Hi All,
For what it is worth over twenty two years of anchor design ,testing and manufacturing not mention 30 years of boating.
My answer is based on observation, weed over mud --soft, if you drop your anchor and then power down to set, in many cases you will rip out a clod of weed and mud, this weed will continue to ball up resulting in a non set, or a set that wont lock up but gives you enough confidence to trust it—during the night only then if you break out you will know whether or not you have made the right decision, yes sometimes you can be lucky powering down slicing through the weed resulting in a good lock up.
Based on the best average I have observed take it easy, drop your anchor whilst backing down, if you know it is weed and mud apply very light throttle and see how you go.
If you Know it is going to blow the milk out of your coffee during the night then don’t anchor in these areas, avoid them if possible or keep anchor watch.
Sandy surface by all means back down if you want to lock up, there is no need from what I have observed to over do this, but it will ensure you do not have something snagged on the toe.
Regards Rex