Every cookbook I grew up with says to sear meat first to seal in the juices, and more recent writing says this is a myth. Both sides sound confident and both recommend searing anyway.
If it does not seal anything, why is the instruction still given?
Accepted Answer
It does not seal, and you should still sear.
The sealing claim goes back to Liebig in the 1840s and was tested by weighing seared and unseared meat after cooking. The seared piece loses slightly more moisture, not less, because the crust is hot and dry rather than waterproof.
What searing does is the Maillard reaction: amino acids and reducing sugars producing hundreds of aromatic compounds above about 140°C. That is where the roasted flavour comes from and there is no other route to it.
So the technique survived because it was right, and the explanation attached to it was wrong. Those are separable.
Worth adding the part that changes what you actually do, since the myth has a practical descendant.
Because people believe the crust is a seal, they sear first and then cook through. Reverse searing does better on both counts: cook low until just under target, then sear hard at the end.
You get a more even interior, because the meat was never blasted from outside, and a better crust, because the surface is dry by the time it hits the pan. Moisture is the enemy of browning, which is also why you pat meat dry first.
The other half of the myth is resting. Juices do redistribute, but a rested steak still loses liquid when cut. Resting reduces the loss, it does not stop it.
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