How to Marinate
Use our marinating tips to help your turkey turn out right:
- Always marinate meats covered in the refrigerator, never at room temperature.
- Marinating meat in sealable plastic bags makes cleanup easy.
- Use a container or plastic bag that’s big enough to position food in a single layer and easily turned to coat both sides.
- Allow 1/4 to 1/2 cup of marinade for every 1 to 2 lbs. of meat.
- Marinate 2 to 8 hours, depending on how strong you want the flavor.
- Marinating too long will produce an unappealing, mushy texture. Poultry should not be marinated longer than 8 hours.
- Discard leftover marinades that have been in contact with raw meat.
- Do not reuse marinades.
Marinades do not require careful measurement. As long as you include a liquid (wine, orange juice, etc.), an oil (olive oil, canola oil, etc.) and some flavoring (garlic, basil, lemon, etc.), you have a marinade.
Some marinades require heating the ingredients just to the boiling point to bring out the flavor. If heated, always allow the marinade to cool to room temperature before using.
For recipes that call for a short marinating period, make the marinade several hours in advance so it can develop its full flavor.