Do I need to soak chicken before cooking. How to marinate roast chicken

Often the meat turns out to be tough, the housewives blame the seller and their poor choice for everything. However, in reality the situation is different. The steak can turn out soft and juicy if you first carry out certain manipulations. Culinary experts advise you to look for products that will make the meat juicy without additional difficulties.

Method number 1. Tenderizing meat with alcohol

Shashlik based on pork, lamb or beef is often treated with alcoholic beverages before roasting. We recommend giving preference to beer or wine.
In such a simple way, you will make the meat not only appetizing and soft, but also juicy. This is what everyone expects from a barbecue.
You don't have to worry about the alcohol ruining the dish. In the process of roasting, it will soak, you can safely drive or go on important business.
To tenderize the meat and give it juiciness, prepare a saucepan or a plastic bag. Chop the pork into pieces, soak in beer, leave to marinate for 1-1.5 hours. Do not rinse, immediately prick on a skewer.

Method number 2. Softening meat with mustard

Mustard is often used as the main ingredient in meat dishes. It gives pork certain flavor notes and gives the meat flavor. However, not all people are aware that mustard acts as a good softener.
For such purposes, we recommend applying the composition in a different way than you are used to. Take table mustard, chop the meat into pieces and grease with seasoning. Send in a plastic bag and wait 45 minutes.
Before cooking pork, rinse the meat with purified water and dry. In addition to the fact that the steak will turn out tasty and soft, it will also acquire the desired juiciness.
Very often, mustard is used in the process of cooking chops. In this case, you first need to chop the pork into slices, then beat off, coat and insist. It is not necessary to wash the meat before frying.

Method number 3. Tenderizing meat with onions

Onions are often added to barbecue marinade, and this is not surprising. A juicy vegetable tenderizes pork or beef meat without any problems.
If you don't know how to give the steak the desired juiciness, chop the onions into circles. Onion juice works the same way. It can be obtained with a combine, grater or blender, then wrapped in gauze and squeezed.
For manipulations, wash and dry the meat in advance, rid it of veins and all parts that are not useful in cooking. Place in a saucepan, add juice or onion rings here, wait 1.5 hours.

Method number 4. Tenderizing meat with lemon juice

Many people mistakenly marinate kebabs in vinegar, causing them to lose all the juice and become tough. If you are still using this method, discard it.
Replace the vinegar solution with a cheaper and more effective natural analogue - lemon juice. Mix it with mineral sparkling water (100 ml of fresh citrus per 1 liter of mineral water).
Soak the pieces of meat in this mass for several hours. It is not necessary to rinse the product before cooking. Tomato juice from fresh tomatoes acts in a similar way.

Soft pieces of pork baked in the oven

pork pulp - 1 kg.
onion - 3 pcs.
mustard - 30 gr.
garlic - 3 cloves
pepper, favorite spices and salt - to taste

Cut the pork into large pieces. Prepare the meat as described above to obtain the desired tenderness and juiciness. Make cuts with a knife.
Chop the garlic, and chop the onion into rings or half rings. Coat the meat with mustard combined with spices, salt and seasonings. You can add mayonnaise to this mixture (optional).
Leave the pork in the marinating bowl for 3.5 hours. After this period, line a baking sheet with foil, lay out the pieces, cover from above. Send to the oven for baking until cooked.

Roast in sweet and sour sauce

pork tenderloin - 500 gr.
canned pineapple - 0.3 kg.
chicken egg yolk - 1 pc.
pure water - 50 ml.
potato starch - 35 gr.
bell pepper - 100 gr.
soy sauce - 35 ml.
ketchup - 60 ml.
vinegar - 25 ml.
granulated sugar - 65 gr.

Prepare a marinating bowl. Send the pork meat chopped into pieces into it. Pour in soy sauce, add raw yolk, water, starch. Salt, mix everything and wait 3.5 hours.
Chop the pepper into bars, chop the canned pineapple. Pour oil into the pan, heat it up, send the pickled pork inside. Fry until crusty, transfer to a clean bowl.
Fry the pepper in the same way, after 3 minutes add the pineapple pieces. Simmer the ingredients under the lid for 5 minutes. Start making extra sauce.
To do this, mix ketchup with sugar and vinegar, add this mixture to peppers with pineapples. Simmer under the lid until the sand dissolves, then add the pork and simmer until tender.

