(OP-2018)"What if I told you"....was never heard in any Matrix movies? But for this post, it might be fun and fitting to use. I imagine right now you're feeling a bit like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole..hmm. What if I told you this entire post is based on a presumption and a hypothetical? Yea, I haven't even tested what I am writing about. In earlier posts, I wrote about the pros/cons of Sou-Vide and Mechanical Tenderization and the usefulness of using Salt Pre-Sous-Vide. What if I was to tell you that we just might be able to penetrate the protein matrix? If you continue reading, I am assuming you have taken the Red Pill and are willing to embrace some truths, and if you have quit reading, you have taken the Blue Pill and will remain forever blissfully ignorant.

Let's start this with some culinary foreshadowing. In the post, Sous-Vide and Mechanical Tenderization, I used Fish Salt to Dry-Brine the protein, which is not unusual, but I used the Jaccard after applying the salt. I hoped that mechanically tenderizing the protein post-salt application would somehow force some into the center. I've already proven to me at least that the use of Jaccard is worth doing, so this will be an interesting addendum.

What if I told you that we could use the Jaccard to force additional seasonings into the protein matrix? At the moment, this is hypothetical because I am writing this in advance of the experiment.

What does it mean to penetrate the matrix? First and foremost, we acknowledge that Salt is the only component that genuinely penetrates the protein. Before you get on your high horse and tell me that you love to marinate or add this or that to your meat, and it tastes terrific, I don't care. If you like it, keep doing it if it's what you want to do. I wrote about this very topic called Sous-Vide, "Clash of the Aphorist," but in the end, Salt is virtually the only thing that can penetrate the protein. Yeah, I know you are skeptical, but you took the red pill, so keep reading. What if I was to tell you that your nose is playing a trick on your tongue? A buddy of mine wrote a great article on this subject called "The Nose Rules, and Why that Matters."

So what does it mean to penetrate the protein matrix? In simplest terms, you add things to the meat either in a wet form, i.e., marinade, or a Dry-Form, i.e., spices and herbs, hoping that it penetrates the meat to provide additional flavor. But I am here to tell you again that Salt is the only substance that makes it into the meat. If you don't believe me, just google this very subject. Yea, I could provide you with many links to support what I am saying, but that would be many links. Just teasing, I might give you one.

Let's briefly discuss what is a surface treatment really is and why they don't work very well. If you want to read an excellent and well-thought-out article, I would suggest reading "The Secrets And Myths Of Marinades..."

What's a surface treatment? Surface treatments are ingredients that do not get past the surface with any great depth. Given enough time, it might penetrate maybe a 1/8". Whether the surface treatment is Wet or Dry, science is the same. I'll try to differentiate and expand some.

Marinades- Obviously, "WET" frequently contains some type of acid like vinegar, juice, or citrus. Occasionally, it has herbs and spices, other crazy combos, and some oil too.

Brinerades- Same as a marinade, but we add salt.

Wet Brines- Water and Salt at precise percentages most times.
Dry-Brining- It merely means you placed Salt on a piece of meat. I prefer to use precise percentages, though.
Rubs- Herbs and spices mixed with salt. A Rub does not need to contain salt, but most do.

Injections- Injecting meat with brines, marinades, butter, or any liquid.

Only Salt will penetrate the surface of the protein. Salt can enter the matrix because of the chemical reaction it has with the water in the meat. Everything else you put on the protein cannot react chemically; thus cannot pass through the protein fibers. Now don't get me wrong; if you're happy with surface treatments, by all means, knock yourself out and keep using them. I do on occasion, depending on my canvas and what results I want. See my above Rant titled Sous-Vide "Clash of the Aphorist."

VIDEO- Dr. Greg Blonder: "The Magic Of Salt: So Vital, And So Misunderstood" (53 mins)

See Video from Good-Eats

Dry-Brining Is the Best Way to Brine Meat, Poultry, and More...Serious Eats.

Why Pressure and Vaccum Marination Sealing does not work!!!

Marinades- Not a fan. Ok, on some thin cuts, but overall makes the surface mushy and reduces overall moisture levels.

Brinerades- Same opinion as marinades.

Wet Brines- Way better than the two above but dilutes the flavor of the meat. You are swapping out meat juices for salted water. And it is not precise because you cannot control the brine uptake.

