Wipe meats and fish before cooking


Wipe meats and fish before cooking
When you want to cook meat or fish, there's a very simple yet very important step to take before you even start: It's to dry, or wipe, each side of the meat or fish, sometimes called "dabbing" or "sponging".

But why? And how? Let me explain.
8,424 4.5/5 (4 reviews)
Grade this page:
Keywords for this post:CookingDryingDryingMeatFishKitchen towelPaper towelPaper towel
Last modified on: April 14th 2024
For this post: Comment Follow Ask me a question Send to a friend
Wipe meats and fish before cooking
When we're about to cook meat, we often take it out of the fridge, where it was wrapped in paper.

If it's been waiting a while, you've probably already noticed that it's moist, sometimes even almost wet, which is normal, as meat naturally exudes a little muscle fluid when it's resting.
The same goes for fish and scallops, which naturally become moist and slightly sticky when they wait a little too long before cooking.

viande humidepoisson humide


This moisture isn't a problem in itself, but it can be a bit of a hindrance to cooking, because if you put the meat directly into the hot pan (for example), the moisture will, with the heat of the pan, create a little film of steam between the meat and the bottom (of the pan).
On the one hand, this film will reduce the cooking heat, thus increasing cooking time, but above all it will slow down caramelization (the famous Maillard reactions), and unfortunately your meat won't brown as well, and won't taste as good.

As you can see, it's no big deal, but the solution is so simple that it would be a shame to do without it: simply dry the meat well, dabbing it with a cloth or paper towel, before seasoning and cooking.

viande séchageviande séchée


The same goes for fish and scallops: simply pat dry with kitchen paper before seasoning and cooking.

poisson essuyagepoissonessuyé


It's a reflex that restaurant chefs have: they systematically dry all their meats and fish before cooking them.
It's in our interest to follow their example...

To sum up: You should always dry meat or fish by dabbing it with a paper towel or tea towel before cooking, to ensure better cooking and coloring.

Lasts posts
The importance of sieving
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?
September 3rd 20256,5283
The grease spray
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...
August 26th 20255,9385
Cake moulds
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?
August 25th 20256,1495
Thinning out herbs
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...
August 8th 20254,3275
Add a bay leaf
Add a bay leaf
Bay leaf: small in size, but big in flavor. You'll find it in hundreds of recipes, and it's often added to cooking meat, in a sauce or broth, usually accompanied by other herbs or products. It's a staple of Provençal, Mediterranean and Oriental cuisine, but not the only one. Usually, in a...
July 31th 20254,3525

Other pages you may also like
The importance of sieving
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?
September 3rd 20256,5283
Your oven in "proofer" mode
Your oven in "proofer" mode
In the bakery, proofing is a crucial stage in the process of making light, plump breads and pastries. During proofing, the yeast ferments the sugars present in the dough, releasing carbon dioxide which forms bubbles. This process allows the dough to swell and aerate, guaranteeing a soft, light...
September 27th 20249,4635
Steam for baking bread
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...
June 16th 2021145 K4.5
For well opened (puffed) cakes
For well opened (puffed) cakes
It's always nice to have a well puffed up cake after baking, not only will it taste good but it looks great too. Let's see how to get this beautiful shape almost every time.
January 23th 201934 K4.2
The 3 secrets of successful mousses
The 3 secrets of successful mousses
When you make a traditional mousse, that is to say without using a siphon, whatever the recipe, it's always the same principle: on one side you have a dense mixture, very tasty, and on the other side egg whites beaten until stiff. All the difficulty of the success of a mousse, it will be to mix the...
April 3rd 20219,4244.6
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page