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how to marinate chicken breasts ?

O

ohmatic

hi guys !

noone around me ever "marinates chicken" before grilling it, maybe its a thing uncommon in central Europe, i do not know.

but i see pics here and there of people doing it, so PLEASE, i eat a lot of chicken and i would love to start marinating some to infuse it with flavaaaaah !

post some recipes for me and include the heat, still have tons of fresh habs, lemon drops and other hotties in my freezer waiting to be put to use !

thanks :)

oh and something to watch, the current "garden"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9NI_zSsBFk4
 
Sounds like you need to make a thick pepper sauce, put the chicken in a plastic bag, pour some sauce in, let it sit at least 4 hours an d toss it on the grill. Brush some on top while your cooking for more flavor. For a quick easy marinade: chop up some peppers, put chicken in a bag throw in the peppers and add Italian dressing and let sit overnight, then grill!!
 
marinating is super easy and you can pretty much use whatever's in the pantry.

pick out an acid- soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, other good tasting vinegar, citrus fruit juice(pine apple, orange)
mix about 1/2 cup of the liquid with 1/4 cup-1/2 cup water
add whatever spices for the flavor you're heading for (mexican- chili powder, cumin, garlic, onion etc) (asian- ginger, garlic onion, star anise, etc)
taste the marinade, maybe need a little sugar?

use fresh ingredients if you have them. Throw it all in a plastic bag or a dish that keeps the chicken fairly close together. Cover and refer for 4-12 hours.

One Note- if you want to use some of the marinade for basting, set aside some of the fresh sauce to be used later. It is advised to not use the sauce that was on the chicken for basting while cooking. There's too much risk of some of the pathogens that are on the raw chicken and in the used marinade not getting thoroughly cooked if the chicken is basted right before serving.


Brining is also a GREAT method, and works for a whole chicken also.
Check out the links here for All About Brining, Chinese Brine, and Mexican Brine recipes
http://search.sunset.com/st-results.html?Ntt=brine&x=40&y=24


From that same site, some chicken marinade recipes-
http://search.sunset.com/st-results.html?Ntt=chicken+marinade

Have Fun- Post Pics!

SL
 
Can't go wrong with my old stand by...

2 breasts (whole or thinly sliced and skewered)
3 cloves garlic crushed or finely chopped
2Tbsp. Chopped fresh Rosemary
1/2 cup Olive Oil

Marinate in a bowl or bag for an hour or overnight.
Throw on the grill, and brush with remaing marinade (be sure it gets cooked).

Serve with anything :D
 
DawgBite mentioned Italian Dressing. We've done the Italian dressing lots of times. Any type of vinaigrette salad dressing will work. We have some available that are Roasted Garlic, Blueberry, Asian Ginger, Huckleberry, there's probably 20 varieties of vinaigrette-type dressings in the local grocery store. Super Simple.
 
Boneless chicken can take as little as 4 hrs to marinade. To speed things up you could tenderize both sides of the breasts.......hmmm , forgot what I was thinking about....Oh , yes by penetrating the meat...opps. Well lets just put it this way, You can inject futher flavor throughout by piercing through and letting the marinade do its thing

As far as the whole stuffer, 1/2 or 1/4 chicken pieces, I ve marinaded for up to 2 days with my "Jamaican Jerk" recipe. It's only the last 8 hrs that I add the citrus. Hence, meat that sits to long in a citric marinade can cook the product beyond tender. Oil is a plus when mixing up a concoction, it helps bind the spices and herbs to the meat.

I generally grill bone-in skin on poultry at a very high heat to sear in the moisture. Boneless chicken gets a lower indirect heat.....that keeps it moist throughout. Clear juices.

And finally you have to have your favorite hot sauce within reach at the table.....theres never enough of a good thing
 
Mate ya gotta get Austria up to speed even us Aussies do it :D

Heres one i like

1/4 cup of hot paprika
100ml olive oil
handfull of chopped italian parsley
1 glove of garlic grushed
1 large nob of ginger grushed
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 lemons juiced
 
5 cloves garlic
1 onion
1 tbsp dried crushed red chile
1/4 cup soy
1/8th cup sesame oil
1.5 cups unsalted chicken stock
black pepper to taste
1/8th tsp orange peel
1/8th tsp cumin
as much chicken breas as you wanna cook





chop onion and garlic, add rest of ingredients to bag or bowl. marinate chicken a few hours..let chicken come to room temp. pre heat oven to 350 F and remove chicken from marinade.. shake off marinade.. add small amount of oil to very hot skillet. (med high flame) cook chicken for 4 mins then flip, add the rest of the marinade to the skillet and bring to boil. then place skillet in oven for 7 minutes.. remove and check temp.. ( no rare chicken allowed) if not done place back in oven.. otherwise enjoy!
 
forgive me if i am wrong. But due to the dryness of the breast portion, i tend to BRINE chicken breasts with salted water (this is just a base, you can add honey, cumin etc)

Submerged the breasts into a bowl of brine and weigh it down with another bowl or bag of water for 1 hour and then grill or fried it, it will be tender and juicy.
 