However, the protein will be juicer because the salt will increase the protein's ability to retain moisture. But, and this is big, but... you could use a precise % (EQ brine). The penetration of the matrix is dependent on the type of protein, and it might only penetrate 2/3- 1-inch in 24 hours. Also, during the cooking process or, more specifically, thermodynamically, the salt will push/penetrate even further into the meat. The hastened movement, to my knowledge, has not been quantified. Merely put, Ion diffusion is diminished with cold temperatures, and with heat, the salt will distribute and penetrate deeper.
Dry-Brining- My favorite way to increase flavor and increase moisture retention is just like the Wet Brine but with better control... see Links. With this method, you can be very precise. With Dry Brining, the salt will initially pull out moisture to the surface, dissolve in that liquid, and be reabsorbed, providing taste and moisture retention.

Rubs- Just like Dry Brining but other herbs and spices are added. It is primarily a surface treatment except for the salt uptake, and it can be used successfully on specific thin cuts. Generally speaking, I have no issue using rubs.

Injections- I mostly use this technique to cure a large piece of meat, whereas dry brining may not be adequate. I'll use a combo procedure where I use a dry-brine and an injection. Also, I love injecting salted butter into Turkey!!!!

Let's give a shout out to my buddy (Yedidya), who first came up with the term Micro surfaces. You know who you are!! Our conversation inspired me to conduct this very experiment. I will paraphrase our discussion to give background and homage to what we were thinking.

Most cuts have slits, pockets, or even spots where fat and meat are pulling apart. A good example is on a Ribeye. This occurs either naturally or from butchering. Sometimes the connective tissue has been ripped or torn, and the meat appears to be falling apart. These sections or slits are just additional surface areas. Imagine if we could coat these surface areas with flavor? Imagine if we could somehow create microsurfaces using the Jaccard? Have you ever made slits into a Leg of Lamb using a paring knife to shove garlic cloves below the surface? I certainly have. I was not penetrating the protein cells, but I created new surface areas for the garlic to perfume. Yes, Yedidya, you are a genius🤓.

I will use thick proteins for this experiment, which will most likely be Tri-Tip. I will try to be as detailed as possible. I will contrast them all, taking samples from the very center. Taking samples from the center will hopefully prove that I was able to force the seasoning into the center of the protein using the Jaccard.

All Tri-Tips are cooked together using my Ultimate Tri-Tip cooking technique, which simply is 113 f @ 4- hours, then finished @ 133 f for 8 hours. All proteins will be Dry-Brined for 24-36 hours.

ALL PRIME TRI-TIPS WERE USED FOR THIS TEST

#1- Salt applied at .60% than Jaccarded.

Delicious and flavorful. As predicted, the salt penetrated the protein. The expectation was that the Salt being applied first than Jaccareded would force more salt into the center.

#2- Jaccarded than .60% Salt applied.

Again Delicious and flavorful. Yes, because I gave it 24 hours, the salt penetrated the protein matrix and was awesome!!!

Comparing them side by side- Virtually the same. It's a subjective opinion, but maybe the #1 was slightly better than #2 because the salt was forced into the center.

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#3- Nekid, just like it implies, and it was Jaccareded like the other Tri-Tips.
Flavorless and boring. A lot of moisture loss due to the lack of Dry-brining. I will never waste my money again on something that hasn't been salted beforehand.

#4- Dry-Rub- First, it was Jaccarded than Dry-Rub applied at 14 grams of Montreal Steak Seasoning and 14 of Bruschetta seasoning (A total of 28 grams).

Comparing them side by side- No comparison, really. The Nekkid was a bust, and I will never do this again. The Dry-Rub version was predictably excellent, and yes, the salt penetrated, but the rest of the rub, as predicted, was only a surface treatment. I sliced off a section from the middle to sample, as I said above. The salt, of course, made its way in, but the rub was only a surface treatment, but we knew that already.
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#5- Dry-Rub- 14 grams of Montreal Steak Seasoning and 14 of Bruschetta seasoning (Total 28 grams).

The seasoning was mixed together and rubbed into the meat. The Tri-Tip was then mechanically tenderized. I made every effort to get every gram of seasoning into the meat. All Vac Sealed!!!

