# "Season to Taste?" WTH? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2017, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-to-taste-wth/781277 "2017-03-03T10:07:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-to-taste-wth/781277/21 "2017-03-03T23:03:07Z")
To be honest, though, when browning, it’s not really necessary or even desirable much of the time to add any salt and pepper, since salt draws out water from the meat and inhibits browning. That said, do it long enough in advance (at the order of a day or so) and the salting has a sort of curing effect. You can read more [in-depth here](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/25/dining/chefs-who-salt-early-if-not-often.html). [Serious Eats](http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/the-food-lab-more-tips-for-perfect-steaks.html) says, for steaks, either salt immediately or salt and wait at least 40 minutes. Even salting and waiting as little as 3 minutes before searing inhibits the sear. Personally, for a large hunk of meat, I always sear without adding salt or pepper. It’s all gonna get flavored and adjusted for later. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-to-taste-wth/781277/22 "2017-03-03T23:25:26Z")
[XKCD did it.](https://xkcd.com/1639/) Almost exactly a year and a month ago, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-to-taste-wth/781277/23 "2017-03-03T23:34:11Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Lillian Gish’s birthday? > > This is a Lillian Gish reference, isn’t it, you sly dog? > > (Lillian is VERY much to my taste, and I would like to eat her also, c. 1922, after make-outs) > > [Hollywood Golden Era: Image](https://thebestofalleras.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/1e961f4795bb2ff41fb4df4c844f56f7.jpg) Keep your filthy mitts off Lillian Gish. I wrote her a fan letter when I was 17, and she ANSWERED it, on personal, non-standard stationary, that had a typo corrected with Wite-Out, and it was signed with a ball-point pen, so it was real, and not mass-produced. I am therefore her favorite fan ever. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-to-taste-wth/781277/24 "2017-03-03T23:44:29Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > We’re not speaking since I found out you [require mayonnaise on chicken sandwiches](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20039703&postcount=51). Fie, I say. Feh. Imprecations upon thee. In my defense, I am a white guy; we are notoriously lame. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-to-taste-wth/781277/25 "2017-03-03T23:51:41Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Keep your filthy mitts off Lillian Gish. I wrote her a fan letter when I was 17, and she ANSWERED it, on personal, non-standard stationary, that had a typo corrected with Wite-Out, and it was signed with a ball-point pen, so it was real, and not mass-produced. I am therefore her favorite fan ever. I have been desperately in love with Lillian since I was 13 and saw _Broken Blossoms_ on the Sunday night PBS hours devoted to silent cinema. But I was too askeert of her awesomeness to ever write her a fan letter. I DID summon the gumption to write Zita Johann a fan letter back in the late 1980s, along with an old studio glamor photo I paid cash money for and for which I requested an autograph. Never heard back from her, the old bag. (Sorry about the hijack) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-to-taste-wth/781277.md?page=1)