Marinate meat: the best tips and tricks

If you marinate meat yourself, you have a free choice of spices. The taste of the meat is improved by pickling, at the same time it can also bring health benefits.

Marinate meat: with these basic ingredients

Just put raw meat on the grill, then salt and pepper, done? It works, but it is far from being the pinnacle of barbecue enjoyment. You can enjoy a lot more taste if you put your meat in a delicious marinade beforehand. You have even more benefits from this preparation.

• A marinade mostly consists of oil, acid and spices . In addition, salt and sugar (or other sweetness) can play a role.
• The best choice for the oil is olive oil, rapeseed oil or sunflower oil, which you are allowed to heat up (high oleic oil). The advantages of these oils: They contain fewer polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are negatively changed under heat. But they have more monounsaturated fatty acid, oleic acid, which is less sensitive to heat.
• The acid in the marinade serves as a natural blocker against unwanted bacteria . On the other hand, you make your meat tenderer because protein structures are "loosened". This makes it easier to absorb oil and spices inside.
• Vinegar is usually the best choice for marinating meat, but you can also work with citric acid or juice, especially with light-colored poultry or pork. If the aroma is appropriate, you can also add a dash of wine.
• If you add salt to your marinade, the meat's own taste is emphasized. In addition, you can promote the full-bodied taste called " umami " with the addition of soy sauce .
• If you are concerned about adding salt to your marinade because it basically draws water: Salt actually causes water to escape from the food to be grilled. Afterwards, the salty marinade including spices and oil is partially absorbed into the meat again, so that it becomes juicy and tasty.

Spices: more taste and health

The spices largely determine the flavor of your grilled or roasted food. Depending on the type of meat or taste, you can choose sweet flavors (sweet paprika, mustard, lovage) or stronger spices (chili, curry, ginger, rosemary, oregano marjoram, thyme). But you also benefit healthily from spices.

• The taste of garlic goes well with any marinade. In addition, you give your food a portion of health with freshly pressed toes: garlic contains many antioxidants.
• These antioxidants protect the grilled food from the formation of so-called heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA) . These are considered to be problematic companions for grilling pleasure, as they have a cancer-promoting effect.
• Rosemary has an equally positive effect. This spice contains more antioxidants than any other Mediterranean spice. The spice has been proven to reduce the formation of HAAs and thus the cancer risks that can arise from grilled food.
• If you use 7 grams of rosemary per 100 grams of marinade, you will achieve optimally effective concentrations of antioxidants - and lots of flavor. Rosemary goes very well with beef, lamb but also pork.

This is how you proceed correctly when placing meat

To marinate your meat properly and healthily, do the following:

1. First mix vinegar or lemon juice with mustard, the spices as well as salt and pepper. You should have sugar and syrup completely dissolved.
2. Then add the oil and stir well. You can also do this with a blender, which, however, should not shred the spices if possible.
3. Use a fork to pierce holes in thick pieces of meat or roasts. If you have little time for marinating, promote the absorption of the liquid by scratching the surface of the meat.
4. Spread the marinade carefully on all sides of the meat. Then pour the complete marinade over the food to be grilled. All of the meat should bathe in the sauce.
5. Cover the jar well and place it in the refrigerator overnight - preferably several hours. So the meat can pull through well and absorb the taste of the marinade. By cooling to below five degrees, they prevent the growth of microorganisms.
6. After half the marinating time, you can also turn the meat over again so that all sides can soak through evenly.
7. You can shorten the marinating process by placing the meat in plastic bags and vacuuming it. You can do the same if you have bought too much meat and want to freeze the leftovers. At the next grill event after defrosting, you will already have marinated meat.
8. Take your grill or roast pieces out of the refrigerator about 2 hours before you plan to roast or grill them.
9. Be sure to pat the pieces of meat carefully on the grill before cooking. So oil does not accidentally drip into the embers. This would promote the formation of the carcinogenic substance acrolein. In addition, spices adhering to the outside could burn very quickly and taste bitter.
10. You must dispose of the marinade. It is not suitable for marinating a second time.

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