Marinating
Marinating is soaking food in a seasoned liquid before cooking — mostly for surface flavour, not deep tenderness. The popular idea that a marinade penetrates and tenderizes throughout is largely a myth; it works on the outer eighth-inch.
01How it works
Mostly the surface — and that’s the truth
A marinade clings to the surface far more than it soaks in — it is mostly adsorption, not absorption. Acid and enzymes reach only about ⅛ inch (3 mm); the interior is unchanged. So a marinade flavours and slightly alters the outside. It does not tenderize a steak to the core, no matter how long it sits.
The parts, honestly: acid denatures surface proteins (too long and that surface goes mushy); enzymes from papaya, pineapple, kiwi or ginger digest fast, so 30–60 minutes is the ceiling; oil carries fat-soluble aromatics but does not penetrate at all; salt is the only thing that genuinely travels inward — it works as a brine, and it is what carries flavour deeper.
02How to do it right
Lean on salt, watch the clock
Salt is the workhorse — roughly 1–2 teaspoons per pound. Keep acid moderate and time it to the food: fish 15–30 minutes, chicken 2–4 hours, tougher beef 12–24. Drop in enzyme fruits only for the last hour at most.
Pat the food dry before it hits the heat — a wet, marinade-slick surface steams and refuses to brown, undoing the flavour you just built. And never reuse raw marinade as a sauce unless you boil it hard first.
03Common mistakes
Why the marinade let you down
- Expecting deep tenderizing. It is a surface effect — choose the right cut for tenderness.
- Over-marinating in acid or enzymes. Mushy surface now, dry and grainy once cooked.
- Counting on oil to penetrate. Not a drop goes in — it only carries aromatics.
- Cooking straight from the marinade, wet. It steams instead of browning.
→Recipes that marinate
