2 hours ago, boilsover said:
Hmmm, do you have any data supporting this?
Sure. Genuine Ideas did a blog post on this called "Vacuum Marination Sucks" that provides a good overview. If you want to go down the meat science journal rabbithole, researchers at the University of Georgia and the USDA have repeatedly (1) found (2) that vacuum levels have no effect on the uptake of marinade by chicken. They conclude that "vacuum pressure during tumbling, as is widely practiced commercially, may not be necessary. The underlying principles for using vacuum pressure may be erroneous and should be examined further." Another study on the effect of vacuum marination on fish found that ""contrary to conventional industry belief, vacuum (9.2 kPa) during tumbling did not affect uptake of marinade." These articles suggest that the perceived benefits of marinating in a vacuum tumbler actually come from the tumbling, not the vacuum.
I have yet to put a vaccum selaed bag of marinating meat in my dryer, but I can't say that I haven't considered it.
