Hey. I've come to get to what I consider to be a perfect sear/crust with 100% consistency, as of late. I took this picture today and although I consider it to be perfect, I'm not so sure if it is. I wanted to ask if you could feasibly improve something of this quality. Preferably explaining how with pictures of a better sear.
TL;DR: Can I improve this? Pics pls.
>>7406313
Breast with the skin on? What's your technique?
pls halp
>>7406356
Let meat get to room temp. Towel off all moisture. Hot pan. Use appropriate oil for meat/temp I'm cooking at (usually olive or vegetable). Season appropriately. Skin side down for x amount of time (4 minutes in this case). Then flip and cook even amount of time. Add chunk of butter, garlic cloves, and fresh herbs such as thyme or rosemary. Let butter fry herbs and toast garlic to bring out oils. Tilt and baste with spoon or tilt pan to pool flavored butter and flip meat over and over to achieve even cooking/desired color.
>>7406361
noice.
>>7406364
Thanks. Like I said. I'm at a point where I'm quite proud of how my food normally turns out and I've gained a lot of confidence due to positive feedback from friends and family (which I'm inclined to trust moreso than just consider requisite platitudes), but I'm interested in improving myself more. I have very obvious things I need to improve in when it comes to internal done-ness consistency and presentation/recipe repertoire, but now that I'm at such a good level of searing I'm not sure what I could do to be better.
>>7406313
>>7406357
that shit is DRY, nigger, what are you doing?
> internal done-ness consistency
reverse sear all day ERRY day, muhfugguh!
> pic related, mfw that poor, innocent salmon
>>7406392
>dry
k
>>7406438
They said the salmon not the chicken dingus
>>7406438
I meant the salmon, homes
>>7406482
because it is dry, nigger. I can see it with my naked eye, the way it bulges, the way its layers of muscle are separating, the slight white foam coming out, heck even the thickness of the seared exterior band as compared to the thickness of the entire piece
shit's dryer than Martha Stewart's cunt
>>7406313
I'd perform ancient, primitive, and debased sexual acts previously reserved by the Olympian Gods for performance on mortal women for a bite of that.
>>7406496
don't be such a fgt, make your own
seriously it's not hard
brine, pat dry, rub with spices, sear in LOTS OF HOT butter basting with a spoon,
lower heat to as low as it will go and cover when it has browned to your liking
it's just a fucking chicken breast, mang
>>7406494
Bulging has nothing to do with dryness at all. That "white foam" is mashed potato (what it's sitting one). The only thing you have to go on is the sear band. Which is only abnormally large at the thin end of the salmon. It was only marginally dryer than the rest, and was entirely negligible due to the skin being crispy and moist. Do you even cook?
>>7406504
I've never actually brined my chicken breasts. It probably would offer a small improvement but I've always been too busy/never saw the use. My chicken is juicy as all hell even without brining. Also don't know what you mean by covering unless you mean loosely with foil during resting. I normally let mine rest uncovered though.
>>7406505
> Bulging has nothing to do with dryness at al
pffft hahaha no.
the bulging tells me the fibers have contracted, hard, which means they've squeezed a lot of water out
> white foam
not the one UNDER the piece, I am not an idiot
the one on the SIDE OF the piece
> Which is only abnormally large at the thin end of the salmon
it's pretty much the same width throughout, because physics. take a look at the left-most corner of the piece... shit's nearly burnt, that's not how you treat a noble fish
>>7406508
I mean I sear for at most two minutes each side and a whole chicken breast obviously isn't done in such a short time
so I either use the oven, or just lower the heat and cover the frying pan with a lid for a ghetto way of achieving the same reverse sear effect
you get a bit of pan jus as a bonus, of course
>>7406513
Alright. I'm just gonna assume you're trolling or retarded. It was moist. I don't know what to tell you, man.
>>7406521
yeah, just assume you know better than anyone
but I am beginning to understand your problem here
you've never not had overcooked fish, so you don't even know what the right doneness is
protip: it's about ten degrees Celsius lower than you went, and how you get to that internal temp also matters.
> mfw plebs
>>7406521
Your fish is overcooked, fucking deal with it.
Sear it skin side down in a ripping hot pan, pressing it down firmly til you feel it stop bubbling. Butter in pan, baste the flesh side til slightly opaque, flip over and baste skin to crisp it up, kill the heat let the fish chill in the pan for 15-30 seconds.
Done. Med rare/medium is where you want it.
OP I put my chicken skin side down in canola oil in my cast iron skillet until it's brown, then flip it and put it in the oven for 10 minutes or so. It's pretty juicy and cooked all the way through, but the skin doesn't look as much like yours (yours looks more deep fried). How do you cook it all the way through just on stove top?
>>7406392
bye for now
>>7406313
>engaging in a debate where neither side can present irrefutable evidence or compelling arguments
>on the internet
>over a Zairean eating utensil etiquette forum
>the year is 2016
>>7406521
>"Hey can anyone tell me how to get a better sear?"
>You cooked it for too long, it's dry
>"STOP TROLLING I DID IT PERFECTLY"
don't ask questions if you don't want the answers
