spare_ribs_marinade

Mouthwatering Ribs

Give your favorite barbecue joint some competition with these baby back and spareribs recipes.

Sweet-Hot Baby Back Ribs

These ribs get their great flavor from a splash of lime and our Sweet-Hot 'Cue Sauce, featuring sweet chili sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, and ground ginger. Like these baby backs, most ribs need to marinate overnight in the fridge, making them the perfect make-ahead dish for grilling get-togethers.

Honey-Soy Appetizer Ribs

The ultimate finger food, spareribs can serve equally well as an appetizer as a main dish. Honey and soy sauce coat these ribs to give them upscale, Asian flavor.

Smoky Chipotle Baby Back Ribs

Who needs prepackaged rubs and bottled sauces when you can make your own? Our Chipotle Rub's bold taste infuses the ribs with Southwestern flair, while the Smoky Chipotle 'Cue Sauce echoes the rub's flavors with a few more peppers.

Low-and-Slow Baby Back Ribs

These ribs are smoked for six hours over hickory wood chips. To keep tender, spray with apple juice (instead of water) and cook for 2 hours wrapped in foil. Finish with a barbecue sauce, apple juice, and honey glaze.

Ribs McCoy

Barbecue sauce and an herb-rub combine to give spareribs complex flavor. The four-ingredient rub made from Creole seasoning, garlic powder, pepper, and Greek seasoning punches up the flavor of meat fast, no marinade required.

Baby Loin Back Ribs

Slow, steady preparation makes these ribs moist and delectable. This recipe calls for a basting sauce every 30 minutes and a finishing sweet, ketchup-based sauce.

Smoky Ribs

Try this classic recipe for smoked baby back ribs (also called baby loin back ribs). Buying ribs is easy if you know what to look for. Single slab packages allow you to see all sides of the ribs. You want as much meat and as little fat as possible.

Apricot-Pineapple Sweet Ribs

The supercharged Rib Liquid Seasoning used to baste Apricot Pineapple Sweet Ribs takes the South's favorite finger food to new heights.

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Beer & Honey Marinade for Spareribs

Recipe by Baby Kato

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Beer & Honey Marinade for Spareribs

SERVES:

Ingredients Nutrition

• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups beer
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 ⁄₄ cup honey, liquid
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 sparerib racks (pork baby back)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and place in large ziploc bag.
2. Marinate in fridge for 24 hours. Turn bag over several times.
3. Drain the ribs, but reserve marinade for use while ribs are cooking.
4. Cook ribs your favourite way, these are good baked in the oven or bbq on the grill.
5. Enjoy.

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Nutrition Info

Serving Size: 1 (128 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 4

Amt. Per Serving % Daily Value Calories 248.5 Calories from Fat 1 1% Total Fat 0.2 g 0% Saturated Fat 0 g 0% Cholesterol 0 mg 0% Sodium 1170.2 mg 48% Total Carbohydrate 57.3 g 19% Dietary Fiber 0.2 g 0% Sugars 52.4 g 209% Protein 0.9 g 1%

Sparerib Marinade

Recipe by Loadedpbj

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Sparerib Marinade

SERVES:

Ingredients Nutrition

• 1 kg pork spareribs

Directions

1. Arrange the spareribs in a single layer in a nonmetallic dish.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together and pour over the spareribs.
3. If you don't really like ginger that much you may find it a bit over powering and would want to reduce it.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat the oven to 190°C and arrange the ribs on the rack of a roasting pan.
6. Oven roast for 50-60 minutes, basting occasionally with the marinade.
7. Turn every 10 minutes.
8. Or just throw them on the BBQ.
9. Cut the ribs into portions and serve.

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Nutrition Info

Serving Size: 1 (315 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 4

Amt. Per Serving % Daily Value Calories 824.5 Calories from Fat 530 64% Total Fat 59 g 90% Saturated Fat 22.3 g 111% Cholesterol 194.6 mg 64% Sodium 1740.4 mg 72% Total Carbohydrate 27.1 g 9% Dietary Fiber 0.6 g 2% Sugars 23.6 g 94% Protein 45.1 g 90%

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Shortcut BBQ Ribs

This is the easiest, quickest way to grill ribs.

Get the recipe from Delish.

BBQ Ribs with Grilled Romaine

Cook ribs lightning-fast with this easy method.

Get the recipe from Delish.

Apple-Glazed Barbecued Baby Back Ribs

These sticky, apple-infused ribs are cooked in the oven, then finished on the grill.

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Ribs Supreme

Only 15 minutes of grilling time—beat that.

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Barbecued Country Ribs with Lemon

Country-style pork ribs come from the loin and are thicker, shorter and meatier than longer, thin spareribs. Slow braising in a savory tomato-based barbecue sauce tenderizes and flavors the meat.

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Kansas City Ribs

Baby back ribs with a gooey, tomato-based sauce are a summertime staple, whether you enjoy them as a main dish or serve them as an appetizer.

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Mexican-Style Spareribs

All you need to know is that there is tequila in there.

