Why I dry the meat before it hits the pan

The meat is already on the board — and the hand pulls it straight to the heat “while the pan is hot”. Easy: water hisses as steam, the colour goes grey, there is no crust. I pat the piece with paper — a dry surface, then into the pan. Moisture on the meat steams it; it doesn’t fry.

Why I dry the meat before it hits the pan. Mince I brown before the liquid is another note; I don’t crowd the frying pan is another tip; herbs I dry before I chop is another story; raw chicken I don’t wash under the tap is another shelf. Here it is the piece before the heat: paper, dry, a crust — not a lecture about a “steakhouse”.

If I already tipped it in wet — I don’t panic: I lift it, pat it dry, return it to a strong heat in batches. I hold the salt until the surface is dry, I don’t tip it into a puddle. I’m not reviewing a new steak brand with a tasting here — it’s about the piece that already lies at ours.

I don’t need meat that cools as grey steam in the pan. I need a piece from the board from which the kitchen still smells of crust. In your kitchen do you dry the meat before the pan — or already put it in wet “to be quicker”?