Marinating or Dry Brining: Which Should You Do?

Ask ten cooks how to prepare meat before cooking and you will get ten answers. Most come down to two methods: marinating and dry brining. They do quite different jobs, and knowing which to use makes a big difference.

How a Marinade Works

A marinade is a mix of oil, flavourings and usually something acidic or salty: citrus, vinegar, wine, yoghurt or soy sauce. It is mostly a surface treatment. Flavour only travels a few millimetres into the meat, even overnight, but that surface is what you taste first, and it is what browns and caramelises in the pan.

Marinades suit:

• Chicken thighs, wings and drumsticks
• Lamb for kebabs, and butterflied leg
• Skirt, flank and rump steak
• Pork chops and pork belly strips

How Long to Marinate

• Chicken and pork: 2 hours to overnight.
• Beef and lamb: 2 to 24 hours.
• Seafood: no more than 30 minutes to an hour.

Be careful with strong acids like lemon or lime juice. Left too long, they can turn the outside of the meat soft and mushy. Yoghurt and buttermilk are gentler and can go overnight.

Pat the meat dry before cooking, as a wet surface will steam rather than brown. Marinades with sugar or honey burn easily, so cook those over moderate heat.

How Dry Brining Works

Dry brining simply means salting meat well ahead of time. At first, the salt draws moisture to the surface. Then, over the next 40 minutes or so, that salty moisture is drawn back into the meat. The result is meat that is seasoned more deeply, holds its juices better while cooking, and has a drier surface for a better crust.

Use about 1% of the meat's weight in salt, roughly a level teaspoon of fine salt for every 500g. Sprinkle it evenly, then leave the meat uncovered on a rack in the fridge.

Dry brining suits:

• Thick steaks: 1 to 2 days ahead
• Roasts of beef, lamb or pork: 1 to 2 days ahead
• Whole chickens and turkeys: 1 to 2 days ahead, for crisp skin
• Pork belly and pork roasts: overnight, for crackling

When to Salt a Steak

If you cannot salt a steak well ahead, salt it just before it goes in the pan. The awkward window is about 10 to 30 minutes before cooking, when the salt has drawn moisture out but it has not yet gone back in, leaving a wet surface that will not sear well.

Can You Do Both?

Yes. Dry brine a chicken overnight, then brush it with a glaze while it cooks. Or salt a steak in the morning and serve it with a punchy chimichurri, like our rump steak with chimichurri.

Food Safety

Always marinate and brine in the fridge, never on the bench. Do not reuse a marinade that has had raw meat in it unless you boil it hard first. Keep a little aside before it touches the meat if you want some for basting or a sauce.