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Tuscan-Style Spareribs with Balsamic Glaze

Generously seasoned with a mix of aromatic herbs and spices, these ribs are slow-roasted until tender and crisp. Finish the ribs with a simple balsamic glaze and die of happiness.

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Spare%20 Rib%20 Marinade recipes

- 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

- 1 teaspoon chili powder

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1 dash Tabasco sauce

- 1 1/2 cups water

This is my mother-in-laws much requested recipe for ribs. They are tender and delicious with. ( more )

Place the ribs in a dutch oven or large saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. ( more )

- 60 ml soy sauce

- 45 ml oyster sauce

- 30 ml soft brown sugar

- 7 cm piece ginger

- 3 garlic cloves

- 15 ml tomato paste

- 1 ml cayenne pepper

- 1 ml ground cinnamon

I cant remember where I found this recipe but to me this is the best pork rib marinade out t. ( more )

Arrange the spareribs in a single layer in a nonmetallic dish. Mix all the ingredients for t. ( more )

- 1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar blend

- 2 tablespoons black pepper

Easy, sweet, and tasty! Serve with corn on the cob and baked potato if desired. ( more )

Slice peaches, remove pits, puree in food processor with Brown Sugar. Slice ribs into single. ( more )

- 1/3 cup plum jelly

- 3 tablespoons water

- 2 tablespoons dry sherry

- 2 cloves garlic

- 1 teaspoon five-spice powder

- 2 lbs pork baby back ribs

Makes a great appetizer that's easy to bake. You can make these ahead of time and just warm . ( more )

In a small saucepan, whisk together soy sauce, plum jelly, water, sherry, garlic, and five-s. ( more )

- 3 tablespoons soy sauce

- 3 tablespoons water

- 1 teaspoon sugar

- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

- 2 teaspoons gingerroot

- 2 teaspoons garlic

- 3 tablespoons dry sherry

- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

- 3 tablespoons chicken stock

- 1 tablespoon cornflour

This is an adaptation of a traditional Chinese recipe suitable for cooking on a barbecue. Yo. ( more )

Blanch ribs in boiling water for two minutes. Mix soy sauce, water, sugar, hoisin sauce, gin. ( more )

- 1 cup tomato juice

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

- 1 lime, juice of

- 1/4 cup cider vinegar

- 1 dash crushed red pepper flakes

- salt and pepper

- 1/4 cup minced onions

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 2 1/2 tablespoons ground black pepper

- 2 1/2 tablespoons salt (I prefer kosher)

- 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

- 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder

- 1 1/2 tablespoons onion powder

- 1-2 teaspoon cayenne

- 3 pork spare rib racks (3 pounds or less each)

- 1 can lager beer (optional)

My favorite sticky, ooey, falling apart spareribs, also included is a recipe for my famous h. ( more )

At least the night before you make the ribs, if not earlier, combine the BBQ sauce ingredien. ( more )

- 2 garlic cloves

- 1/2 cup minced onions

- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

- 6 ounces tomato paste

- 1/2 cup orange juice

- 4 tablespoons light soy sauce

- 1/4 cup wine vinegar

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

These are great on the grill! Prep time includes marinating. ( more )

In a mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients EXCEPT spare ribs, until well-mixed and bro. ( more )

- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce

- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

- 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce

- 3 tablespoons soy sauce

- 3 tablespoons crushed garlic

- 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

- 3 tablespoons honey

- 2 tablespoons white vinegar

- 1 tablespoon white sugar

Melt in your mouth, sticky pork spare ribs, so tender, homer simpson would drool over them. ( more )

1. Pre heat oven (gas) to 180c. 2. In a large saucepan, bring pork belly spare ribs to the b. ( more )

- 3 medium onions

- 3 garlic cloves

- 2 small dried red chilies

- 1 tablespoon paprika

- 2 tablespoons dried herbs (sage, basil & thyme)

- 1 large zucchini

- 1 large red pepper

- 200 g mushrooms

- 2 (400 g) cans tomatoes with juice

- 2 tablespoons tomato paste

- 1 (400 g) can beans

- salt and black pepper

I make this when we have heaps of veges left in our weekly organic box, or no meat and only . ( more )

Heat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Heat the olive oil in a pot on top of the stove (mediu. ( more )

- 1 onion, chopped

- 3 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 tablespoon brown sugar

- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

- 2 tablespoons soy sauce

- 2 pounds pork spareribs

- 1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional)

- 1/4 cup cold water (optional)

"Slow cooked pork spare ribs, or country style ribs, also great with boneless, skinless chic. ( more )

Place ribs in a large stock pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and cook for 15 minu. ( more )

Marinated Smoked Spareribs

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 3 pounds pork spareribs, cut into 4 serving-size pieces
• 1 cup catsup
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried whole basil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

How to Make It

Combine first 6 ingredients; rub over entire surface of ribs.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large shallow pan. Place ribs in marinade; cover and refrigerate overnight.

Place spareribs on grill of smoker. Pour remaining marinade over spareribs into water pan. Cover and smoke 5 to 6 hours.

