[Modernist Cuisine at Home] Pressure vs Vacuum Marinade

[Anonymous Modernist 11787]

I'm curious about marinating something under pressure versus in a vacuum. The Modernist Cuisine at Home describes a way of marinating inside of a whipping siphon by adding pressure to the marinade. On the other hand, I own a vacuum sealer that came with a specialized container with a hose in the top that attaches to the vacuum, used to marinate. From what I have read, the principle is that the vacuum helps "open the fibers and pours of the meat, allowing the marinade to penetrate more quickly".

Considering these approaches are exact opposites, I was wondering if anyone had any experience or input as to which is better or even some sort of further discussion.

Thanks,

Matt

[Anonymous Modernist 14]

Proudlom,

I prefer vacuum sealing. You are right””there is a moment before the sealer pulls the vacuum when the cells are dilated because of the pressure in the chamber. I think this would result in deeper penetration of the marinade. That being said, both methods are effective, and one‚’s preference should probably be determined by the equipment on hand.

Johnny

[Anonymous Modernist 11787]

Thanks for the input, Johnny. I don't have a whipping siphon so my only option is to use the vacuum method at the moment. The whipping siphon method would also cost a little extra money as you would need to buy a couple gas cartridges.

I still think it's interesting that you could essentially get a similar result by using two completely opposite approaches. The idea that anything but normal pressure works better to marinade almost seems strange in a way.

[Anonymous Modernist 3840]

When we did our vacuum infused watermelon at sector67 it infused to the core of a 6 inch block of melon with dark pomegramite juice in just a few seconds. We haven't tried to do the same with pressure to see which works better, but it would be a good test that would visually show how well each method works. See pictures at: http://www.sector67.org/index.php

[Anonymous Modernist 11787]

I agree, it would be an interesting test to compare the two.