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Throughout years of cooking in the test kitchen, we’ve noticed that we tend to season fatty meat more generously than lean meat. To bolster our anecdotal evidence with real data, we set up the following experiment.
EXPERIMENT
We rounded up five meats ranging in fat content: turkey breast, pork loin, strip steak, and both 80 percent and 90 percent lean ground beef. We cooked the meat and chopped it into pieces. We then tossed 10-gram portions of each meat with increasing amounts of salt (0.1 percent, 0.25 percent, 0.5 percent, 0.75 percent, 1 percent, and 1.5 percent by weight of each sample). We had tasters try the samples in order, starting with an unsalted control, and had them record at what percentage the meat tasted properly seasoned. We also sent cooked samples of each type of meat to a lab to determine fat content.
RESULTS
Sure enough, the fattier the meat the more salt it needed to taste properly seasoned. Tasters preferred the lean turkey breast (0.7 percent fat) and pork loin (2.6 percent fat) seasoned with 0.5 percent salt by weight. The strip steak (6 percent fat) and 90 percent lean ground beef (10 percent fat) required about 0.75 percent salt by weight to taste seasoned. And finally, the 80 percent lean ground beef (20 percent fat) tasted seasoned to a majority of tasters only when it reached 1 percent salt by weight.
TAKEAWAY
Our experiment adds credence to the conclusion of several recent published studies that fat has a dulling effect on taste. So when you season meat, remember to use a heavier hand on fatty burgers than you would on moderately fatty meats like strip steak and 90 percent ground beef. Use a lighter hand on lean meats like turkey breast and pork loin.
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The thing is when did you salt.
for ground beef for me it is contrary. more fat, less salt. because salt doesnt dissolve in fat and most of the fat oil drips away while cooking. the patty looses more mass and the salt stays in the patty where it is attached to the water in the meat.
Given the dependence on serving temperature, I wonder what temperature this was tested at: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/11036-how-seasoning-changes-with-serving-temperature
You are nearly correct. I think you know the Whole answer better than you wish to state. I shan’t take the magic. Give it up in the next video if you have time to explain.
I don´t know roast pig is way tastier than a stupid turkey breast…
THIS is so cool! I wish you guys had been around when my kids were in school. This would have been an amazing science fair project!
Fat coats your tongue. Try sautéing vegetables with water sometime instead of oil, you will need way less salt. Water sautéing is a great way to reduce both calories and your sodium intake!
This is why I love ATK
Can you PLEASE stop using that opening high-pitched sound? I have to mute it every time your video starts.
Good to know. P.S. The relationship is monotonic (increasing) but there's no evidence that its linear.
could the body by taste tell that it would need more salt to brake down the fat?
Anyone else see the dead mosquito bobbing in his hair?
What a fascinating channel! Thank you for doing what you're doing.
"Fat has a dulling effect on taste"… This is contrary to what chefs have been taught for years. I wonder if the effect is more of a "diluting" effect since you are adding more moisture and, to a small degree, lubricant to spread the flavor throughout the palate further. There is quite a bit more flavor dispersion with fattier foods which does allow more depth of flavor to be perceived.
Terrible science, cook. Just use your tongue and state its your personal opinion
don't think the non salted meat counts as a control group. it's just the low point of one of your variables.
Could you offer the link of the journal or research? Thanks!
so ummm bacon is the answer?
Man! I love this project. Please keep them coming!
LOL, that`s pseudoscience ! ; )
I was always told that fat is flavour so to hear that fat has a dulling effect is very surprising!
Isn't "properly seasoned" a matter of opinion? You make it sound like everyone in the test picked the exact same "properly seasoned."
I understand, however, I would trust this test more if all the same kind of meat was used. Using one type of meat and adding fat content would have produced a more well designed test. Thus the only variable that was being adjusted was the fat percentage.
Does this mean that our brains are naturally steering us away from fatty foods by making them taste bland? And we go "Screw you brain, here's a ton of salt!"
I don't eat meat. 🙂
how about natural 'salt content' or 'flavor/umami content' in meat itself? Is that also going to influence proper seasoning added to meat for acceptable taste?
It also matters what kind of silverware you use.