Oxmoor House Homestyle Recipes

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Hot and Spicy Spareribs

• Grill (179)
• Main Dish (1197)
• Spareribs (27)

Ingredients

• 1 3-pound rack pork spareribs
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 2/3 cup cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Cooking Directions

Melt butter in a large skillet over low heat; add onion and garlic, and saute until tender. Add remaining ingredients, except ribs, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Place ribs on grill over indirect heat; close grill hood. Grill for 1 1/2 hours and then begin basting with sauce every ten minutes, for 30 more minutes. Remove ribs from grill and serve, cutting into serving-size portions. If desired, serve any remaining sauce on the side, bringing it to a boil and boiling gently for 5 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

Rib fans will tell you that one of life's greatest pleasures is rolling up your sleeves and sinking your teeth into a succulent serving of really good ribs. And if it is messy, well, that is half the fun. Be sure to sauce the ribs toward the end of the cooking time so that the sauce doesn't burn. Enjoy with other in-hand foods like corn on the cob and vegetable kabobs.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 1174 calories

Protein: 65 grams

Sodium: 1269 milligrams

Cholesterol: 276 milligrams

Saturated Fat: 28 grams

Carbohydrates: 68 grams

Spareribs come from the belly of the hog and are the least meaty variety of ribs, but full of flavor.

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The Secrets And Myths Of Marinades, Brinerades, And How Gashing Can Make Them Work Better

"Some marinades are as goofy as a dog in a tutu. Just what is wrong with the unadulterated taste of beef?" Meathead

Most marinades are thin water-based liquids that foods swim in before cooking. But marinades themselves are bathed in myth and mystery.

Marinades usually have a number of ingredients such as salt, oil, flavorings, and acidic liquids (SOFA). The molecules of each are different sizes and some are attracted to the chemicals in meats and some are repelled by them. Some can flow easily into the microscopic voids between muscle fibers, some are too large.

Marinade myths

Let's debunk some myths about marinades, and then we can get into how to make them and how to make them work. Some facts:

Myth: Marinades penetrate deep into meat. Marinades are primarily a surface treatment, especially on thicker cuts. Only the salt penetrates deep. Period. End of story .

Meat is a protein sponge saturated with liquid. About 75% of meat is water. There's not much room for any more liquid in there. Think of a sponge. When you are wiping up a spill, as it gets fully loaded you just can't get any more liquid in there.

Marinades, unless they are heavy with salt, in which case they more properly are called brines, do not penetrate meats very far, rarely more than 1/8", even after many hours of soaking. Especially in the cold fridge where molecules are sluggish.

Salt penetrates because it reacts chemically and electrically with the water in the meat . But molecules like sugar and garlic are comparatively huge and they do not react electrically when dissolved. Salt is made of just two atoms, sodium and chloride, NaCl. Sucrose is C 12 H 22 O 11, that's 45 atoms. Garlic's active ingredient is allicin, C 6 H 10 OS 2 , and it has 18 atoms, and garlic powder is even larger and more complex than that.

As research by the AmazingRibs.com science advisor Prof. Greg Blonder has shown, it takes salt almost 24 hours to penetrate meat 1" deep (see my article on brines).

On top of this, most marinades have a lot of oil in them. And meat is mostly water. As we all know, oil and water don't mix. That oil is just not getting past the microscopic cracks and dents in the surface.

Sugar can move inward a bit after days of marinating, but most ingredients go no further than the surface. There are important exceptions: Fish, shellfish, eggplant, and mushrooms, for example, absorb marinades more rapidly and deeply (see the photos at right). But for most meats and veggies, the benefit of marinades is that they flavor the surface. We are often bamboozled into thinking the marinade has soaked in because the knife, fork, and liquid on the plate are full of marinade flavor, because the flavors on the surface get on our tongue, and they get pushed down into the meat by our teeth .

Try this experiment: Marinate a 2" thick porkchop as long as you like in whatever you like. Since your marinade probably has some salt in it, take another 2" chop and just salt it. Cook them side by side, bring them in and rinse them off to remove as much surface flavor as possible. Then cut off the outer 1/4" of both. Be very very careful to not let the juices from the outsides touch the center. Now have a friend serve you tastes of both without telling you which is which. Hard to tell apart, aren't they? They both taste like plain ol' pork. You might taste salt, but no sugar, garlic, pepper, or whatever.

If you marinate thin slices of meat, say 1/2" thick skirt steak, the flavors may penetrate 1/8" on either side and so it will get close to the center, especially since skirt steak has loose fibers running parallel to the surface, but not thick pieces. Think of prime rib. The outside crust really tastes like the seasonings while the center tastes like plain old beef.

But in most cases it is good that marinades don't penetrate very far. If that red wine marinade you used on your flank steak penetrated all the way, would you and your guests prefer purple meat to bright red?

But let's not demean surface enhancement. A touch of sugar can help with browning and add flavor and color. Spices and herbs on the surface can make wonderful aromas and moist surfaces attract smoke. And oil can conduct heat to the surface and help with browning and crust formation.

