How marinades work
Even after hours, most marinade flavor reaches only about 2 to 3 mm into the meat. Acid only works on the outer layer. Salt is the one that travels deeper. A marinade flavors the outside, not the middle.
What acid does to meat
Acid unwinds the proteins on the surface of meat. At first that softens it. Left too long, the proteins bunch up, squeeze out water and turn the outside mushy or chalky. Shrimp in lime juice turns opaque, as if cooked.
Marinating times
Chicken and pork: 30 minutes to 2 hours in an acidic marinade. Fish and shrimp: 15 to 30 minutes in citrus. Yogurt marinades are gentler and can sit up to 12 hours.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
You want a thick chicken breast seasoned inside, not just on the surface. Which marinade ingredient does that?
Salt. Salt dissolves in the juices and spreads inward on its own.
True or false: Leaving chicken in lemon juice overnight makes it more tender.
False. A long soak in strong acid turns the surface mushy instead of tender.
What went wrong? You leave chicken breasts in lemon juice in the fridge for 24 hours. They come out mushy.
The acid worked on them for too long. A full day in strong acid breaks down the surface. Two hours is plenty.
Fill the blank: An acidic marinade for chicken should stay on for about ___ at most.
An acidic marinade for chicken should stay on for about 2 hours at most. Acid softens the surface in this time. Much longer starts to turn it mushy.
True or false: A marinade mostly flavors only the outer few millimeters of the meat.
True. Marinade flavor moves inward very slowly, so most of it stays near the surface.
Marinating for 20 minutes vs 4 hours
More time is not always better.
Do the 40-minute experiment
