leonsheva]

i actually tried this technique. I can confirm, the most delicious cutting board i have ever eaten.

[NotCTDBravo]

I prefer to season the grass the cow eats then bite into the live cow.

[red]

I click on this video sometimes just to read the comments

[t-wave]

I season both, even my frying pan.
Also you can season your house to give it extra flavor.

[sossbeatz]

Next video: “Why I Study After The Test”

[superchargedpetrolhead]

I too season my cutting board before eating it.

[wordlesssong]

I think it's a pretty cool strategy to season the board first. But I actually prefer to season my hands instead. Your hands themselves let out sweat throughout the prep, so seasoning your hands helps wick it up and ensure that you don't get that uniform background saltiness from your sweat onto the steak, giving the coarse salt grains a bigger punch.

[micropepe]

As soon as I read the title i knew the comments section was having a party

[goingfurther]

I’ve always seasoned my stomach lining first. Followed by swallowing raw skirt steak, and then drink boiling liquid last. True flavor.

[SilverSurfar]

"Dad, why are you putting salt on the grass?"

"Im seasoning the cow, son"

[HBGBLINz]

i prefer to season the sun before the grass does photosynthesis

[abujunayed]

I like to season the cow before it gets butchered to get maximum flavour.

[ankandas]

I prefer to eat the toilet paper before pooping, so wipes itself on it's way out.

[GDJSingh]

Where's the guy that said: "I prefer to season my mouth, eat the steak raw, and then light myself on fire."