After you finish reading the rest of the marinade myths below, you will see some experiments that show how poorly marinades penetrate.

Myth: Marinades tenderize. Tenderizing is a process of making the proteins softer, both the proteins in the muscle fibers and in the connective tissues that sheath the fibers and connect them to bones (see my article on meat science). This softening is called denaturing. Since marinades do not penetrate very far they cannot denature the protein bonds much beyond the surface, so there is little tenderizing beyond the surface. In fact, some ingredients, especially acids, such as vinegar and fruit juice, can make some surfaces firmer, and some surfaces mushy. In some cases acid can even reduce water holding capacity. This can be good if you are trying to form a dry crust.

Myth: Marinades improve everything. Water based marinades such as wine, beer, soft drinks, and juices keep the surface wet so when they go on the grill or in a pan, the water evaporates, steaming the meat, and steam can impede browning and crisping of the surface and prevent the formation of the crust or bark we love. Crisp brown meat has more flavor, and one of the main reasons we like to grill (see my article on the maillard reaction, caramelization, and why brown is beautiful). On the other hand, the wet surface can help prevent dehydration and the drying effect of the grill, producing moister meat.

Myth: You can use just about anything in a marinade. If marinades contain sugar, they can burn and ruin the food. Sugar is less of a problem for low slow roasting over indirect heat with convection airflow. And oils can drip off causing flareups and soot deposits on the food. You can use sugar and oil, but judiciously.

Myth: Longer is better. Actually, longer is worser. The problem is that acids in marinates mess up proteins, faux cooking them. That's how ceviche is "cooked". Fish is marinated in citrus until the proteins get all unwound and the color changes and they sorta cook. The longer meat sits in an acid, the mushier it becomes.

Myth: Stabbing with a fork helps marinades penetrate. Stabbing meat with a fork or a jaccard blade pushes bacteria down in. And the holes seal up as the meat collapses in on the trauma and fills with water.

Myth: Vacuum marinators suck in the marinade. There are several companies that make devices in which you place the food and then a motor sucks out the air and creates a vacuum. In theory the vacuum sucks the marinade in. Not! There is no air in meat to suck out. So all they suck out is water/meat juice. When you release the vacuum, a small amount of liquid will get sucked in just a fraction of an inch, but most molecules are just too large to penetrate. That said, on very thin cuts like jerky, the tumbling and sucking might help a bit.

Marinating at work

Below are cross sections of lean meat. They were all soaked for 18 hours in a simple marinade recipe: 3/4 cup of canola oil, 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar, 1 tablespoon of table salt, and 10 drops of green food coloring. Some of the coloring in these cross sections is caused by the knife traumatizing the muscle as it moved through. The food coloring has large molecules, but not as large as herbs, spices, and sugar, and it reacts differently with protein, but these models demonstrate how difficult it is for foreign objects to invade fortress meat.

Although not definitive, this study indicates that large flavor molecules as found in dyes and the herbs and spices in marinades do most of their work on the surface, within 1/16" of the surface, or in cuts in the surface. It shows that salt penetration goes deeper, so marinades should always contain salt. Read more about this in my article on brines. The exception to the rule are lobster and it's smaller cousin, shrimp.

This means that marinades are best on thin cuts of meat.

1) Beef sirloin. As you can see the dye significantly colored the surface, but it barely penetrated. There is a slight discoloration that extends an average of about 1/8" caused primarily by the denaturing of the proteins by salt and acid. Where there were cracks and cuts in the meat, the dye got in deeper.

On some beef cuts, where the fibers are more loosely packed and run parallel to the surface, like skirt steak and sirloin flap, marinade will move in a bit further, and in the case of skirt steaks, which are rarely more than 1/2" thick, a few hours of marinating can get it close to the center.

2) Pork chop from the loin. Again, most of the marinade is on the surface with a small amount penetrating a fraction of an inch, and salt going deepest to denature the proteins.

3) Chicken breast. You can see the marinade entered where there are cracks on the bottom, but not much got in anywhere else.

4) Pounded chicken breast. This breast has been pounded so it is at most about 3/4" thick. I have photographed the place where two muscles meet, the tenderloin(left) and the pectoral (right). The connection is very thin and as you can see, although most of the marinade is on the surface, it has had an impact on the meat edge to edge. Also, the underside cracks when pounded, and marinade enters there.

5) Salmon steak. As with the others, slight penetration of large molecules, best in cracks. Some denaturing of proteins from the salt, oils, and vinegars.

6) Whitefish steak. No real dye penetration, but about 1/4" denaturing from salt and vinegar.

7) Florida lobster tail. Lobster tail and shrimp are highly susceptible to marinade penetration. They really drink it up in a short time.

8) Yellow squash. Zero penetration through the skin, and unlike the meats, the dye doesn't even discolor the skin. But unlike the meats, there is excellent penetration through the cut ends. If you marinate slices of squash, you can count on it going through.

