Have you enjoyed extremely juicy ribs yet?
And have you ever asked about that recipe?
Chefs will most likely say its secret was in the meat marinating.
Marinating process involves soaking foods in your preferred seasoning, or the chef’s secret seasoning before cooking them. The process enhances the flavor of foods and tenderizes our meats.
This article will discuss the different kinds of marinade, which is the liquid seasoning where the meat is soaked.
We will also talk about the benefits of marinating, especially with meat.
Which food items do you marinate before cooking?
How long does it take to marinate a food item thoroughly?
How to speed up meat marinating with FoodSaver marinating container and vacuum sealer?
These questions and more will be discussed here.
Table of Contents
- What Is Marinade?
- Foods That You Can Marinate
- 7 Health Benefits Of Marinating
- How To Marinate Meat Properly – The Best Advice
- How Long To Marinate Food?
- What Items Do You Need To Speed Up Marinating?
- Why Using The Foodsaver System Help To Speed Up Marinating?
- How To Marinate Meat Quickly With FoodSaver?
- Our Conclusion
What Is Marinade?
That is the liquid seasoning which flavors and tenderizes the meat.
A marinade can be either acidic or enzymatic:
Either way, you also add oils, herbs, and spices to flavor the food to your preference.
My favorite herbs and spices to make the seasoning are mint, dill weed, cilantro, onion, basil, parsley, pepper, and cinnamon.
I also frequently use my ninja blender or combo of blender and food processor for chopping and mixing them. That is a fast and effective way.
Don’t forget to adjust your marinade according to the food you are going to use.
It is okay to use an acidic marinade on meat if it is a tight-textured cut of steak, like flank. Because of its texture, the acid will not seep down through the flesh, so it will not cause it to toughen.
If you are marinating shrimp, use lesser acid. In that case, you can mix one part acid to four parts of oil. This will give a good texture to your shrimp.
The general rule to have a perfect marinade is to combine 1 part acid with 3 parts oil and your seasoning.
The use of acidic marinade
The use of enzymatic marinade
Foods That You Can Marinate
The most delicious food we like marinated is burgers, steaks and barbecued ribs. But we can also marinate other food products:
7 Health Benefits Of Marinating
The marinating process is a science.
Raw meat is tough because of the collagen and elastin fibers in the connective tissues.
To tenderize meat, you can choose to apply moist heat, like braising and stewing, with the beef being submerged in hot water at low temperature but for an extended period.
The other option to tenderize meat is to use acid or enzyme to break down its connective tissues, which toughen the meat.
The marinating is a better option not only because it takes less work, but also because it adds flavor to our meat cuts.
Using some common ingredients as a marinade, we can already get so many benefits when using this process:
There are some arguments against marinating foods, but the points can be rebutted. The bottom line of it is to use proper ingredients and correct methods for food safety.
In a nutshell, the benefits still outweigh the possible risks. The fact that the marinating used is common in daily cooking everywhere.
How To Marinate Meat Properly – The Best Advice
Get it right, and you can enjoy tender, juicy burger steaks or back ribs for dinner.
Meat marinating is an art; please refer to my TIPS to make it right:
How Long To Marinate Food?
This can be a trick question. As earlier stated, acidic marinade may toughen up meat, while enzymatic marinade may render it mush.
On the premise that you have properly used the correct ratio of acid or enzymes in relation to the seasonings and oils, here is a guide as to how long you should marinate your food prior to cooking:
General rule: in the shortest, 30 minutes is needed for flavors to seep in. Any time shorter than that means the flavors will only be on the surface, and not deep down in the meat.
If you are asking if you seriously have to wait that long, well, yes if you want your food savory, delicious, juicy and tender. Surely, you have many related questions such as:
How to speed up marinating?
How to marinate meat quickly?
How to marinate meat fast?
…
So what is the solution?
Yes, technology is our choice; there is the quickest way to marinade and still get the best results that are to use a good vacuum sealer and its accessories.
What Items Do You Need To Speed Up Marinating?
Here are the must-have items:
- FoodSaver vacuum sealer
- Foodsaver quick marinator
- Accessory hose attachment
#1. FoodSaver vacuum sealer
There are so many models to choose. The trick is to choose the model, which can work with a marinator. That model would usually already come with accessory hose attachments. The V4440 below is the best foodsaver model for marinating:
#2. Foodsaver quick marinator
This is a food-grade plastic container, which has a lid. The lid would have settings for your FoodSaver model. The lid also has an adapter to attach the hose:
#3. Accessory hose attachment
Some FoodSaver models have this as part of the kit, while for some; you may have to purchase it separately:
Why Using The Foodsaver System Help To Speed Up Marinating?
Ever had that craving for a juicy steak but you can’t wait too long to get it marinated and cooked?
With a sous vide vacuum sealer, you get the most benefits when it comes to marinating your food:
How To Marinate Meat Quickly With FoodSaver?
The magic of marinating can be done in lesser time using a FoodSaver quick marinator and a vacuum sealer. Here is how:
3 PROVEN TIPS for using Foodsaver quick marinator:
It can give you the juiciest and most tender steaks, at so much lesser time. Get the best out of your marinator and vacuum sealer:
- Put your meat inside the Quick Marinator. Put the meat on top of a support, like a rectangular glass for butter. The point is to have the meat dripping, the liquid not touching the meat;
- Vacuum the Quick Marinator, stopping only when the meat is not dripping any liquid;
- Open the Quick Marinator and remove the rectangular glass support. Leave the meat inside;
- Pour the marinade into the meat. Vacuum until bubbles stop.
Quick Marinator vs. Plastic Bags Comparison
A glass marinator would be the best container to use for the quick marinating.
However, there is another option if you don’t have one: plastic bags.
Just remember though that it has to be BPA-free to make it safe to use considering the acid content of your marinade.
Here is a comparison of these two containers:
Quick Marinator | Plastic Bag |
---|---|
Less messy, less spills | Possible spill because the bag can’t stand up by itself |
Glass is safe to use with acid | Has to be food-grade to be safe |
Can be reused safely and quickly | Has to be thrown after a few uses |
Needs adapter and hose attachment | No need for adapter or hose attachment |
Marinates in 12 minutes | Marinates in 30 minutes |
No problem with the liquid marinade | Countertop vacuum sealers cannot efficiently vacuum seal liquids. Chamber vacuum sealers do the best job. |
More expensive | Not expensive |
The KEY problem when using plastic bags on your vacuum sealer is that the more common countertop vacuum sealers do not effectively vacuum seal liquids. The tendency is to have the liquid marinade being sucked out.
There are, however, the best tips to vacuum sealer your liquids properly:
Our Conclusion
Marinating food makes it delicious, juicy and for the meat, tender.
There are two secrets to it – the recipe for the marinade and the process of marinating. We have provided you with the chef’s secrets on how to portion your acids and seasonings.
We have also given tips on what kind of marinade goes best with certain foods. The last and most important secret is on the process.
Sadly, using conventional ways, the process can take up to 24 hours to get tender juicy meat.
Thanks to the technology of FoodSaver, using their Quick Marinator and their vacuum sealer, the process can be shortened to just 12 minutes.
How quick is that! In 12 short minutes, you can get your meat to top condition ready for grilling or cooking.
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Joanne Schwar
Can you use the marinate process with a regular vacuum sealer contsiner, i.r. repeat a few times as with the quick marinator?