The Complete Guide to Marinades

Eating well seasoned grilled meats is one of the many pleasures of the BBQ season! For delicious and tender meat, marinade is essential! Be sure to follow these few basic principles in preparing your marinades to ensure the success of all your barbecues!

The Secret of the Perfect Marinade

Marinade is an aromatic blend that gives flavor to a wide range of foods, but especially animal proteins, in addition to tenderizing the flesh. To achieve a good result, the marinade must consist of three essential elements:

1. Acidic Element

The acidic element makes it possible to soften more coriaceous meat, such as beef, pork and veal. Some suitable acidic elements for marinades are cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, plain yogurt, white or red wine, apple juice or white cranberry juice, beer, mustard or buttermilk.

2. Fatty Element

Adding butter or oil to its marinade facilitates the transfer of flavors to the piece of meat.

3. Herbs, spices and seasonings
To give a spicy, earthy or sweet flavor to your grills, it all relies on the chosen seasonings. Try combining maple and Dijon mustard, cider vinegar and cumin, balsamic vinegar, honey and rosemary or yogurt, garlic and mint; the combinations are endless!

Tasty Dry Rubs

Too rushed to prepare a liquid marinade? Go for a “rub”, that is, a dry marinade that consists of rubbing dried herbs and spices on the meat before cooking. This type of seasoning, prized for red meats, coats your steak in a flavorful crust that brings out the most of your meal. It is possible to allow the dry marinade to stand for 30 to 60 minutes, or to cook immediately the cut for a quicker preparation!

Try this recipe : BBQ pork chops, a summer classic !

Timing that makes the difference

Of course, marinade requires a certain time of rest in order to perfume your grills, but the result is worth waiting for! To guide you through this complex culinary process, here is a list of recommended marinating times for every type of food :

• Delicate flesh (vegetables, fish, seafood, etc.): 30 minutes to 1 hour
• Tender meat (chicken, pork, veal, etc.): 2 to 8 hours
• Red meat (beef, lamb, game, etc.): From 3 to 24 hours

Preferred cuts

Did you know that Quebec produces more than 60 varieties of meat? Beef, pork, chicken and veal of course... but also lamb, ostrich, turkey, pheasant, rabbit, wild boar and elk. Enough choices to diversify barbecue every day of summer!  

All meats can be marinated, but the finer the cut, the more it will absorb the flavors. If you choose a thicker cut, make sure to prick the meat with a fork to allow the marinade to penetrate through the center.

Helpful advices

• Never forget to leave your mixture in the refrigerator for the entire maceration time and leave it at room temperature no more than 15 minutes before cooking.
• It is possible to reuse the remaining marinade as a sauce by simply boiling for a few minutes to destroy the bacteria that may be present in result of contact with the raw meat.
• In order to have ready-to-cook meat at all times, prepare a larger quantity of your favorite marinade and pour it into a freezer bag with a few pieces of meat, then freeze for up to 3 months. Liquid marinades (without meat) are kept in the refrigerator for about 1 week, whereas for dry mixes they can be stored for up to 6 months in an airtight container at room temperature.

 

Let's bet that your grilled meats will now be tastier than ever!