low-fat kefir - 500 ml.
garlic - 6 teeth
pork pulp - 950 gr.
onion - 1 pc.
spices - to taste

To achieve the desired result, you must first marinate the meat. As a result, you will get a juicy and soft steak. Take a container of a suitable size, pour kefir into it, place pieces of pork meat in the fermented milk product.
At the same time, peel and chop the garlic and onion into half rings. Send the vegetable to a common pan, season the meat with spices and salt to taste. Keep in mind that in order to achieve maximum softness and juiciness from the steak, it must first be beaten off.
Place prepared foods in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours. After the allotted time, heat the vegetable oil in a pan, put the pieces of meat in a bowl. Fry the pork on both sides until golden brown. The procedure is best done on medium heat.
After you have achieved a crust, reduce the flame to a minimum, cook the dish. A fried piece of meat will be able to retain juiciness and softness. Serve steak with garnish and garlic sauce. Don't forget fresh herbs and vegetables.

Soft pork with apples

onion - 1 pc.
flour - 45 gr.
fat - 55 gr.
cumin - 5 gr.
pork - 670 gr.
apples - 2 pcs.
salt - to taste

Before cooking meat, it must be thoroughly rinsed with running water. Salt the pork, roll in spices and flour. Preheat the pan, heat the vegetable fat in it.
Put the whole piece of meat in a fireproof container. Fry the pork on all sides until browned. After that, transfer the steak, along with the fat, to the roaster. After that, pour cumin into the dishes and pour in hot water about 3/4 of the container.
Set the roaster on the stove, turn on the slow flame. Simmer the pork, add water if necessary. At the same time, peel and chop the apples into slices. Before the end of cooking meat, add fruit.
Once the pork is ready, take it out of the roaster. Add flour diluted with water to the remaining broth. Boil applesauce for about 8 minutes over medium heat. After the meat has cooled, cut it into pieces. Pour in the prepared sauce, sprinkle with fresh herbs.

French juicy pork

cheese - 240 gr.
onion - 1 pc.
oil - in fact
mayonnaise - 220 gr.
pork - 530 gr.
salt - to taste

Prepare the pork properly, cut the meat into small pieces. Thoroughly beat the meat, treat with salt and pepper on both sides. Next, grate the cheese on a fine grater. Peel and chop the onion into rings.
Choose a suitable refractory dish, grease it with vegetable oil. Place the pork pieces in the bottom of the bowl. Put the prepared onion on top of the meat, pour the products with mayonnaise. Sprinkle the dish with cheese.
Send the meat to bake in a preheated oven. Simmer the pork until fully cooked. Before serving, it is recommended to decorate the dish with olives and fresh herbs. Eat hot meat.

To cook juicy and tender pork, you need to take the tenderloin of the animal. This meat is the softest. If cooked correctly, the dish will literally melt in your mouth. It is also important to properly marinate the pork, it should brew for some time in the sauce. Mineral water with gas, mustard mixture, lemon juice or onions will do for the marinade.

Video: how to soften meat

Meat is a perishable product, so if stored incorrectly or for a long time, it can exude an unpleasant odor. This signals the beginning of the decomposition process caused by the growth of putrefactive bacteria. Get rid of the smell before starting cooking. You can save the product using simple recipes and folk methods. But before that, it is necessary to understand the cause of the unpleasant odor and assess the degree of spoilage of the product. This will help protect yourself from possible food poisoning.

Meat loses its natural flavor in the following cases:

the pulp was in the refrigerator next to the spoiled product;
was kept in a plastic bag and suffocated from lack of oxygen;
the animal was improperly fed or stabbed (applies to pork and rabbit meat).

Some types of meat initially have a specific smell, for example, lamb or pork (if the pulp of an uncastrated boar is caught). This does not mean that the product is defective. In this case, it will be enough to pickle the pulp and beat off the smell with spicy seasonings.

If the meat did not have time to visit the shelf in the refrigerator and was just brought from the market, you can assess the degree of its spoilage in the following ways:

Universal ways to remove the odor

If the meat was stored incorrectly and simply suffocated or absorbed an unpleasant odor from the products in the neighborhood, it should be washed under running water and immediately started cooking. In some cases, when the pulp has just begun to deteriorate, this is enough. If the smell is still present, it is recommended to use effective culinary secrets. These methods are suitable for processing chicken and any other types of meat.

