How can I serve marinated meats (pork, chicken) to my customers while maintaining consistancy?


Hello,

Thank you for taking my question; the issue I need help with is knowing how to serve marinaded meats consistently to customers. I have found that for my recipe, the marinaded meats taste good after three hours of marinating. Of course, this is not possible to have the meals served after three hours consistently to patrons. For example, on one day if I place the meats in the marinade at 6:00pm and start serving at noon the next day, they will have one texture and taste. If I start them in the morning, 9:00am, they are ready at noon.

Bottom line, what is the best practice for a food establishment that serves marinated meats on the menu (chicken, pork, lamb) without having different tastes and textures for patrons? Do I take the meat out after three hours then refrigerate? I need advice from someone experienced to help please. Thank you!

Johnny
  • Posted by: Johnny
  • January 7, 2015
  • 2270 views
  • 7 Comments

7 Comments

zachh
zachh April 19, 2024
i realize that i'm almost 10 years late to this thread but no hurt trying to start the conversation up again. Has anyone here found anything that works. I am theorising that just toning down a marinades intensity and making a longer minimum soak time longer will give a wider window of optimal taste and texture. Carefully keeping salt and acid low to avoid texture issues. I'd love to hear about any success stories/recipes.
 
Johnny
Johnny January 12, 2015
Thanks Nate, appreciate your input.
 
Pegeen
Pegeen January 12, 2015
Johnny, I'm sorry but - if you're responsible for a food establishment, you can't seek opinions. You must follow government guidelines.
 
Nate D.
Nate D. January 12, 2015
The science here is called osmosis. The idea is that you have salt, and some flavors in a liquid that you then put protein into. Because water moves from an area of high concentration to low concentration, some of the water will migrate out of the meat, and then carry the marinade mixture will be infused into the meat. As this mixes with the water within the meat itself, it will migrate out of the meat again, back into the marinade and will continue to do this until the whole thing reaches equilibrium.

The problem with leaving meat in marinade for longer than three hours is not really necessary as you want maximum migration of marinade into the food.
 
Nate D.
Nate D. January 12, 2015
The science here is called osmosis. The idea is that you have salt, and some flavors in a liquid that you then put protein into. Because water moves from an area of high concentration to low concentration, some of the mixture will be infused into the meat. As this mixes with the water within the meat itself, it will migrate out of the meat again, back into the marinade and will continue to do this until the whole thing reaches equilibrium.

The problem with leaving meat in marinade for longer than three hours is not really necessary as you want maximum migration of marinade into the food.
 
Pegeen
Pegeen January 7, 2015
Johnny, I'm not sure you're going to get an answer to this question here. At least, I would be concerned if you did, if I were you. Non-professional cooks would not want to be responsible for commenting on food policy for a professional establishment. You also need to follow FDA guidelines, etc. I hope you get the information you need!
 
Johnny
Johnny January 7, 2015
Hello Pegeen,
I appreciate the reply but please allow me to address your comment; as this is an open forum, I am merely seeking some opinions from others versus implementing policies. Basically, I'm hoping that a few cooks can share some of their experiences and insights for those that have cooked for restaurants that have marinated meats on the menu. The reason why I brought this up is because I visited a very nice restaurant where they advertise that their meats are marinated 24hrs, so I started thinking, how can this be done consistently when food is perishable. Does that mean it is marinated a "minimum" of 24hrs, and if so, what is considered maximum yet still allowable to serve and maintain the product consistency. It is a concept I want to understand. I hope others join in to the conversation.
Best wishes.
 
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