I'm a little late to this but I really like the following recipe for chicken and pork. I make xtra and can it for a later time. The only item I didn't use in it was the cho-cho squashes as we don't have those available. I really didn't like this recipe as a hot sauce recipe but it turned out to be a great marinade !
I use roughly 1/3 cup for 2lbs of meat(chicken or pork) sealed together in a large ziplock(a sealed container is fine) with the air removed and work in the sauce for there. I then place the bag in the fridge for at least 2 hours but normally overnight. Like people said before do NOT use the xtra sauce in bag for later use...throw it away. When ready to grill allow the meats to reach room temp (leave in bag) prior to grilling/cooking as it is good practice.
Enjoy !!
You can sub any hot peppers you like for desired heat and flavor
Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce
Handle Scotch bonnets with extreme caution. It's best to wear gloves when cutting and cleaning them. The tiniest drop of pepper juice on your hands can result in incredible pain should you inadvertently wipe your face or rub your eye. Enjoy this Scotch bonnet sauce, but use it sparingly!

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 onions, diced
2 ripe mangoes or pawpaws (papayas),
skinned, seeded, and diced to 1/2 inch
6 carrots, diced
2 cho-cho squashes, peeled and diced
12 pimento (allspice) berries
10 whole black peppercorns
4 thyme sprigs
1 ounce ginger root, finely diced
1/2 cup sugar
8 to 12 Scotch bonnets
1/4 cup cane or cider vinegar

In a nonreactive pot, heat the oil. sauté the onions until they are translucent but not brown. Add the mangoes or pawpaws, carrots, cho-cho, pimento berries, peppercorns, thyme, and ginger. sauté the mixture 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the sugar and Scotch bonnet peppers. When the sugar has become syrupy, add the vinegar, and cook until the carrots are soft, about 5 to 10 more minutes.

Purée the mixture in a blender, and strain it. Store it in a tightly closed bottle in the refrigerator.

Yields 3 to 4 cups
caribhotsauc1st.jpg


reference: http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/caribbean/bonpepper.html#ixzz0x0kT46oC

OhioHeat, Ed G
 
I limit the acids in marinades or the chicken will cook and no one wants a white exterior.

For chicken I definitely like an overnight marinade so it penetrates.

Brining is the way to go, osmosis occurs and the solution works into the meat until the level of salt is equal to that of the solution. So it's what creates the penetrating environment. So create your brine (salt water solution) then add your own ingredients. I find a beer/yellow curry marinade works wonders. So skip the water, use beer, yellow curry powder, and sea salt. Throw one bunch of thyme in the bag and seal. Marinate overnight.

One hour before grilling, cut one lemon in half. Squeeze it into the bag and drop the halves in and marinate one more hour.

Season the chicken before grilling with rub or S&P.
 
I like to grill whole chicken I think you get more flavor with a whole bird. I just made one up last night to cook this evening so I will discuss that process. I Butterflied the chicken by cutting down the back bone you can remove the entire back bone if you wish or just cut down the middle- I like to leave the "popes nose" on. Flatten out the bird(check out youtube if you need help with this). I made a marinade that follows below by tossing everything listed into the food processor and making a nice paste, I add just enough coconut milk to get everything chopped really fine and mixed well. Then rub the entire chicken down with the marinade/paste. I like to grill indirect with hardwood lump on my weber for the best flavor imo. If your grilling skills are good then the bird will be really juicy and still have nice crispy skin - if you need to you can toss it over higher heat at the end to crisp up. When it comes off the grill give it a kiss with fresh lemon juice- take a lemon cut in half and grill cut side down to get some nice caramelization

1 whole head of garlic(5 cloves)( I grow my own) but use a good quality garlic.
5 dried red chilis from last years crop
fresh ginger
fresh cilantro
fresh lemon zest
onion powder
sea salt
smoked hot paprika
2 fresh red chilis from this year but they are the same as the dried ones listed above from last year.
Coconut milk

If you don't have coconut milk you can also use plain yogurt. and like other's said a brine is a really good thing and another option for juicy flavorful chicken when grilling or smoking. If I could post pics on here I would show you what it should look like. but take my word for it- it's REALLY good.
 
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