Oh, dear LORD!!! First thing, I did not slice off a chunk from the center. Actually, we sliced off several sections to make sure we were not losing our minds. Through and through, you could taste the rub. Mindblowing awesome!!!!!! Grand-Slam to the 100 power!!!!

This will be my SOP from now on if I use the Jaccard. With the Tri-Tip, I see no reason not to use a mechanical tenderizer. My senses are tingling all over, and the delectableness of this hunk of meat has frazzled and forever changed the way I prepare Tri-Tip. Oh, I forgot to mention extraordinarily tender and moist. This being prime and me getting slightly lucky, this had the perfect fat content. The salt keeps it from drying out!!!!

Note: This is what they looked like after I rethermed at 128f for a couple of hours. Do you notice how dark they already are? That's the rub and marinade.

#6- Brinerades- created with the above Rub (28 grams) + 17 grams of Balsamic Vinegar + 19 grams of Red Wine + 22 grams of Extra Virgin Olive oil (Total 86 grams).

The seasonings were mixed together and rubbed into the meat. The Tri-Tip was then mechanically tenderized. I made every effort to get every gram of seasoning into the meat. All Vac Sealed. Since the marinade is very thin, it will not be rinsed off during SV.

Can you say freaking incredible!!! Everything I wrote about #5 applies to #6. No reason to repeat all that I wrote above.

In addition to what I have written above, I must point out something my daughter noticed right off the bat! Dad, is there wine in here? Do you hear/read that? My daughter detected the wine. Everything penetrated, and I'll be the first to say I have never been a fan of marinades, but this changed my mind and is a game-changer. GRAND-SLAM!!!!! I imagine right now the people in the stands cheering!!

Comparing them side by side, both are delicious, but I would pick the marinated one if I had to choose. I am surprised too.

As my earlier post showed, mechanically tenderizing protein is worth doing!!! And if you plan on adding anything to the protein, it's worth Jaccarding after the application. This is a game-changer, and I will forever mechanically tenderize (forever is a long time......just maybe is better) it after using salt, herbs, spices, and even a marinade. I can't believe I am saying this, but the marinade exceeded all expectations. Don't forget, I used a very mild marinade and a thin one too.

Caveat- If you don't Pasteurize during the Cooking Process, killing off the surface bacteria is essential before (essential for some) mechanically tenderizing the protein.

Can Vaccum Sealing Help when you marinate?

From Chef Steps Blog: From Chef steps Blog: The idea of vacuum marination makes intuitive sense, but it most likely doesn't offer a real benefit. Researchers at the University of Georgia and the USDA have repeatedly found that vacuum levels have no effect on marinade uptake 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 vacuum levels had no effect on marinade uptake. The upshot of these articles is that the perceived benefits from vacuum tumbling actually come from the tumbling, not the vacuum.

Unlike plant matter, meat doesn't really have any air trapped inside it. If it did, I don't think that the dry-piston pump on the VP112 would be strong enough to extract it from the strong cell walls of a slab of protein. Which is a good thing because that would totally destroy the texture because of all the ruptured cell walls. This sort of effect can happen to some degree to chicken and fish sealed at high vacuum levels because these are comparably delicate proteins. But this effect isn't caused by air being removed but rather the water contained within the cell walls boiling at low pressure and rupturing the walls as it transitions from liquid to a gas.

If you really want to infuse a marinade rapidly, Todd's suggestion of combining Jaccarding with vacuum bags is the best way to go. That's how I do it. By needling the meat, you create hundreds of little channels that actually will have some air inside them (unlike a solid piece of un-Jaccarded protein). The force of the atmosphere coming down on the bag after you seal it will push the marinade into all of the new paths you've created. It totally works, and you don't have to futz with accessory ports or spend time sitting around and waiting while the machine holds a vacuum. If you're freaked out about Jaccarding, don't be. Contrary to intuition, poking a bunch of holes in your meat actually decreases the amount of moisture that is lost during the cooking process.

Links

Effect of Vacuum on Moisture Absorption and Retention by Marinated Broiler Fillets

Marinade Composition and Vacuum Effects on Liquid Uptake and Retention in Tumbled Fish Portions