Cooking Tips for Marinated Meat
A good marinade is a skillful balance of ingredients and the right amount of preparation time. Ingredients, such as herbs, spices, oils, vinegars and fruit, are combined before applying them to meat, fish or vegetables. The key is to allow the meat to absorb the flavors of the marinade for the right amount of time -- from 30 minutes to overnight. Yet, the effects of a skillful marinade can be destroyed by careless cooking. Does this Spark an idea?
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Cooking Method
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Cook your meat appropriately. Not every cut of marinated meat suits a barbecue. As a rule, thinner cuts of marinated meat, such as steaks, fish or vegetables, can be flame grilled successfully. For thicker cuts, such as chicken breasts, oven baking is best.
Cook Correctly
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Marinating imparts flavor. What it does not do is aid in the cooking process. Many people wrongly assume a marinated steak will remain tender no matter how long it is cooked. Similarly, some assume that fish soaked in a citrus or vinegar-based marinade has been partially cooked already. Neither is true. Overcooking will dry out the most expertly marinated steak. And you can still get food poisoning from undercooked fish. Always cook over a high heat and never for more than 15 to 20 minutes.
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Basting
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Baste with care unless you want to ruin your marinated meal. Some marinades, such as curry pastes, are perfect for cooking with the meat. Others can ruin your meal. If you are grilling or barbecuing, always drain off the excess marinade to avoid flare-ups that can burn the meat or that can boil tender cuts in the excess fluid. If you do want to baste to give extra flavor, do it during the last few minutes of cooking.
Safety
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If you do baste your meat with its marinade or you want to use it to make a tasty sauce to accompany your meal, cook it first. The marinade sauce will be tainted with dangerous bacteria from the raw food stuffs it has been soaking in -- especially with meat or fish. To ensure that it's safe, bring the marinade to a boil and cook it for at least five minutes before applying it to -- or serving it with -- cooked food.
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References
Resources
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