# Marinade question.....How long is too long?



## seef00d (Jun 26, 2011)

Hi, i searched for this and found half of the answer i wanted....

Tomorrow i'd like to marinate a steak, and from my understanding you should not marinate for long periods of time with citric acids or salt.

Well tomorrow i'm doing a pretty simple apple juice and butter marinade on a sirloin ( i know i know). Curious as to how long i should let it marinade before grilling?


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## pcieluck (Dec 9, 2010)

4-8 hours is usually a good ol' reliable rule.  But I did this science experiment on the effects of various sodas and juices on tooth enamel back in school. Apple juice clearly had the most corrosive acid on tooth enamel. Same for meat? Maybe... Apple cidar would be so much more effective.  When I think about the flavor profile you're trying to make i'd be more likely to caramelize apples and butter in the same pan while the meat rests, then maybe deglaze the pan with a dash of sherry or cider vinegar. That's something I do for pork or turkey though.

I think outback had a apple cider marinated steak for a time. You can assume those steaks were delivered to the store vacuum sealed in marinade. So we'll assume marinated for DAYS!


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Most of Outback meat came frozen, In the store they were treated with Papain, a tenderizer.

      If you order a steak or filet at Outback take note that when first cut into to they throw less blood and juice then other steaks. The papain has an effect on the moisture holding ability of the cells of the steak. Not saying that its bad, but for the sake of ones stomach I would not eat 5 nights a week for any duration.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

Marinating sirloin in apple juice? You cannot be serious.

If taste is what you're looking for, maybe try this on such a delightful piece of meat;

take a plastic bag, pour in a few tbsp of vegetable oil (I always use sunflower), add a few sprigs of fresh thyme, slice one or more cloves of garlic and add to the bag. Add also some coarsely grind black pepper. NO salt! Add the beef and "massage" the bag so the marinade gets everywhere. Let marinate for minimum... 30 minutes and it will already be packed with flavour.

I had these also overnight in the fridge, no problem at all. Delicious with any cuts of beef.

Note; when frying the sirloin, first take off any garlic slices they will burn and taste bitter. Salt just before frying the meat. Enjoy!


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## seef00d (Jun 26, 2011)

pcieluck said:


> 4-8 hours is usually a good ol' reliable rule. But I did this science experiment on the effects of various sodas and juices on tooth enamel back in school. Apple juice clearly had the most corrosive acid on tooth enamel. Same for meat? Maybe... Apple cidar would be so much more effective. When I think about the flavor profile you're trying to make i'd be more likely to caramelize apples and butter in the same pan while the meat rests, then maybe deglaze the pan with a dash of sherry or cider vinegar. That's something I do for pork or turkey though.
> 
> I think outback had a apple cider marinated steak for a time. You can assume those steaks were delivered to the store vacuum sealed in marinade. So we'll assume marinated for DAYS!


I had planned on getting apple cider but i could not find it anywhere, I think im gonna try around 4 hours, thanks for the tip about deglazing with sherry, i'll have to try that next time i do turkey..



ChrisBelgium said:


> Marinating sirloin in apple juice? You cannot be serious.
> 
> If taste is what you're looking for, maybe try this on such a delightful piece of meat;
> 
> ...


I am serious, why not? Gotta try everything to see what tastes good. The marinade you suggested i made something pretty similar on sunday, I used peppercorn, whole garlic cloves, veggie oil and red wine, it ended up being pretty good..was soaking for about an hour...I'm not bad at making "standard" marinades or the things you would expect to taste good... im trying to branch out into the unexpected and unknown. Sooner or later i've gotta stumble upon something thats good i will share my results with you guys, chances are im gonna cut the steak in half so if it taste horrible i didn't ruin a whole steak.


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## pcieluck (Dec 9, 2010)

I think Chris only suggest it's an uncommon pair of flavors. By all means it's your food and try i won't encourage anyone not to try and be creative and try anything once.  But if you're going to use apple juice add something to make that more tart tasting.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Try putting the steak in a plastic bag and add some  kraft italian dressing into the bag. Rub bag  then refridge for abot 4-6 hours. Great favor and always the same. Works on chicken to.


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

chefedb said:


> Try putting the steak in a plastic bag and add some kraft italian dressing into the bag. Rub bag then refridge for abot 4-6 hours. Great favor and always the same. Works on chicken to.


OMG, don't say that in public, or they will confiscate your toque!!

Is it really good? My family is more into Montreal steak seasoning.


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

ChrisBelgium said:


> Marinating sirloin in apple juice? You cannot be serious.


I agree Chris, that sounds like a horrible combination. Why not try that on a niece cut of pork instead? 


SeeF00d said:


> I am serious, why not? Gotta try everything to see what tastes good.


Well you obviously can't taste every possible combination of flavors, so typically you'd use your mind to mentally picture the flavors together and try to get an idea of whether that would give you a good result or not. For example, I've never tried groundbeef mixed with pureed strawberries, but I don't feel the need to try it to see whether or not it tastes good, I can mentally imagine the two flavors combined and know that's not something I'd enjoy.

Having said that your mind can sometimes trick you and some flavor combinations that you would never have thought would work can actually surprise you. When I was in Molokai they had this tangerine based marinade we used on everything including steak, and it was absolutely to die for. Go figure.

I rarely marinate beef, but when I do I try to keep it short. The longer you marinate, the more it will have the taste of the marinade, but the less it will have the taste of the beef, so you have to find your balance. Personally I think 8 hours would be insanely long for a steak, especially with something like apple juice which would start cooking the steak while in the fridge! I wouldn't consider more than 1 to 2 hours depending on the size of the cut.

If you end up doing it let us know how it turns out!


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## brownedoff (Apr 4, 2011)

I would not go over 3 hours for sirloin, and that would have to be quite a large one.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

notice this is done for sake of consistancy. Even a dishwasher can do it and it will come out the same as the sous chefs.  To me consistancy is the key to a fine place.


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## pcieluck (Dec 9, 2010)

I wouldn't care if you told me you were going to marinate your steak in pomegranate juice, as long as you didn't tell me you were going to put alcohol in a steak marinade.  Steak cooks so quickly and has finished cooking at such a low temperature (~120 rare) the alcohol never really gets cooked out completely.

I once went on a camping trip where we all contributed one day's dinner. Of coarse day 4 is when we ate the steak that had been marinating in jack daniel's since before we left. uck...


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