Marinades

While it’s true that marinade recipes can be used with most cooking methods, they are particularly fantastic when grilling. It’s because we tend to grill smaller cuts of meat, which is where marinades really shine. We have a whole bunch of useful information and great tips and tricks for you to use while marinating.

What Is A Marinade?

A marinade is a liquid that you soak foods in before cooking to add flavor and to make meats more tender. While a brine does similar things with a salt solution, a marinade uses acidic ingredients like vinegar or wine or uses enzymes found in foods such as pineapple.

How Long Should You Marinate Meats?

Since marinades only flavor the surface of meats, marinating for an extended time doesn’t actually do you any favors. In fact, if you’re using an enzyme marinade, you may end up with mushy meat.

For smaller pieces of meat, even 20 minutes will have a great result and you generally want to avoid more than 2 hours. Larger cuts can be marinated for 8 hours or overnight, but only with acidic marinades, not the enzymatic marinades.

What Foods Can I Marinate?

While meats like steak, chicken, and seafood are probably what immediately come to mind, there’s so many more possibilities! Try marinating portabella mushrooms or tofu, or even Brie cheese. Take a look at the recipes below and find something new and exciting to try.

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Christine Pittman

Christine is the founder of TheCookful and also of her blog COOKtheSTORY. Her passion is explaining the WHY behind cooking – Why should you cook things a certain way; Will they turn out if you do it differently; What are the pros and cons of the method? Learn more about Christine, her cookbooks, and her podcast.

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