Will marinating chicken for 18 hours make the meat fall apart?
I decided to marinade some chicken for tomorrow night's meal but the only time I have to do it is tonight. Obviously it's going in the fridge for that time period.
I've never marinated meat for that long before and I'm concerned the acids in the orange juice marinate I'm using will break down the meat too much and it'll be all mushy and gross.
Any experience or thoughts on this?
Best Answer
It'll be fine. I've done this multiple times, even occasionally for more than 1 night and never had a problem, if anything it improves things as the marinade has time to work into the meat.
If you can, give it a stir a coupe of times (every 6 hours maybe?) to ensure even coating.
The acids in orange juice and most (?) marinades are generally too weak to break down chicken into component parts.
Pictures about "Will marinating chicken for 18 hours make the meat fall apart?"
What happens if you marinate chicken longer than 24 hours?
Most recipes for marinating meat and poultry recommend six hours up to 24 hours. It is safe to keep the food in the marinade longer, but after two days it is possible that the marinade can start to break down the fibers of the meat, causing it to become mushy.What happens if you marinate chicken too long?
A marinade's ingredients also factor into what will happen if you leave the chicken marinating for too long. "Anything acidic could essentially cook the meat and break down the proteins within the meat," advises Danila. "This makes it mushy-tasting, and it would ruin the meat before you make it!"Can you marinate meat for 12 hours?
Long story short, you shouldn't marinate meat for longer than 24 hours \u2014 less if you are marinating small pieces. I've personally found 12 hours to be the sweet spot, but you can also go shorter \u2014 as little as a three to four hours will do a lot.What happens if meat is marinated too long?
The acid or enzyme in a marinade causes the meat's tissue to weaken on the surface but must be used minimally and not for extended periods of time. Otherwise, the meat will become mushy, tough, and dry. A successful marinade has the right balance of acid, oil, and seasonings.How long is too long to MARINATE? | Kitchen review show
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Answer 2
This depends on what ingrediens you use. Enzymes from for example papaya will break down meat to mush eventually, but when following a recipe with that kind of marinade, you will probably be told that the time is very important. I assume here that you are using a regular marinade with citric acid or yoghurt and different spices.
Such a marinade will not reach very far into the chicken. Heston Blumenthal did an experiment in his show "In Search of Perfection" scanning chicken in an MRI to see how far different marinades reached. I don't remember exactly how far, but he found that yoghurt-based marinades reaches the furthest.
Answer 3
My guess is that your chicken will be fine. I haven't tried marinating chicken in orange juice, but there are several recipes that recommend marinating chicken overnight.
For examples this Orange Marinated Chicken from Simply Recipes.
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