Who here has used a sous vide machine

dtc said

I'm not a doctor, but I did take enough biology to understand the process by which the salt will be drawn into the steak, but I can't explain it.

It's a real easy thing to prove to yourself too. Rub the hell out of one in coarse kosher salt and leave the other unsalted. Cook and enjoy the salted one more! (y)

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Yeah, I understand the process. And it's more of an equilization with the brine to some degree, rather than straight absorption (that's a technicality, I know). I think what I was remembering that most seasonings (garlic, etc) don't have much of an effect in a brine because the size of the compounds that have flavor are too big to penetrate the cell membranes of the meat. Of course, I could be wrong about that too.

Sodium ions are certain small enough to do so. And I fully acknowledge that salting a steak beforehand is beneficial to the end result, but I also salt afterwards, so I'm not sure the extra salt flavor is my first priority.