Marinating Your Own Meat: 3 Great Ideas

Humans have been developing recipes and inventing an infinite amount of ways to prepare food for centuries. Marinating meat to give it more flavor  is one of these arts. So, below we share three great ideas for perfecting this cooking skill.

Marinades used to be used as a food preservation technique. All types of meat, whether beef, chicken or fish, were immersed in a delicious marinade for a period of time. Nowadays we marinate meat not only to preserve it for longer, but above all to give it more flavour.

Marinating is a well-known culinary technique that improves the taste, color, moisture and texture of meat. It is therefore an excellent technique for preserving food and keeping it juicy. There are many ways to marinate meat. For example, you can marinate meat in vinegar, wine or fruit juice.

3 ways to marinate meat

1. Marinate meat in a vinegar marinade

The most commonly used base for marinades is vinegar, as it makes food slightly acidic. The time it takes to marinate meat depends on the type of meat you will be cooking. For example, it is recommended to marinate red meat for three to four hours, poultry for two hours to overnight, and fish for 30 to 60 minutes.

Ingredients

• Beef (2 kg)
• 4 cloves of garlic (5 g)
• ½ cup honey (100 ml)
• 1 cup of water (225 ml)

• 2 cups vinegar (450 ml)
• 3 tablespoons oregano (45 g)
• 2 tablespoons parsley (30 g)
• 2 tablespoons cumin (30 g)
• 1 tablespoon pepper (15 g)
• 1 plastic bag with closure (ziplock bag, large)

Preparation

• To start, cut the meat into medium-sized pieces.
• Then add the vinegar, water, honey, oregano, parsley, cumin, pepper and garlic to the bag.
• Then also put the meat in the bag and leave the bag in the fridge for three to four hours. Some people prefer to leave it in the fridge overnight, which is fine too.
• Once your meat is marinated, place it on the grill and cook for about ten minutes on each side.
• Finally, let it rest for ten minutes and serve. You can safely cut the meat into thinner slices.

2. Marinate meat in a red wine marinade

Most professional chefs like to marinate white meat in a wine-based marinade. Through this technique, the meat can absorb the flavor of the wine and the other ingredients without overpowering the flavor of the meat itself.

Ingredients

• 2 onions (200 g)
• 1 whole chicken (2 kg)
• 4 bay leaves (3 g)
• 1 teaspoon salt (5 g)
• 1 teaspoon sugar (5 g)
• 3 glasses of red wine (450 ml)
• 1 teaspoon pepper (5 g)

• ½ cup olive oil (100 ml)
• 2 teaspoons mustard (10 ml)
• 1 tablespoon wine vinegar (15 ml)

Preparation

• Cut the onions first into slices and then into rings.
• Put the onion rings, wine, mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil and bay leaves together in a bowl and mix the ingredients well.
• Then put the chicken in the bowl and turn it over so that the meat is completely covered with the marinade. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.
• Let the chicken marinate for two hours or overnight if you prefer.
• Finally , drain the chicken well before cooking.

3. Marinate meat in a lemon juice marinade

This is the best technique for marinating fish. It only takes an hour for the fish to absorb the flavor of the lemon juice and the other ingredients. Then you can fry or grill it with some onions and red pepper.

Ingredients

• 1 hake (1.5 kg)
• 1 teaspoon salt (5 g)
• ½ teaspoon oregano (3 g)
• 3 chopped garlic cloves (4 g)
• ½ onion, shredded (50 g)
• 1 teaspoon pepper (5 g)
• ½ cup lemon juice (100 ml)
• 5 tablespoons olive oil (75 ml)
• ½ red bell pepper, diced (100 g)

Preparation

• Start by cleaning the fish. That is, remove the guts and bones from the fish.

• Mix the lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano together in a large bowl.
• Then put the fish in the bowl and turn it over so that the meat is completely covered with the marinade. This will help the fish absorb the marinade better.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for an hour.
• When the hour is up, make sure to drain the fish a bit before cooking it. Fry the fish in the pan with onions and peppers, over low heat.
• Fry the fish for ten minutes per side, until it is golden brown.
• Finally, serve the fish with whatever dish you like.