Naturally Beautiful and Fashionable

Archive for February, 2010

Marinating refers to the process of soaking foods, especially meat, in a seasoned liquid prior to cooking. This process is commonly used to add flavor to food and to tenderize tough cuts of meat.

Many expert cooks and professional chefs agree that some of the great tasting meat, seafood, and even vegetable recipes can be successfully churned out if you can optimally marinate them with just the right blend of marinade and by following the proper marinating techniques a few hours before cooking, barbecuing or grilling. The length of marinating time greatly depends on the size and the type of the food or ingredients you want to marinate. Ideally, any kind of seafood or fish can be marinated for about fifteen minutes to an hour. Bird meat such as chicken and turkey are marinated for 30 minutes to three hours. Red meat, on the other hand, must be marinated overnight inside the refrigerator to make sure that the flavor will be fully absorbed by the meat. Vegetables do not need long marinating time. They can be marinated for a maximum of 30 minutes or so.

It is important not to use metal bowls or containers when marinating food for extended period of time more than two hours, especially when you are marinating red meats as it requires 12 to 14 hours of marinating time. This is because the acidic ingredients in the marinade will chemically react with metal which will impart an unpleasant taste to the food being marinated, not to mention cause food poisoning.