Soak

You can remove the smell of meat with a smell by soaking. This treatment helps to destroy putrefactive bacteria inside the pulp due to the long stay of the product in solution. Depending on which of the ingredients are available at home, you can use any of the following recipes:

1. Mix a liter of water with a tablespoon of vinegar, soak for an hour.
2. Pour the meat with lemon, pomegranate juice or white wine (optional) and wait 60 minutes.
3. Soak the pulp in a concentrated saline solution (2 tablespoons of table or sea salt with a slide per liter of clean water), leave for 2-3 hours. For a spicy flavor, you can add charcoal to the solution. After cooking, it will seem that the meat was cooked on a fire.
4. Dilute a weak solution of potassium permanganate (until a pale pink liquid is obtained), immerse the spoiled product for an hour, then rinse under running water and leave for 15 minutes in a container with clean cold water.
5. Brew pharmacy chamomile, pour a tablespoon of 200 ml of boiling water, strain, cool, mix with a liter of cold water. Immerse the pulp in the resulting solution, add 2 tablespoons of sugar. Soak for 20 minutes.
6. Pour the spoiled product with red wine, add thyme or rosemary, leave for 60 minutes. The smell will disappear, and the meat after cooking will become juicy and piquant. It is best to fry the steak after panning.

After any soaking, the meat must be washed under running water.

Pickling

The easiest and fastest way to get rid of unpleasant amber is to rub the pulp with salt and sugar, and after 40 minutes rinse under running water. If the smell is still present, you can beat it off with a marinade. Any of the following recipes will work:

1. Thickly coat the tenderloin or fillet with mustard, leave for 1-2 hours in a cool place, rinse under running water.
2. Rub the meat with spicy spices and herbs: basil, nutmeg, cardamom, rosemary, thyme. You can use one ingredient or a mixture. Leave for an hour.
3. Coarsely chop the onion and garlic cloves, add herbs to taste. Keep the product in the marinade for 2 hours.
4. Soak the pulp with soy sauce or wine, add aromatic spices, soak in the marinade for 1-2 hours.

Such simple culinary techniques allow not only to beat off the smell, but also to make the meat juicy, fragrant.

Alternative ways

Universal methods help to revive any meat, but there are special recipes that apply only to specific products.

They include:

heat treatment;
pickling;
soak.

Chicken

Stale chicken can be stuffed with garlic cloves, grated with salt, black pepper, left in a cool place for 1-1.5 hours. If there is no time to wait that long, you can use another method:

1. Mix flour and table salt in equal proportions.
2. Thoroughly grate the carcass or fillet on all sides.
3. Rinse under running water.

The flour will absorb the unpleasant odor, and the salt will clean the surface.

Pork

By itself, pork does not have a pronounced unpleasant odor. In this case, we are talking about the meat of an uncastrated boar. A distinctive feature of the product is the fetid amber, which is felt even in the taste of the finished dish.

In order to check the condition of the offered goods on the market, you need to set fire to a piece of bacon from the tenderloin with a match or a lighter. A pungent smell will indicate that boar meat is on the counter.

In this case, you need to send the pulp to the freezer for the night, and even better - for a day. The temperature should be -25 degrees and below. If the smell remains, it is worth trying soaking.

Method 1

You will have to soak the tenderloin at home for 10-12 hours in milk. First, the fatty layers should be removed from the meat and cut into thin slices. The dairy product should be changed to a new one every 2-3 hours.

You can simplify the task and pour the meat with milk by adding a head of garlic. In a day, the product will be ready for use.

Method 2

Another effective soaking method:

boil 2 liters of water;
add 4 tbsp. l. spoons of salt;
cool the solution;
add 5 tbsp. l. table white vinegar;
soak the product in the solution for 6 hours;
drain the solution, prepare a new one;
leave the meat to soak for another day.

Method 3

To prepare the marinade, you will need juniper, cloves, allspice, marjoram, mint, chopped onions. The recipe is quite simple:

1. All ingredients must be placed in a saucepan, pour 2 liters of water, boil.
2. Cook over low heat for 3-4 minutes, remove the container from the stove.
3. Add a head of garlic and 1 tsp to the hot solution. citric acid.
4. Immerse the meat in the cooled liquid and leave for a day in a dark, cool place.
5. After processing, the pulp should be dried.

