Marinate

[Wan]

I have a question for those of you who marinate meats:

Do you ever feel that it's wasteful? I once marinated my chicken in honey plus some herbs. The end result was really delicious chicken. However, I had to throw the marinade away after it was used, and it appeared to be very wasteful, because honey was very expensive. But without marinating, meat doesn't taste good. So I kind of wonder a bit. Just wondering what your thoughts are on marinating.

Thanks.

 

[Andy M.]

It's not wasteful if you get benefit from the money spent.

You could bring the marinade to a boil then cook it down to thicken it and use it to baste the meat as it cooks.

 

[dragnlaw]

Agreed Andy - if it is what it takes to get your end result delicious - it is not a waste.

Most all marinades can be then cooked and used - many recipes even have that as part of the steps in the recipe.

Depending on the amount of meat you could possibly reduce the amount of marinade made. Making sure all ingredients are reduced by the same %. Use a plastic zip lock bag to pour the marinade in, add meat, squeeeze out as much air as is possible and massage meat. Using the bag ensures that all of the meat is covered by the marinade thereby possilby using less.

 

[taxlady]

I often, usually, use the marinade elsewhere in the recipe or to make a sauce. Since raw meat has been sitting in it, it does need to get thoroughly cooked to be safe. As Andy wrote, bring it to a boil. Depending on the dish and the marinade, it might make a good sauce just brought to a boil or it might be better reduced or thickened with corn starch or other gravy thickener or maybe with whipping cream or a swirl of cold butter.

 

[Badjak]

Yeah, I either use it as a sauce, or keep basting meat with it.
Or even keep it and use it in the next meal

 

[Aunt Bea]

Use less marinade.

Experiment with using smaller amounts of marinade to paint/baste raw meat instead of immersing the meat until you notice a difference or skip the marinade and use a rub that adheres to the meat and provides flavor.