Industrial marinades

You have probably noticed more and more meats in the grocery that are pre-marinated and "enhanced" which can include injection. A nice idea, more or less. It makes cooking dinner quick and easy, you don't have to start the marinade the day before because the marinade has had days to work. The marinade has probably been formulated by a meat scientist and will not only tenderize and help retain moisture, but chances are it tastes pretty darn good.

On the down side, you may not want the additives and preservatives in your diet, and the meat might not be the freshest. So you are paying meat prices for water and additives.

According to the Amazingibs.com beef scientist, Dr. Antonio Mata, "The level of marination in retail branded products range from 8% to 22% by weight. Some cooked deli items contain up to 60% enhancement. There is a whole array of 'functional' ingredients that the industry uses to improve the retention of the marinade: phosphates, salt, starch, alginates, soy isolates, etc., etc., etc. USDA labeling regulations are not consistent. Any beef product that has been 'enhanced' must indicate on the label the level of enhancement but this does not apply to poultry products."

Some better ideas

Injecting is much more effective in driving flavor down towards the center of the meat. Another excellent option is a spice rub. A blend of spices and herbs, it delivers more flavor per square inch than any marinade. And then there is a sauce. Pack in lots of flavor with a sauce which goes on just before serving. A great way to bring the brightness of herbs and the other usual flavors in marinades to the table with little effort is a board sauce. Or you can use all of these methods!

Gashing helps marinades work

Think of marinades as a spice mix. What marinades do best is find their way into cracks and crevices on the surface of meats producing a flavorful baked on spice blend, much like a dry rub. When it dries out during cooking, it leaves behind the flavors.

They work best on thick cuts of meat like roasts where the food bakes for a long time on the indirect side in a 2-zone system and the marinade can dry out, leave its flavor on the surface, and then brown.

In general, it is best to think of marinades as a spice blend. Where they differ from normal spice blends is that you can get exotic flavors that can't normally find on your spice rack, such as flavors from liquids like wine, juices, coconut milk, soft drinks, liqueurs, etc .

Help marinades by gashing the food. Since marinades don't penetrate very far into most foods, give them a hand. Gash your food. Cut slices into the surface, rough it up, give the marinade cuts, cracks, and pits to enter. There is also more surface area to brown and more surface area coated with baked on marinade.

This meat was gashed in a cross-hatch pattern with a knife before marinating. As you can see, the marinade has penetrated as deep as the gashes making 1/2" cubes of flavored meat. This is a great technique for use with marinades.

Gashing even works on veggies like the yellow squash below.

Making a brinerade

A brinerade is a new word from the clever folks at Cooks Illustrated magazine to describe a marinade that has enough salt to do double duty as a brine, and in my humble opinion all marinades should be brinerades .

The best marinades usually contain three working components: Salt, acid, and flavoring, and if you remember the acronym SAF, you can create your own easily.

S is for Salt. Salt is the most important ingredient because it is a flavor enhancer and it is good at penetrating meat and altering proteins to hold more of its water during the trauma of cooking. Soy sauce is a great source of salt. Shoot for about 6% salt by weight. My article on wet brines will explain how to get there.

A is for Acid. Citrus marinades were probably among the first, historically. They have it all, acid, sugar, flavor, aromatics. Acid can denature protein on the surface and make the surface of the meat mushy so use them judiciously, no more than 1/8 of the blend, and only for their flavor. Typical acids are fruit juice (lemon juice, apple juice, white grape juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, and wine work well), vinegar (cider vinegar, distilled vinegar, sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar, raspberry vinegar, or any old vinegar), buttermilk, yogurt, and even sugar free soft drinks.

Acidity is measured on the pH scale of 0 to 14. Solutions with a pH of 7 are said to be neutral. Below 7, the solution is acidic. Above 7 it is alkaline. Here are the approximate pH measurements some common solutions for reference. Obviously you do not want to use battery acid or lye. I include them for reference.

0 pH - Battery acid

1 - Stomach acid

2 - Distilled vinegar, lemon juice

3 - Carbonated drinks, orange juice

4 - Tomato juice, wine

5 - Black coffee, beer, yogurt

6 - Saliva, cow's milk

8 - Sea water, wet brines

9 - Baking soda, olive oil

10 - Milk of magnesia

13 - Chlorine bleach

14 - Lye, liquid drain cleaner

F is for Flavoring. Typical flavorings include herbs and spices such as oregano, thyme, cumin, paprika, garlic, onion powder, and even vegetables such as onion and jalapeños. It's a good idea to add some umami. That's the savory meaty flavor from glutamates found in meat stocks, soy sauce, and mushrooms. It is also a good idea to add some sugar. It aids in browning the surface, but go easy. Too much will burn the surface. You want it to caramelize after the water evaporates without burning.

Where's the oil?

Most marinades contain oil, but oil cannot penetrate meat. Remember, meat is 75% water and oil and water don't mix. Here's proof that oil will not penetrate meat. In the image below, I dug a hole in a beef steak about thimble size and filled it with a nice greenish olive oil. I took the top picture 33 seconds after pouring in the oil. The bottom picture was after 3 hours, 9 minutes, and 58 seconds. As you can see, not a scintilla of oil penetrated.

