Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I am going to try a stuffed flank steak recipe that calls for marinating the steak several hours in a balsamic marinade. I remember reading once that you shouldn't marinate in vinegars. Does any one have any thoughts on this? Thank you.....

I have a recipe that calls for marinating steak in balsamic, oil and rosemary. It is fantastic. I don't know why you can't use vinegar, most marinades have something acidic in them.

Mary

A long soak in a acidic marinade can cause the meat to become mushy. How long and how acidic and what meat all factor into it; typically beef can go longer then chicken, for example. Well, anything can go long then chicken. And how much mushiness is "acceptable" for the dish also varies by taste and dish. So there is no hard and fast rule; typically the guideline is mostly that you need to pay more attention to times where there is an acid then when there isn't. I certainly use several that have acid and are delicious and don't make the meat mushy so long as you keep the time down.

"Several hours..." seems too long; I would limit it to one hour. Of course, if you have the time you can marinate one large flank and cut off 1/3 of it each hour and cook to test. The fact that each of these pieces is not stuffed should not reflect affect your final product as the marinade is going into the meat. My main concern, in addition to 'mushiness', is having the marinade overwhelm the entire dish. While this will be a personal preference, I would lean towards subtlety (hard to believe, I know)

Of course, The Fuzzy, would throw out the meat and keep the marinade

I have a recipe for flank steak that marinates for 48 hours and includes white wine. It is fantastic.

Wino,

I'd just use the marinade for fish.

Thanks to everyone. I had thought about just reducing the time, but wondered if the longer time would rend the steak more tender? I will just go with wino and reduce the time.

Mary, how long do you generally marinate with your recipe?

Overnight, but it never seemed mushy. It is for a thick steak though. http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/bals ... tine-steak

Mary

Thanks...looks great!