Last summer my husband and I celebrated our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary and while most people take trips to celebrate milestone years in their lives or marriage or job, we bought a grill.  Fortunately for us, our anniversary falls during the time of the year when Costco was bringing in a sales rep from the brand of grill we were considering and within minutes of speaking with him, we were sold! BAM! 

We didn’t buy the smallest or the cheapest version he had available; no, this was an anniversary gift to each other!  So we went big and although our reasons differed as to WHY we were buying this particular model, we both saw it as an “investment”. 

Garry just wanted to enjoy some good food cooked on the grill and while that’s what I also wanted, I kind of envisioned that he would be doing the cooking!  He’d never really been into grilling and I was always left holding the spatula, but I was SURE that once he had a MAN’S grill, his next step would be to buy a “Grill’s Best Friend” apron and his own set of grilling tools… I was wrong.  

I still do the grilling around our house, with no cute apron and no special tools.  But I do have an amazing grill and fortunately, I love to use it!  And I love grilled food!  Don’t you?  But my love for grilled meats sends me looking for delicious recipes and there are so many available!  Most come with some type of marinade or brine or rub and I tend to follow the directions and never give it a second thought.

But I started working on the next issue of Be my Guest magazine and one of the articles is on easy but great Christmas gifts you can make at home.  I started looking up different spice blend recipes and spice rubs for meats that you can create and share with your family and friends.  That made me start wondering if I could start with a dry rub mix, add in some oil and acid (like lemon or lime juice) and turn it into a marinade.

What is the Difference Between a Marinade and a Brine? 

The word, “Marinade”, and “Maranate” comes from the Latin word, “Mare”, meaning ‘sea’. We also get the words, marine and maritime from the same root.  Seawater was used to preserve the meat or fish and to help impart flavor through the salt.  Sounds more like a brine, doesn’t it?

The word “brine” comes from, “bryne, a burning, or salt liquor”.  You can brine meat with a salt-water mixture or you can dry-brine using only salt. Salt penetrates because it reacts chemically and electrically with the water in the meat.

So what actually IS the difference between marinating meat and brining meat and why not just rub spices on the meat and toss it on the barbie? 

The way I read it, a brine is a marinade that contains a lot of salt.  A brine is able to penetrate further into the depth of the meat, whereas a marinade will mostly affect the surface (maybe 1/8th inch deep).

Most marinades usually contain three or four components: salt, acid, oil and water.  But after reading up on the subject, it doesn’t seem like there’s a consensus on whether you should add a liquid or an oil or an oil!  It depends on which food science you choose to prescribe.

But here are the facts:

Meat is a protein sponge saturated with liquid made up of about 75% water. There’s not much room for any more liquid in there. Think of a sponge. When you are wiping up a spill, as it gets fully loaded you just can’t get any more liquid in there.  

If Meat is Mostly Water, Why Do Marinades Call For Liquids and Oil?

That’s a great question!  I’ve always used a liquid in my marinades, never thinking that it might not be doing very much or not able to penetrate below the surface of the meat. And in truth, it barely soaks in past the top layer of the meat.  Fish, shellfish, eggplant, and mushrooms are exceptions to that rule and are able to absorb marinades more quickly and deeply. But really, if the marinades penetrated all the way to the center of your meat, how would you feel if you cut into your hot, juicy steak and it was purple inside?  

And speaking of red wine, If you do choose to add a liquid to your marinade, don’t bother wasting your wine or other alcohol!  According to Chef Thomas Keller (The French Laundry Cookbook), “If you’re marinating anything with alcohol, cook the alcohol first.  Raw alcohol cooks the exterior of the meat, preventing the meat from fully absorbing the flavors in the marinade.”

The liquid can act as a carrier for the spices and the oil (if you choose to use any) only adds a bit of flavor.  If you do add olive oil or another oil to your marinade, you’ll definitely need to include some sort of emulsifying agent so the water and oil will mix evenly. Good emulsifiers are garlic, mustard, honey, syrups such as maple, and soy or Worcestershire sauce.

And then there’s the acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar that we add to our marinades.  I’ve always heard that it helps to tenderize the meat, but if it’s only affecting the surface, can it really be doing that much?

The acid can help deliver some of the flavors from the seasonings in my marinade, but even if I soak a tough piece of meat for 24 hours, the acid isn’t going to break down the proteins in the meat enough to turn it into a filet mignon! But adding lemon juice, lime juice or pineapple juice will certainly enhance the flavor!

So if adding wine to my marinade is going to be a waste, and adding oil is only going to add a bit of flavor, should you bother including expensive olive oil in your marinade?

That’s for you to decide!

There are benefits to using a marinade: “When you cook meat that has marinated, the marinade cooks first before the meat. A touch of sugar can help with browning and add flavor and color. Spices and herbs on the surface can make wonderful aromas and moist surfaces attract smoke. And oil can conduct heat to the surface and help with browning and crust formation.”  Amazingribs.com

My head still says that my marinades need olive oil, wine, an acid, salt, and spices, but from what I’ve read, I might want to try using a dry brine.  This is when you pre-salt the meat a couple of hours before grilling.  It will draw the moisture to the surface of the meat and give a more well-rounded flavor. Use 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt (I use pink Himalayan salt) per pound of meat OR 1/4 teaspoon of table salt per pound of meat. Before you cook your meat you finish seasoning it (on top of the salt) with a dry rub of seasonings:

OR:

You can also take a no-salt spice mix and add enough water to create a paste.  Let it sit for a few hours so the water will extract the flavors.  (if the spice mix has salt in it, skip the dry brining) 

Apply the paste to the meat and cook.  Start the meat on indirect heat so it will bake in the spices, and finish on direct heat to create a crust.

If you decide you’d rather use a marinade, here are a few guidelines to consider:

• Always marinate in a non-reactive covered dish or better yet, a gallon-size ziplock plastic bag.
• Always marinate your meats in the refrigerator.
• Smaller, thinner pieces of meat marinate better.
• Turn the meat every few hours.
• NEVER re-use a marinade.  If your marinade has come in contact with raw meat you must either boil it to be able to use it as a sauce for the cooked meat or throw it away.  It’s better to make double the amount of marinade if you want some as a sauce. 
• Don’t try to marinate frozen meat unless you’re going to marinate it in your refrigerator as it thaws.

I hope this gives you some insights into the crazy, wide world of marinades, brines and rubs!  I’m looking forward to sharing my spice and rub recipes with you in the next issue of Be my Guest magazine.  They’re easy to make and added to a basket of other kitchen goodies (or a side of beef! Haha!) makes a great Christmas gift!

Here’s a recipe I love that uses a rub for the chicken before grilling and a sauce for dipping!  Enjoy! 

Here’s the downloadable PDF of the recipe:

Sweet & Spicy Peach Chicken