Marinating Under Vacuum

[GaryHibbert]

I've read a few posts on using a vac/sealer to assist with marinating. Now I don't have the actual marinating attachment, but since I do have the fridge vac seal containers for my Food Saver vac/seal, so I decided to use one of them.

Miss Linda was planning to cook a tenderloin in the oven last night, and we normally marinate the meat for 8 hours. Late yesterday afternoon I dug out the Food Saver and the largest of the vac containers. Our favorite is a store bought "Tuscony" marinade--its a liquid, but extremely thick, and I just wasn't too sure how well it would work This marinade always puts tons of flavor on the meat, but pretty much only on the outside. Very little flavor penetrates into the meat, even after 8 hours.

After putting the tenderloin and lots of marinade (turned out to be way more than I needed to use) into the container, I hooked up the accessory vac hose and vac/sealed it. It then sat in the fridge for 1 1/2 hours.

It turned out to be the best tenderloin ever cooked in an oven!! The flavor had penetrated DEEP into the meat--pretty much all the way through it. It was fantastic.

I was so impressed by this method that I'll be purchasing the actual marinating container to use for larger cuts.

If you haven't tried this, believe me, you're really missing out on something great. It's simple, easy, and makes the food sooooooo much tastier. I can't wait to try this on some meat for the MES.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Neat.. maybe poke holes in or through the meat? I'm going to make sure I get a model with the vac hose attachment when I buy one.

 

[atomicsmoke]

Never used mine, but i will.

Wouldn't his approach speed up curing too?

 

[SmokinAl]

I know it sure speeds up my dill pickles, they take 6 weeks without vacuum, and 4 days with vacuum.
Al

 

[johnmeyer]

I've used this technique many times in the 20+ years I've owned my Foodsaver. It seems to work. I've seen reports that the vacuum "opens up" the fibers in the meat, thus letting the marinade penetrate further.

If you want to have some amazing fun, you can try the following demonstration which, I think, shows why this marinading trick may work. Here's the demonstration:

1. Find a few marshmallows.

2. Put them in a vacuum canister and, while watching the marshmallows, evacuate the canister.

3. You should have seen some amazing stuff when doing #2, but for the real fun, while watching the marshmallows, press the release valve to let the air back in.

I think this shows why the marinading trick might work.

Of course there is a YouTube video:



Vacuum Marshmallows

So, I think the meat fibers and cell structure reacts the same way as the cells in the marshmallow and, by getting more space between the cells, lets the marinade penetrate further.

 

[chopsaw]

I was so impressed by this method that I'll be purchasing the actual marinating container to use for larger cuts.

Gary , I've got the quart jar sealer and the 2 1/4 quart marinater . Works great . I use both all the time .

 

[kit s]

Gary , I've got the quart jar sealer and the 2 1/4 quart marinater . Works great . I use both all the time .

I've read a few posts on using a vac/sealer to assist with marinating. Now I don't have the actual marinating attachment, but since I do have the fridge vac seal containers for my Food Saver vac/seal, so I decided to use one of them.

Miss Linda was planning to cook a tenderloin in the oven last night, and we normally marinate the meat for 8 hours. Late yesterday afternoon I dug out the Food Saver and the largest of the vac containers. Our favorite is a store bought "Tuscony" marinade--its a liquid, but extremely thick, and I just wasn't too sure how well it would work This marinade always puts tons of flavor on the meat, but pretty much only on the outside. Very little flavor penetrates into the meat, even after 8 hours.

After putting the tenderloin and lots of marinade (turned out to be way more than I needed to use) into the container, I hooked up the accessory vac hose and vac/sealed it. It then sat in the fridge for 1 1/2 hours.

It turned out to be the best tenderloin ever cooked in an oven!! The flavor had penetrated DEEP into the meat--pretty much all the way through it. It was fantastic.

I was so impressed by this method that I'll be purchasing the actual marinating container to use for larger cuts.

If you haven't tried this, believe me, you're really missing out on something great. It's simple, easy, and makes the food sooooooo much tastier. I can't wait to try this on some meat for the MES.

Gary , I've got the quart jar sealer and the 2 1/4 quart marinater . Works great . I use both all the time .

Do wish they made them bigger...without going commercial......be great I am thinking for hams, pork butt, ribs (like a rack) etc.

 

[GaryHibbert]

Interesting video. I wasn't expecting them to crush like that.
Gary

 

[mosparky]

I wonder if you could adapt a hose to the exhaust port of a pressure cooker for use as a larger vacuum chamber for some larger pieces of meat.

 

[johnmeyer]

I wonder if you could adapt a hose to the exhaust port of a pressure cooker for use as a larger vacuum chamber for some larger pieces of meat.

Probably not. The gasket is designed for positive, not negative pressure.

 

[mosparky]

kind what I was thinking. could use an appropiatw sized o-ring instead of gasket, but the size of the avg pressure cooker is still on the small side for a bigger cut like a picnic in a wet brine.