I'm very suspicious of the notion that applying fat to the outside of meat will somehow "go into the fibrous meat" or otherwise penetrate the interior. This does not accord with my experience or knowledge of food science. It's also not true that marinades "penetrate easily." Salt penetrates deeply due to its ionic properties, but marinades don't go beyond a couple of millimeters into the interior of the meat, even after 18 hours.
56 minutes ago, Anna N said:What about larding? I would love to see some evidence that larding an eye of round would turn it into an edible piece of beef.
As much as I dislike the Sous Vide Everything guys and Guga, this video attempts to provide some evidence one way or the other. Unfortunately, the guys conducting the experiment have somewhat limited capacities for description and expression. However, the verdict "this is trash" seems to sum up the verdict. Though admittedly comparing larded eye of round to wagyu is an unfair comparison.
