Science in Cooking
Salt does not just make food salty. Remove it from a well-seasoned dish and the sweetness, acidity, and umami all collapse into something flat. Salt makes food taste more like itself — but only if you add it at the right moment.
You have been told that searing seals in the juices. It does not. What actually happens when you put a steak, a piece of bread, or a sliced onion over high heat is more interesting — and more useful — than any myth about moisture retention.
