Is it ok for chicken to marinate in buttermilk for 48 hours?

I had planned to cook it tonight, but a change of plans means the chicken will marinate for an extra day. Thoughts?

Ms. T
  • Posted by: Ms. T
  • May 7, 2012
  • 150143 views
  • 12 Comments

12 Comments

bugbitten
bugbitten March 21, 2019
First friends, what is the recipe in question? I can see that I commented in 2012, but to what chicken recipe? Help if you get this.
 
Drew
Drew March 21, 2019
I'm going to tag onto my earlier comment. Its certainly ok from a food safety issue to keep chicken, assuming it's fresh, in a buttermilk brine for 48 hours, but what you may experience, is not so much a mushy texture, but rather one that is chalky. And it will affect the breast meat faster than the thighs or leg meat. If you experienced that, next time simply rinse off the chicken and store in a sealed bag.
 
Drew
Drew July 2, 2017
And teriyaki sauce. Depending on how corse the meat is. For example, Sirloin can stand up to teriyaki sauce overnight, but a tenderloin gets mushy after just a few hours...
 
ChefOno
ChefOno June 14, 2012

Shirley Corriher on Marinades:

http://www.finecooking.com/articles/marinades-flavor-tenderize.aspx

 
chefsusie
chefsusie June 14, 2012
I have done a 48 hour marinade with yogurt/saffron/s&p. A Persian-style kabob. It was perfectly good. No mushy issue here. I have read that mushy foods come from a strong acid such as lemon juice/wine.
 
Susan B.
Susan B. May 8, 2012
If you are going to fry the chicken (usually the reason for a buttermilk marinade) you could take it out of the buttermilk after day 1, dredge in flour, dip in egg wash, and coat with whatever coating you are using (cornmeal, more flour, corn flake crumbs, panko, etc) and place on a cooling rack over a sheet pan. Put back in fridge for final 24 hours. This will make a super crunchy crust that will not come off in the frying pan! Just a thought!
 
Brittany R.
Brittany R. March 21, 2019
Is that how to prevent the breading From falling off because I did exactly as you said except for putting it back in the fridge for a day and the coating fell right off
 
Wei J.
Wei J. March 30, 2019
If you're using buttermilk, you can dunk it straight into panko and the panko will stick straightaway to the chicken pieces. Fry them straightaway after coating it as well.
 
bugbitten
bugbitten May 8, 2012
Does anyone think there would be a problem with taking it out, and storing it another way? I think that's what I would do, but I really don't know.
 

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angiegeyser
angiegeyser May 7, 2012
Deb from smittenkitchen.com says it's ok for up to 48 hours. I have made this recipe several times and normally marinate overnight but recently did close to a 48 hour marinade with delicious results. The chicken was very flavorful and juicy and not at all mushy.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2012/01/buttermilk-roast-chicken/
 
Ms. T.
Ms. T. May 9, 2012
Thanks! Smitten Kitchen has never steered me wrong before (plus I was too lazy to deal with it last night), so I let it marinate for 48 hours and it was delicious! Not mushy, just tender.
 
ChefOno
ChefOno May 7, 2012

Safe, as long as it's refrigerated. Not advisable in my opinion. The acid in the buttermilk could turn the flesh mushy. I'd play it safe by rinsing the chicken off in the interim.
 
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