Anonymous Tue May 23 19:40:57 2006

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Some time back there was a discussion of marinades on RFC newsgroup. I found this

interesting and printed below is the message and reply: It is sent here with his permission.

Sheldon has considerable formal training in food handling and has done a lot of cooking,

both professionally and for his own enjoyment. I will not use a marinade for poultry as a

sauce base. The probability of salmonella contamination (washed from the chicken, turkey,

etc. while it marinated) is a bit higher than I care to risk. Joe, Not necessarily true. If the

marinade is used at the same time the meat is cooked, then it should have no more

contamination then was present in the meat while the meat was marinating in it, and,

depending upon the ingredients used in the marinade, maybe even less. The original

purpose of a marinade was to aid in preserving meat ( note corned beef, and sauerbraten

). A \'proper\' marinade is of high acid, and salt content, the acid to break down the fibers,

and to tenderize, th

e salt to draw out the water, along with what ever organisms are suspended in it, and both

to act as antiseptics. The addition of any alcohol, naturally increases the antiseptic nature

of the marinade, but with alcohol, caution should be exercised, as it tends to inhibit the

marinating process by sealing the outer portion of the meat. So consider this the next time

you waste a whole bottle of good wine by soaking meat in it over night. Wine should be

used for maceration only, short term, and then it would be a sin to not use it for a sauce.

Also, a marinade is meant to be drawn into the meat, primarily to alter the environment into

a more hostile one for organisms. The flavoring that consequently takes place is merely a

secondary benefit, which one tends to forget. Proper marinating requires the meat to be

totally submerged at all times. If any portion of the meat is exposed, then this is called

macerating, and is not meant to be done for long periods of time, and this is where th

e trouble lies. When part of the meat is exposed to the atmosphere, then the exchange of

fluids will be incomplete, and air will be drawn into the meat, along with oxygen, creating an

environment even more favorable for organism growth then would have been present if the

meat were left in it\'s original state. Inexperienced cooks tend to mix up a relatively small

amount of flavorful solution, with little regard to the fact that the acid, and salt are in the

wrong proportions, and then merely coat the meat, or partially submerge it. This is fine if it

is only allowed to stay in this state for a very short time, no more then a couple of hours in

the refrigerator, NOT over night. To leave meat, especially fowl at room temperature, this

way, should be forbidden for more then half an hour. Simply put, if what you are doing is a

maceration, and properly, of only a few minutes duration, then there is no more risk in

using the flavoring liquid as a food product, then there is in eating the

cooked meat. When doing a proper marinade, i.e. long term curing, then if the solution did

it\'s work, and the exchange has taken place, there is an excellent probability that what ever

organisms were in the meat, are now in the solution, some proportion dead, some alive.

Aside from that, the solution, by this time, is spent, and will contain mainly salt, and

weakened acid, and the meat will have absorbed most of the flavor, so why would you want

to eat it anyway? Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information written down, that is readily

available, about the proper proportions for a true marinade solution. This information has

been generally, a closely guarded family secret, passed down through the generations,

within the meat processing industry, but mostly, this has more to do with the flavoring

ingredients. There is information available, however, concerning the chemistry, if you will,

that can be found quite readily. Write to the Dept. of Consumer affairs, Pueblo, Colorado

, and ask for the appropriate government bulletins. You may find the information

enlightening. Sheldon Martin PS There is a tremendously significant movement going on

right now within the regulating government bodies concerning revamping the entire meat

inspection process in the U.S., where there have been little or no, changes in how meat is

inspected since the late 1800s. More modern techniques have been available for a long

time, but have been strongly resisted by the food industry. Unscrupulous practices, and

payoffs have run rampant long enough, in this very wealthy, and lucrative industry, cause

we all gotta eat. Big changes are coming, and it\'s about time. The days of the sniff test, and

buying the inspector\'s nose are at an end.