There's three reasons why I use barbecue marinades and bastes with my bbq smoker pit:-
First - It tenderises the meat. This is extremely important with beef when using the lower cost cuts such as chuck steak and even then I don't recommend grilling, it really is one for the smoker.
Second - a marinade can be used to flavour meat and this is evident in a lot of my asianinfluenced marinades. When flavour is king you'll often find me recommending that the marinade is usedto baste the meat during the cooking process too.
Third and finally, to moisten meat. If cooking any meat on a skewer it's easy to overdo it slightly and the meatdries out. If however it's been marinaded there's more tolerance between perfect and bone dry and using the marinade as a baste helps again here. Note that there is never any salt in a marinade because this would dry out the meat and work away from exactly what we're trying to achieve.
I like to marinade overnight although sometimes you can get away with less so remember to leave plenty of preparation time when using a marinade.
Generally speaking you’ll need about 150ml / ¼ pint of marinade for every 450g or pound of meat. Oily marinades for dry lean foods such as fish and vinegar based marinades for red meat and richer fatty foods.
TIP - Use a shallow non metallic bowl. This means that the meat will lie in a single layer and we get the maximum effect.
I've included two basic marinades below and then check out all my other recipes that use a marinade.
My basic barbecue marinade is perfect for both meat and fish.
Ingredients:-
1 garlic clove crushed
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground pepper
This Red wine marinade is directed more at the richer flavours such as red meat and game.
Ingredients:-
150ml / ¼ pint red wine
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 dried bay leaf crumbled
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
freshly ground black pepper
In all cases it's simply a matter of mixing the ingredients up and hey presto, there's the marinade.