Vacuum marinating

So I just bought the VacMaster112s vacuum sealer, and I was curious about the marinate option on that. I clearly didn't buy it for this reason.

How does it work? I couldn't find any good resources on this.

Also there is an option to marinate for 9 to all the way 90 minutes. Can this be used as a replacement for an overnight marinade?

I'll be trying it out with some skirt steak tonight and post back the results.

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Comments

tshewman

If you use a jaccard or inject the marinade, this may help speed things up, however, the VP112 won't do it alone, It doesn't have the power to force the marinade into the meat (most vacuums don't).

Shivam_Daryanani_92859

Thanks @Todd_Shewman_38102

So to confirm, their claim:

" Now features marinating cycle, which will marinate and infuse meats with deeper flavor. Improved vacuum sensor technology, makes the VP112S even easier to use" (source: https://www.vacmasterfresh.com/vacmaster-vp112s-home-chamber-vacuum-sealer/)

Is misleading?

tshewman

I would say for meats, it is unlikely to get great results much more quickly without a jaccrad or similar with their marniating "cycle". Essentially, the outer cells have to be broken down for the marnade to penetrate. My understanding is that by using a jacaard and tumbling while vacuuming this is possible, but a vacuum wiout the other two might b stretching things a little. You could do it two different ways and measure how far inside the marinade penetrates.

wolfiegirl

I think it's pretty a good feature. Check out the user manual page 9. It explains how the cycle works if you want to vac the meat (or whatever). You can also put the meat (or whatever) in a bowl (skip the vac pack) with your marinade and use the marinade feature as well, which will speed up the process. I think you'll see a great difference in the flavor and texture using this feature. Good luck and report back if you can!

Shivam_Daryanani_92859

Thanks for the bowl recommendation. I'll be giving that a spin tonight.

tshewman

I read about the feature as well and it would be great for fruits and vegetables but I'm a bit apprehensive in saying it would speed up meat marination. Injecting it woukd likely have more success (like brining). I'm interested in seeing a comparison as if it were to work it might be the first and many of us here would be smiling ear to ear (as we stand over our units ☺).

Ehsan_112247

The way I have seen the marination work best is if you actually put it in a container(not a bag),with the marinade,pull a vacuum wait for a couple of minutes and let air back in.The idea is you are taking the air trapped inside the meet and when you let the pressure back in the air is replaced by marinade.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

The idea of vacuum marination makes intuitive sense, but it most likely doesn't offer a real benefit. Researchers at the University of Georgia and the USDA have repeatedly found that vacuum levels have no effect on the uptake of marinade by chicken. They conclude that "vacuum pressure during tumbling, as is widely practiced commercially, may not be necessary. The underlying principles for using vacuum pressure may be erroneous and should be examined further." Another study on the effect of vacuum marination on fish found that vacuum levels had no effect on marinade uptake. The upshot of these articles is that the perceived benefits from vacuum tumbling actually come from the tumbling, not the vacuum.

Unlike plant matter, meat doesn't really have any air trapped inside it. If it did, I don't think that the dry-piston pump on the VP112 would be strong enough to extract it from the strong cell walls of a slab of protein. Which is a good thing, because that would totally destroy the texture because of all the ruptured cell walls. This sort of effect can happen to some degree to chicken and fish sealed at high vacuum levels because these are comparably delicate proteins. But this effect isn't caused by air being removed but rather the water contained within the cell walls boiling at low pressure and rupturing the walls as it transitions from liquid to a gas.

If you really want to infuse a marinade rapidly, Todd's suggestion of combining Jaccarding with vacuum bags is the best way to go. That's how I do it. By needling the meat, you create hundreds of little channels that actually will have some air inside them (unlike a solid piece of un-Jaccarded protein). The force of the atmosphere coming down on the bag after you seal it will push the marinade into all of the new paths you've created. It totally works and you don't have to futz with accessory ports, or spend time sitting around and waiting while the machine holds a vacuum. If you're freaked out about Jaccarding, don't be. Contrary to intuition, poking a bunch of holes in your meat actually decreases the amount of moisture that is lost during the cooking process.

Patti_1137863

Vacuum pressure has *zero* effect on meat.