Other tips

Refrigerate. Keep marinating meats in the fridge.

No alcohol. A lot of folks like to use wine, beer, and spirits in their marinades, but this is not be a good idea. Here's what the great Chef Thomas Keller says in his award winning The French Laundry Cookbook: "If your marinating anything with alcohol, cook the alcohol off first. Alcohol doesn't tenderize; cooking tenderizes. Alcohol in a marinade in effect cooks the exterior of the meat, preventing the meat from fully absorbing the flavors in the marinade. Raw alcohol itself doesn't do anything good to meat. So put your wine or spirit in a pan, add your aromatics, cook off the alcohol, let it cool, and then pour it over your meat. This way you have the richness of the fruit of the wine or Cognac or whatever you're using, but you don't have the chemical reaction of 'burning' the meat with alcohol or it's harsh raw flavor."

Use a nonreactive container. The acids in a marinate can react with aluminum, copper, and cast iron, and give the food an off flavor. So do your soaking in plastic, stainless steel, porcelain, or, best of all, zipper bags. Pour the marinade and meat in the bag and squeeze out all the air possible and the meat will be in contact on most surfaces. Put it in the fridge and flip it over frequently.

What to marinate. Thin cuts are best for marinating.

Now here's a neat trick. Fresh pineapple, papaya, and ginger have enzymes that tenderize meat . Papain, the enzyme in papaya, is an enzyme in papaya and the main tenderizing ingredient in Adolph's Meat Tenderizer. These enzymes work fast. Within 30 to 60 minutes the meat is ready for the grill. Alas, pineapple and papaya add very little flavor to the meat in such a short time. Some people like the softer meat, others feel it is mushy. You decide. The enzymes are destroyed by the canning and bottling process, so be sure to use fresh pineapple, papaya, and ginger if you want the tenderizing.

Go nekkid first. Chicken and turkey skin are very fatty and they are a like a condom to marinades. If soaked, they only get soggy and won't crisp properly. So if the skin won't get crispy, what's the point? Get rid of it. Skinless chicken will drink up more flavor. And it's healthier. And yes, you can get skinless meat crisp. If you must have the skin, cut it into 1/2" squares and brown it in a pan over medium heat like bacon, and use it as a garnish. Read my article on chicken skin and duck cracklins.

Save money. Some recipes call for marinating in barbecue sauce. Don't do it. It's just a waste of expensive sauce because it is too thick to penetrate very far and most barbecue sauces are sweet. They can burn.

Warning. Remember, all uncooked meat has microbes and spores. If your marinade recipe calls for heating it, let it cool thoroughly before using it to discourage microbial growth. Used marinades are contaminated with raw meat juices so if you plan to use it as a sauce, it must be boiled for a few minutes. Better idea: Discard it.

A shortcut. If you don't want to make a marinade from scratch, just buy a bottle of your favorite oil and vinegar salad dressing. The thinner the better. Salad dressings usually have all the necessary ingredients, although they tend to be too acidic, so diluting it 3:1 with water is a good idea. Just make sure you don't get the Caesar. It has cheese and anchovies in it. We don't need no cheese or no stinkin' dead fish in our pork or steak. And watch out. Some salad dressings have a lot of gums (emulsifiers) and other additives that could burn or make the meat taste funny after they are heated so it is better to make something from scratch (see the recipe below).

Here's my recommendation

Take my spice mix recipes and mix them with water to make a paste. Let it sit for a few hours so the water will extract flavors. While it is sitting, dry brine the meat with salt if the rub recipe does not already have salt in it. If it does, skip the dry brining. Then apply the paste to the meat and cook. Start indirect to bake in the spices, and finish direct to create a crust.

Some rules of thumb if you must marinate

Always marinate in the refrigerator and cover the meat so it doesn't drip on other food. Never reuse marinades.

Smaller and thinner pieces marinate better since the small amount of penetration is a larger percent of the thickness, so consider cutting some meats into thin slices.

Turn the meat every few hours.

Marinate fish for 30 to 60 minutes at most, depending on the thickness.

Zipper or resealable bags are good for marinating and they need less liquid than bowls or Tupperware. When you are done, you can throw them away. No cleanup. If you use pots, use stainless steel, glass, or ceramic. Never marinate in aluminum, cast iron, or copper. They react with the acids and salts.

Recipe for a marinade for seafood & veggies: Mrs. Meathead's Italian Marinade

This is my standard marinade for seafood and vegetables such as zucchini and eggplant. I occasionally use it on pork or chicken.

It is based on a wonderful, herby salad dressing that my wife created. I have added more salt to to make it into a brinerade. Best of all, it allows the flavor or seafood and veggies to come through without burying them under strong flavors. Click here to see how to use it to make wonderful Tuscan ribs. Elegant.

Ingredients

Pour the vinaigrette and salt into a bowl, whisk, and pour into a bottle. It can be refrigerated for months. Shake well before using.