Rabbit

The specific smell of rabbit meat is easy to beat off by soaking the carcass overnight in ordinary cold water. Before preparing a dish for prevention, it is recommended to marinate the meat: in this case, the smell will definitely not return during cooking, and the flesh will become softer and more tender.

Marinade recipes:

1. Add parsley, rosemary and thyme to 200 ml of kefir, salt and pepper to taste, mix thoroughly, leave the meat to marinate for 1.5-2 hours.
2. In 2 tbsp. l. sour cream, add 3-4 chopped cloves of garlic, pepper and rosemary. A young rabbit is marinated for 3 hours, an old one - 6-8 hours.
3. Pour the carcass with a glass of wine or lemon juice, evenly distribute the liquid over the surface, leave for 1-2 hours.

In order not to become a victim of unscrupulous sellers, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the basic rules for choosing meat when buying on the market or in the supermarket:

Before acquiring the pulp, you need to smell it and preferably hold it in your hands. If the tenderloin is fresh and not frozen, your hands will stay dry.
The color of the product must be uniform and not too dark, regardless of the type of meat. Fresh veal and pork have a pinkish tint, beef is more red. The darkest has lamb.
The texture should be dense and elastic. To check this, you need to lightly press your finger on the pulp and release. If the product is fresh, the dimple will quickly smooth out.
To give an appetizing color to a weathered and slightly rotten product, sellers use dyes. To check for the presence of such an additive, you need to wrap the meat in a white paper towel. If prints remain, it is better to refuse the purchase immediately.

You come from the market, unfold the bundle carefully packed by the butcher or take out the chicken fillet from the bag, and then the thought comes to mind: why not rinse the purchased product under running water before cooking? It seems that this hygienic procedure is as necessary as washing hands before dinner. Suddenly the butcher is unscrupulous, and there are a lot of flies in the market. But washing the meat not only doesn't help get rid of possible bacteria, it spreads them throughout the kitchen.

So do you need to wash the meat? We will explain why freshly bought meat should never be subjected to such a test! No matter how your hands itch, you shouldn't.

Meat processing

Every housewife knows that all products must be thoroughly washed before cooking. Fruits, vegetables, eggs - everything unconditionally in the sink. And how great is the temptation to do the same with meat brought from the market. It is not clear where it lay, it is not clear who touched it and what flies were sitting on it! But experts in culinary affairs unanimously argue that, no matter what meat you buy, it is absolutely impossible to wash it.

In vain attempts to wash off harmful bacteria from meat, you only aggravate the situation. Imagine how all these microscopic bacteria, along with water molecules, go straight into your mouth, settle on the skin, around the sink, on other products and even on clothes.

Considering that you are going to cook the meat, and not eat it raw, there is no point in washing it - all bacteria will die safely when exposed to heat. What can not be said about the bacteria that have settled on kitchen utensils, and so densely that their destruction will require more than one painstaking cleaning. It is these contaminated kitchen utensils that can subsequently serve as a source of serious food poisoning.

This is especially true of chicken meat, because it is it that most often causes salmonella infection. When washing chicken meat, water drops containing harmful bacteria fly up to a distance of 1 meter. If you are still in doubt, look at the cooking style of famous chefs who never wash meat, but always wash their hands after contact with it.

There is another argument that will convince you not to wash meat in the future: with a jet of water, especially hot water, you violate the molecular composition on the surface of the meat, thereby violating its palatability. In other words, such meat will not brown at all, it will lose its taste and aroma. That is, the meat will simply be stewed, and until all the moisture has evaporated, the juicy steak will completely lose all the juices.

Choice a good piece of meat it’s akin to art: you need to come to the market in the morning, find a butcher you know, take a closer look, take your time to smell it ... But in the store it’s quite problematic to do all this, there is nowhere for the soul to turn around. And meat of suitable quality has to be chosen from what is already available.

If it so happened that you came across a piece of old, sinewy pork or beef, do not despair. Certainly, juicy steak such meat will not work, but excellent roast or baked meat is quite. "So simple!" tell you how to save the day!

How to make meat tender

There are a number of helper products that can soften even the toughest soles, adding juiciness and savory notes to the meat.

