Grilling and applying seasoning - When?

I’m a SPG and MSG’ person ,season just before going on, I may tweak it here and there adding cayenne otherwise to many different ingredients mute each other....if there is a flavor you are looking for go.6% on the dominant spice .2% on the others

I’m a big believer in brining steaks ahead of time.  I sprinkle with kosher salt and put them in drying rack in the fridge for anywhere from two to six hours.  

lousubcap said:

@lkapigian - I may be old and slow but if 0.6% is the dominant one, what do you make up the other 99.4% with?

Lol, I guess I should break it out in ratio ( I’m just usually doing % to weight of meat) , salt/pepper typically being primary equal partsish if I want Italian I will go little more the.5 part fennel .25 part hot pepper sugar etc

You may be overthinking this. But, it has been thought for quite some time, that doctors have superpowers.

jdMyers said:

When you goto your local favorite place.  Not the super special but the regular.  Making it up say longhorn or an outback etc they don't tend to dry brine, let set, I don't think preseason do they?  Some places pull out some great flavors.  I agree others do not. 

Many of those places are salting the primal cuts before the steaks are cut.

I salt meat as long ahead of time as possible.

Low and slow (under 300F) for most of the cook are seasoned from the get go.

Anything over 300F, I usually add all the non-sweetened seasoning from the get go and sweetened 15 minutes before the end of the cook.

When searing I avoid pepper when possible and add it while the meat is resting.

4TheGrillOfIt said:

caliking said:

You may be overthinking this. But, it has been thought for quite some time, that doctors have superpowers.

Most medical doctors definitely think they do.  

Agree. Only some actually do. 

I'm convinced the truly finer details are when you are at the point when you are messing with one second order variable at a time to achieve a unique flavor profile.  
The basic details are messing with one variable to get the fundamental finish where you are pleased with the taste and texture.  
Every cook is a learning experience.  
But to attempt to address your question regarding the steak, chicken, ribs: 
Steak-dry brine (thickness based) up to two+ days then save the non salt seasoning for after the finish as I tend to use the caveman finish whenever the cut permits.  But also audible that option.  
Chix- go very raised direct around 350-400*F and no worries regarding seasoning.
Ribs- lazy here,  Full up prep the day before including applying the rub.  As you know, all rib cooks are some variation around X-0-0 which translates into the following: Basically ribs are cooked as usual (bone side down for me) for the first X hours. Then they are removed from the cooker and wrapped with liquid (Q sauce, some other liquid for flavoring etc) in a foil pouch with the meat side down. This becomes step -0- mentioned above. The sealed ribs are then returned to the cooker.  At the end of the "0" time-frame, the ribs are removed from the foil and then put back on the BGE for the final "0" time-frame.  This is when sauce is added if your desire.  X-X-X defines the cook cycle.  Those of us X-0-0 run without any of the above extras.  It's all in what you like.  FWIW-

A similar question to the OP that I've wondered about for years.
 
More and more I've been buying whole spices, instead of ground, toasting them, then grinding them together in a mortar/pestle; also makes the kitchen smell really good.  On the recipes that call for it, they universally warn you not to let the spices burn, just toast until fragrant.
 
On the other hand, take a dish like Steak au Pouvre (sp?).  Here, you salt and heavily-coat a steak with coarsely-ground black pepper, and sear the heck out of it in a ripping-hot CI pan.  Surely, that pepper is toast; does the aroma of the burning pepper permeate the steak?  I have no idea.  As @paqman said above, I still use spices on low-n-slows, but if I'm grilling everything goes on post-cook, save the salt.  
 
I had quit putting fresh basil on my unbaked pizzas too, wait until they come off the egg.  I did a direct taste test between a half-blackened basil leaf, and a fresh one just dipped into the hot grease on top of a freshly-baked pie: no comparison.  

For steaks, I pat dry just before cooking. Any seasonings go on just prior to hitting the grille. It seems to work well. Ribs get patted dry prior to seasoning too. They get hit with a rub 30 minutes or so prior to hitting the grille. Smoke doesn't adhere to wet meat as well as it does with dry.

4TheGrillOfIt said:

For other cooks my first step is to season the food.  Then I let it hang out while I prepare the pit.  So usually items are sitting at least 30 minutes.  This knocks a little of the chill off and I think helps the seasoning to adhere.

This is me as well unless I'm wet brining.  Getting stuff done ahead of time isn't my forte.

I get JD's question because I feel I'm pretty consistent with how I do things and sometimes I get amazing results and other times meh. I believe the biggest factors are how the cook goes and the meat itself.