8 Tips & Tricks for Marinating Meat

1. Pack Your Meat with Flavor

A beautiful cut of premium Pre grass-fed beef certainly can be delicious with a simple seasoning of salt and pepper, but if you want to step it up a notch, marinating your beef is the obvious choice. A perfectly selected marinade can pack your meat with a powerful punch of flavor. In addition to adding flavor, marinades can also help tenderize your beef, helping you reach that melt-in-mouth texture we all know and love.

2. Pick the Right Marinade for Your Cut

First things first. You’ve got to pair your marinade to your meat. Just like with wine, certain cuts of meat should be paired with certain spices and acids to bring out the best notes of flavor. For example, if you’re grilling up a ribeye or New York strip steak or other fatty cuts, you should opt for a simple marinade like a honey sriracha or a ginger marinade.

For leaner cuts of meat such as a top sirloin, you’ll want to add some more complex flavors that will compensate for the lack of fat in the cut. You could experiment with a Korean beef bulgogi marinade where you use soy sauce, pear slices, garlic, and ginger to create a complex flavor profile. Or, stick to some more traditional marinade ingredients like honey, maple syrup, and brown sugar for sweetness and lemon juice or vinegar for acidity. Soy sauce also makes a great addition for adding a bit of salt. Just remember to taste test and adjust to get it just right!

3. Score Meat Before Marinating

Years of testing by home cooks and professional chefs alike has taught us a thing or two about marinating. One of those things is that marinade typically doesn’t penetrate further than two to three millimeters deep. This means that to get the powerful marinade flavor deeper than just the surface, you need to score your meat. To help the marinade penetrate as deep as possible, prick your cut of Pre grass-fed beef repeatedly with a fork, or score it with a knife.

4. Flip and Stir

While marinating, you’ll want to make sure both sides of the meat get a chance to soak. Place your cut of meat in a zipper-lock bag or place it in a dish that is big enough and deep enough to accommodate your meat and marinade and cover with plastic wrap. About halfway through the marinating process, flip your meat over and stir the marinade a bit to get the flavors soaking on the other side.

5. Refrigerate While Marinating Meat

Microorganisms and bacteria love warmer temperatures, so don’t let your meat sit out on the counter while marinating. Place it in the refrigerator to keep it out of the temperature danger zone.

6. Clean Up Your Marinated Meat Before Grilling

If your marinade is thick or sticky, it’s best to wipe off the excess from your cut of beef before tossing it on the grill. The issue with excess marinade is that it may cause some nasty fire flare-ups on your grill. Also, less marinade means it’s easier to keep an eye on the cooking process, so you know when your meat is done.

7. Don’t Recycle Your Marinade

It may be tempting to keep all that extra marinade and serve it on the side when the beef is off the grill, but don’t do it! Used marinade is contaminated with raw meat juice from your cut, and it’s unsafe to consume. If you really want some extra marinade, simply set some aside before you begin your marinating process.

8. Get Your Beef Cuts from Pre

For an even bigger and bolder flavor, pick up your cuts of grass-fed and finished beef from Pre. Simply place an order today, and you’ll be grilling up perfectly marinated steaks in no time!