Related articles

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Chinatown Char Siu Ribs or Pork Taste Great Cooked Indoors or Out

"You eat first with your eyes." Ancient Chinese Proverb

Enter our annual "Show Us Your Ribface" Photo contest and win some nice prizes! Click here for the rules.

I love the "barbecued" pork and ribs in Chinatown. They have a distinct pork flavor, a glossy sheen that implies the sweet glaze beneath, and a glowing red-pink color that penetrates the surface.

Unlike traditional Southern American low and slow smoke roasted barbecue ribs, there is no smoke flavor, even though there is a pink ring beneath the surface of the meat. How do they do it?

Well, it turns out that Char Siu, even though it sounds like charcoal, is not grilled or smoked. It is roasted in a special oven, usually gas fired. And most of the time it gets its ruddy tone from red food coloring (some chefs use a red bean paste, or beets, but that's not common).

But it still tastes great. You can buy Char Siu sauce in Chinese specialty stores, but it is thick and gooey. It makes a fine glaze, but it doesn't make ribs that taste like Chinese restaurant ribs. That's because you need to marinate the meat first. I've worked on this recipe for a while and I think I've really nailed the technique for making Chinatown Char Siu Ribs at home in the oven or on the grill. Here's how to do this dizzingly delicious favorite.

This marinade is especially good on pork, but I used it on chicken, turkey, and duck with great success.

Jason King shows you how he did this recipe

Our friend Jason King had his talented video camera running when he made this recipe:

Takes. 20 minutes to make the marinade, 1 to 12 hours to marinate, and 3 hours to cook.

Ribs: 2 slabs of baby back ribs, cut into individual bones

Pork: 4 pounds pork loin cut into strips across the grain, about 1" wide, 2" tall

The marinade

1/2 cup brandy (or rum or bourbon)

2 tablespoons powdered ginger

2 tablespoons powdered onion

1 tablespoon powdered garlic

1 teaspoon red food coloring

About the ribs. Many Chinese restaurants use spareribs that are chopped into 3-4" riblets with a cleaver. If you want, your butcher can make you riblets with her band saw. If not, you can do them whole. I like baby backs for this recipe because they are meathier on top of the bone.

About the Chinese ingredients. There are no substitutes for hoisin sauce, five spice powder, or sesame oil. They are responsible for most of what we think of as the flavor of Chinese food in the US. Five spice powder is easy to make at home (click the link above for my recipe), but the others are not easily made. Click on the links for more info on these ingredients. If you have trouble finding them in your grocery store, try Amazon.com.

About the hot sauce. If you have an Asian-style chili sauce you can use it, but any old hot sauce will work fine in this marinade since it provides more heat than flavor. The recipe above produces mild heat. Add more if you love pain.

About the food coloring. Food coloring is necessary for the authentic color. I am told by readers that you can substitute beet root powder for the red food coloring or fermented bean red curd, but I've never tried them. There is very little used in this recipe and most is discarded with the unused marinade. There are natural food colorings made from achiote and its seeds annato, or cochineal (a.k.a. carmine), an insect. If you want to leave it out, the food will still be great, but it won't have the traditional festive color.

Serve with. The classic accompaniments are Chinese beer or jasmine tea. If you can find it, try hibiscus tea or Pinot Grigio from Oregon (most of the California Pinot Grigios are borrrrring).

Optional. After about 2 1/2 hours, paint the meat with a glaze of honey and roast an additional 30 minutes. Then garnish with sesame seeds or chopped chives or chopped green onions.

1) Mix the marinade thoroughly in a bowl. Don't skip the booze. It helps penetrate, and even if you're a teetotaler, don't worry, there isn't any measurable alcohol in the meat. Yes, I know alcohol can dry meat out, but I just think it works well in this case. If you must skip it, use apple juice or water, but booze is better. You can substitute fresh ginger and garlic for powdered ginger and garlic if you wish.

2) Marinate the meat for at least 1 hour in a metal bowl or zipper bags. Overnight is better. Discard the used marinade. It is contaminated with meat juice. Don't marinate in a plastic bowl. The coloring might stain it.

3) As much as I am a fan of outdoor cooking, this meat also tastes great cooked in an indoor oven. Either way, heat your grill or oven to about 225°F. If you are grilling, set up in a 2-zone or Indirect system. Make sure the meat is not directly over the flame on a grill. If necessary, put a pan of water with a rack on top of it under the meat. Indoors, this is important or drippings will burn in the pan. Roast ribs for about 3 hours without wood (I think it it cleaner and brighter sans lumber), loin strips for about 1 1/2 hours.

A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig

Everyone has a theory of where barbecue originated. Well here's an explanation that I find irresistible. It was written by Charles Lamb (1775-1834), an English writer whose essays often ran to the fanciful and humorous. His version of the discovery of roast pork was first published in 1822. It is believed to be the source of the common idiom "burn the house to roast the pig", meaning, essentially, overkill. It is probably also the source of the name cracklings for cooked pork skins, and explains why so many barbecue cooks are called Bubba. Clearly Mr. Lamb was a pork lover. Click here to read his tale.

