Does Basting Steak Work? An Acclaimed Chef Shows If It’s Worth Doing

There’s a lot of truisms around cooking that when poked and prodded by science aren’t actually that true. No, salt doesn’t help water boil faster, and, no, searing meat doesn’t seal in the juices. But some techniques that chefs swear by and home cooks have adopted may deserve some more scrutiny. And one of them is basting a steak in the pan—essentially splashing big spoonfuls of hot butter, usually flavored with herbs and garlic, over your beef at the end of…