Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The June 11 Gastronomer column on marinades for grilling steaks ("The Myth About Marinades") prompted lots of e-mails from readers.

Here are Andreas Viestad's answers to the most common questions:

If the marinade does not penetrate through the surface, then will it penetrate from within by using a syringe or other injectors?

As always, the answer from a scientific point of view is somewhat nuanced. But yes, there are good reasons to claim that injectors have an effect, at least on juiciness (by adding fat or moisture) and flavor.

But injecting marinade does not make much sense for a relatively thin piece of meat like a steak. It is a method that is more suitable for roasts, or to white, lean meat that has a tendency to get dry, such as turkey and chicken breasts.

What about blade tenderizers?

A marinade will go into every little nook and crevice in the meat, depositing its flavor without actually penetrating the tissue.

One efficient way to ensure that the marinade goes into the meat is to forcefully make more openings -- by using a blade tenderizer or by using a sharp knife to cut many new slits. The disadvantage is that moisture probably will go out of these holes during cooking, and that will make the meat drier.

This is a method recommended only for very tough cuts of beef -- and those might just as well be slow-cooked.

Is the marinade itself a health hazard?

Many readers have learned that one should always discard the marinade after use, and some worried that basting the meat with the marinade can be hazardous. Re-immersing meat in the marinade is not a problem as long as you continue cooking the meat for a couple of minutes afterward. The marinade also can be used in sauces, stocks and stews. Bringing it to a boil will kill any bacteria picked up at the surface of the meat. So if the flavor is good (as it should be), there is no reason not to reuse the marinade.

Do the findings about marinade and penetration apply to chicken and fish?

Yes. The tendency is the same, but the structure of the meat is different. Most fish have many more slits in between the flakes -- so the marinade will most often have more effect on flavor. Chicken breast is very lean and compact with few slits, so a marinade will have little effect apart from the surface.

Can four seconds of marinating really be as effective as four hours or four days?

Some readers doubted the article's main claim: that most common marinades do not penetrate the meat. There are some reasons to marinate for a longer time -- mainly to allow the meat to mature and to give the flavors of the marinade time to blend. But the penetration is negligible. Keep in mind that our perception of flavor is mostly formed by what we taste on the surface.