Barbecue pork at Sun Wah

Sun Wah Bar-B-Q Restaurant (5039 N. Broadway St., Chicago, IL 60640, phone 773-769-1254) has been an Uptown Chicago destination since 1987. Owner Eric Cheng learned Chinese barbecue, in Guangdong Province in Southern China, home of Cantonese cuisine. He fled Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution in China in 1972 by swimming eight hours to Hong Kong where he apprenticed and became a Barbecue Master. He emigrated to New York in 1976 and Chicago in 1986. Here's how he makes barbecue pork (the photos were taken at his previous location):

Strips of pork loin marinate for 20-30 minutes in red bean curd paste, soy bean paste, sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, oyster sauce, ginger, and dried shallots.

The marinated pork loin strips are skewered and hung in the oven to roast for about 50 minutes. Some ovens use charcoal, but most use gas. The burners go around the bottom of this well-insulated cabinet. There is no smoke.

When done they are dunked in a molasses based sauce similar to Char Siu sauce. Barbecue pork loin sections can be bought in slabs or sliced. Click here for more pictures of Sun Wah.

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2) Try to post your question to the appropriate page.

3) Tell us everything we need to know to help such as the type of cooker and thermometer. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50°F so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can't help you with time and temp questions. Please read this article about thermometers.

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A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig

Everyone has a theory of where barbecue originated. Well here's an explanation that I find irresistible. It was written by Charles Lamb (1775-1834), an English writer whose essays often ran to the fanciful and humorous. His version of the discovery of roast pork was first published in 1822. It is believed to be the source of the common idiom "burn the house to roast the pig", meaning, essentially, overkill. It is probably also the source of the name cracklings for cooked pork skins, and explains why so many barbecue cooks are called Bubba. Clearly Mr. Lamb was a pork lover. Click here to read his tale.

Barbecue pork at Sun Wah

Sun Wah Bar-B-Q Restaurant (5039 N. Broadway St., Chicago, IL 60640, phone 773-769-1254) has been an Uptown Chicago destination since 1987. Owner Eric Cheng learned Chinese barbecue, in Guangdong Province in Southern China, home of Cantonese cuisine. He fled Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution in China in 1972 by swimming eight hours to Hong Kong where he apprenticed and became a Barbecue Master. He emigrated to New York in 1976 and Chicago in 1986. Here's how he makes barbecue pork (the photos were taken at his previous location):

Strips of pork loin marinate for 20-30 minutes in red bean curd paste, soy bean paste, sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, oyster sauce, ginger, and dried shallots.

The marinated pork loin strips are skewered and hung in the oven to roast for about 50 minutes. Some ovens use charcoal, but most use gas. The burners go around the bottom of this well-insulated cabinet. There is no smoke.

When done they are dunked in a molasses based sauce similar to Char Siu sauce. Barbecue pork loin sections can be bought in slabs or sliced. Click here for more pictures of Sun Wah.

Chinese Spareribs Recipe

Note: You can add a few drops of red food coloring to the marinade if you want a deeper red hue on your ribs. Baby back ribs will work just as well as St. Louis-cut. You can cook ribs the same day they are marinated, but for best results, allow to marinade at least overnight and up to three days.

Chinese five spice powder can be found in the spice section of most major supermarkets. If unavailable, you can make your own by combining 1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon, 2 teaspoons powdered fennel, 1 teaspoon powdered star anise, 1/4 teaspoon powdered cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon powdered Sichuan peppercorns (you can substitute ginger for Sichuan peppercorns for a different style of five spice).

• Yield: Serves 4 to 6
• Active time: 15 minutes
• Total time: 1 1/2 hours (plus overnight marinade)
• Rated:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 full rack St. Louis-style spareribs, cut into individual ribs (about 3 pounds total)
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup shaoxing wine or dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions

Sprinkle five-spice powder evenly over ribs and rub into them until thoroughly and evenly coated. Set ribs aside.

Combine hoisin sauce, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and honey in a gallon-sized zipper lock bag. Add ribs to bag and mix until evenly coated. Seal bag, transfer to refrigerator, and let ribs marinate at least overnight and up to three nights.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375°F. Remove ribs from bag, wiping off excess marinade with your fingers (reserve the marinade). Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, set a wire rack in it, and spread the ribs evenly over the rack. Cover with aluminum foil and roast for 1 hour. Remove foil, brush ribs with marinade, increase heat to 450°F, and continue to roast until charred, glazed, and sticky, about 20 minutes longer, rotating ribs and basting with marinade once more during cooking. Let rest 10 minutes, then serve.

This Recipe Appears In

J. Kenji López-Alt is the Managing Culinary Director of Serious Eats, and author of the James Beard Award-nominated column The Food Lab, where he unravels the science of home cooking. A restaurant-trained chef and former Editor at Cook's Illustrated magazine, his first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science is a New York Times Best-Seller, the recipient of a James Beard Award, and was named Cookbook of the Year in 2015 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

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