Onion
No meat dish is complete without onions and onion juice. You can cut the onion into half rings, finely chop, twist through a meat grinder or even grate (here it is, the prevention of acute respiratory infections), then mix with meat 1: 1 and leave it under pressure for a couple of hours.
©DepositPhotos
Mustard
This product is a great meat companion! Mustard (in the form of a powder or liquid sauce) not only perfectly softens the meat fibers, but also adds a piquant flavor and a slight spiciness. Just spread mustard on a whole piece of meat or immediately cut into the required portions, soak for 15-20 minutes, then fry or send to bake.
©DepositPhotos
Lemon, pomegranate, pineapple juice
All these juices are excellent softeners, however, when using such a marinade, try not to overdo the meat in it, so as not to end up with rubber.
©DepositPhotos
Brine
cabbage or cucumber pickle is a great option, by the way! Gives spice and salting the dish is no longer necessary.
©DepositPhotos
Mineral water
This is a proven method of softening from experienced chefs, and it is better to choose a therapeutic and prophylactic mineral water, such as Essentuki or Borjomi.
©DepositPhotos
Starch
Try soaking tough meat in water with potato starch diluted in it - you will be surprised at the result! Juicy pieces with a crispy crust are guaranteed.
©DepositPhotos
Kefir
Mix the fermented milk product with your favorite aromatic spices and fill the meat with this mixture for a couple of hours.
©DepositPhotos
Soy sauce
Meat marinated in soy sauce for 1–1.5 hours acquires softness, rich dark color and a characteristic aftertaste. I recommend!

Can be cooked in a variety of ways. If you intend to fry it, bake it in the oven or over an open fire, then be sure to use the marinade. It, depending on the ingredients, will give it piquancy, softness and juiciness. How to marinate chicken? We'll talk about this in this article.

Surely, many hostesses have their own. It will take a lot of time to list all the possible options. But still, there are marinades that most housewives and chicken barbecue lovers use. It is necessary that the spices and ingredients soak the meat and make it juicy and appetizing. How delicious to marinate chicken?

The simplest marinades are mayonnaise and ketchup. They are sold ready-made and are a great way to give chicken meat a richer flavor. You just need to sprinkle the chicken carcass or chicken pieces with pepper, salt and spread mayonnaise or ketchup on top. Use any seasonings you see fit. Such marinades will also give the chicken a beautiful crust.

Another way to marinate chicken is to use kefir. To do this, we take about 400 ml of kefir per one medium-sized chicken carcass. Add salt, oregano, pepper, paprika and basil to it. It is better to cut the chicken into pieces, so it marinates better. Fill it with kefir with spices and leave for about two hours. The finished chicken is tender and crispy.

There are a lot of chicken skewers out there. Despite the fact that this meat is very tender, it also requires pre-marination to give it a certain taste. Before, from the chicken, you need to decide on the marinade. For this, kefir mixed with seasonings and spices is also used. But there are other options as well.

You can take a little vegetable oil and lemon juice. It is not advisable to use vinegar, so we take lemon juice, which will give the meat the necessary acid. Also add pepper, salt and any spices you wish.

As a marinade, you can take olive oil and a little soy sauce. In this case, the use of salt should be moderate. Keep the chicken in the marinade for about 2-4 hours, no more.

How to marinate chicken in a more original way? Use a marinade with honey and fruit juice. To do this, take a tablespoon of good honey, a little (teaspoon) of soy sauce, salt, about three tablespoons of orange or pineapple juice and pepper. We coat the chicken meat with this mixture and leave it for two hours. It should be noted that during the marinating time it is necessary to mix the meat periodically. Thanks to honey, a beautiful golden crust forms during the frying process, but make sure that the meat does not burn.

Eggs are also used as a mixture for marinating chicken meat. A few eggs should be lightly beaten and salt added to them. Then pour the chopped chicken with this mixture and leave for a while. Then we take out the meat and drain the excess egg liquid. Now you can roll each piece in a mixture of different, chopped greens and then sprinkle with breadcrumbs. In this form, fry the chicken in a pan or on the grill.

Fans of original dishes can use cream or in combination with curry and chili sauce. Garlic goes very well. It can be added to mayonnaise by seasoning this mixture with chopped green dill. Spread the prepared marinade on the chicken and leave for 2 hours.

There are many options for marinating chicken. You can choose one of the proposed ones, supplement them with your own spices and seasonings, or come up with your own original marinade recipe. The main thing is that the chicken meat is tasty, tender and appetizing.