Marinating and adding spice rubs to fish and meat before it hits the grill can add some serious flavor to your food, but it's also easy to overdo. We called in our friend and barbecue expert Elizabeth Karmel to explain the ins and outs of both methods.
These step-by-step tips from her latest cookbook, "Soaked, Slathered and Seasoned," will guide you through your next barbecue endeavor and make it a delicious success.
Do you marinate a different way? Karmel says that "a lot of cooking is about tradition. Keep doing it the way your mom or dad did it if it tasted good."
Easy Marinades and Rubs
0****Getty Images*|*Grilling expert Elizabeth Karmel offers her tips to make the most out of a marinade on your grilled food.
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Rubs & Marinades
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What is a marinade? A seasoned liquid that adds an extra dimension of flavor to meat, poultry, fish or vegetables with the help of active ingredient -- acid. With tougher cuts of meat, marinades also act as a tenderizer. Always marinate in glass, plastic, or stainless-steel, never aluminum, which can react with the acid.
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Acids can be an array of things: vinegar, citrus, buttermilk, wine, yogurt and the like. Add only one or two acidic ingredients to the mixture -- more than that will ruin the flavor balance of the marinade.
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Mix the acid with a base ingredient to keep food moist. Extra-virgin olive oil, vegetable oil, nut oil, or other flavored oils all work well. Not only does the oil lock in the flavor, it promotes caramelization. Without it, the food may stick to the grill and dry out.
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After you've chosen the appropriate acid and oil, add in aromatic ingredients such as fresh ginger, herbs, spices, hot sauce, or Worcestershire sauce to heighten the flavors.
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According to Elizabeth Karmel, "There is no reason for a super-long soak. Smaller, more delicate cuts of meat need a shorter soak, while larger, heartier cuts need a little longer." In fact, over-marinating meat can result in a mushy or mealy texture. Marinating in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 2 hours will suffice for most foods.
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Three "Don'ts": • Don't add too many sugary ingredients to the marinade, as they'll burn quickly. • Don't reuse the marinade as a sauce without boiling it for 3 minutes. The marinade has touched raw meat and could make guests sick. • Don't rinse off the marinade; use a paper towel to pat off any excess marinade.
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Don't feel like marinating? Try a spice rub -- it can also enhance the flavors of fish, meat and even fruit. Some key ingredients: Pepper -- freshly ground black pepper emits oils that have a much deeper flavor than pre-ground pepper. Salt -- kosher salt with hard crystals is preferable because they don't create a wet surface (fine table salt draws moisture out of the meat more quickly). Brown Sugar -- use fresh, soft light or brown sugar to add more depth of flavor.
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Dry vs wet rubs: "Dry" simply means spice mixtures without any wet ingredients, and "wet" is a paste made up of spices and olive oil. No matter which you're using, gently pat it evenly over the meat, don't rub -- rubbing can damage the fibers and texture of the meat. Seasoning the meat 15 to 20 minutes before cooking to it give the rub time to permeate the meat.
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VG
I have made my own BBQ Sauce, Marinades, and Rubs for about 35 years now. There is nothign I love more than an outdoor BBQ, and I have cooked outdoors at least twice a week for almost as long. Oh, and yes, I even BBQ in cold or rainy weather. One thing I will never give up is my use of Charcoal. I always use Kingsford Mesquite, and will never move away from it. Cooking over Propane to me, is a sin. I always seem to have to cook a lot of meat. As soon as my neighbors, family, or friends hear that I am cooking, the calls start flowing in with people inviting themselves. I don't mind. I find it really flattering as a statement about my BBQ abilities, and a stand about my flavoring choices. I also make a potato salad that gets raves. Yes, I am very humble about this. Yeah, right! Face it folks. When you are this good, you can afford to throw your pride out there! :)
I really enjoyed the information you provided. It is very difficult to come up with new idea, this maybe the answer.
Great advise on marinading and good luck with your book. thanks
Did it even ever occur to you that some of us might like the taste of the meat without all the masking you do to it?
then why read this in the first place?
Tom, I love my meat as is too but in these times I also buy a cheaper piece of meat and marinades tenderize it. If you do it for a very short time it does not consume the flavor and you get the nice red meat taste. It is also good for wild meats.
Did it ever occur to you Tom not to buy the book? Duh.
No Marinate!!! No Rubs!!! Did it ever even occur to you that some of us might like the taste of the meat without all the "masking" you are doing to it?
She wasn't stating that you must use a marinade to make your meat taste good. I love my meats plain, but I also love them marinaded. What crawled on your grill this morning???
AMEN! When visiting my sister-in-law and her husband, my wife and I bought four real nice looking rib-eye steaks to be cooked on the grill for our supper. Without saying a word and before I could say anything, they dumped those beautiful rib-eyes into a fracking marinade. I was aghast! Next time I buy anything to be cooked for supper it certainly will NOT be a good steak. It will be hamburger.
Shan, I just love the flavor of good meat so much it sickens me to see the extremes that some go to, for what is seems to me, is covering up the wonderful flavor of the meat. I have never understood making your meat taste like fruit or spice, or worse making it burn your mouth.
Tom...RELAX ALREADY! If you don't like marinades...DON'T USE THEM. Did it ever occur to you that some of us like marinades?
If you don't use marinades and rubs, why are you wasting your time reading an article about marinades and rubs and then posting comments?
Tom I agree that meat from the old days was much better cooked plain. However since the farmers feed their animals all kinds of things to hurry them up to slaughter house, a lot of the meats today need something added for taste as well as tenderizing.
There is an art to creating and using rubs and marinades. It could mean the difference between a good and a great meal. It takes years of practice (and a lot of tasting) to find the proper balance of spices. Eating bland food is not my idea of a good time.......
You may like to eat bland meat, but most people like a little flavour to their food. So if you want to stick your meat on the grill sans flavour, then it's your choice. I am grateful for the marination tips!
thank you for the information
- i was leeting the meat marinate for
way too long . . .
If all else fails, or you need another recipe, another marinade, go to cooks.com, and you can find almost anything. Great place to get new tried and true recipes. Enjoy!
just use kikkoman teriyaki sauce with garlic and shake some garlic and onion powder on it. easy and VERY good! this works for any meat!