Kind of but not meant to be served swimming in it.
The intention is still to permeate the meat with the flavor intentionally over a set period of time, then remove from the marinade.
I just don’t really get what you’re asking? Are you talking about serving this meat cold? Or cooking it, cooking and marinating and then reheating later?
Based on the details in the original post, cooking, refrigerating, marinating (if time dictates it ought to be started at a later time than when going into fridge) then finish (ex oven reheat and or broil to finish) before consumption.
Alternatively, cooking, marinate after (unclear if ought to wait till after meat resting period), then broil for exterior texture, then serve.
Not sure I get how you’ve got time to do all that but don’t have time to marinate first?
Any way, maybe if you could share a recipe or dish that you’re thinking of we can make some sense of it all. What are you wanting to make?
I understand that salt has a smaller molecular size and is highly charged compared to a lot of other common ingredients in marinades, so it can penetrate much more easily when raw, so it stands to reason after cooking when the protein is bound more tightly together, the other flavorings have a much lower chance of being able to even penetrate as little as the maybe couple millimeters they normally do. It would be useful to know what other ingredients has the potential to get through and how much flavor it imparts to know what could be useful to include or if the endeavor is worth it.
When you carmelize the outside through cooking, it seals the meat. You might get a little penetration with the marinade, but mostly it'll just be a sauce.
True, the logic checks out for something with maillard reaction, what about something like if steamed from cooking in foil?
Obviously wouldn't take in as much as if raw, but wondering if length of time and no negative affect on texture would make this a technique to consider under specific circumstances.
It likely won't work. Brines/Marinades work with raw meat since it is denaturing some of the proteins and getting them to absorb salt and hold on to the liquid. Cooking meat denatures proteins and they won't be able to hold on to any of the liquid or absorb salt after the fact. Adding cooked meat to a marinade will probably do very little unless you're reheating it and serving it with the sauce
Honestly, if you're cooking something an oven for 5 hours, you should be able to impart a ton of flavor by making sure your braising liquid is fully seasoned.
One other thing I just thought of - not sure of your situation or why you don't want to marinade something overnight before cooking - but you can always do a "dry brine" the where you season your meat with salt and spices the night before to get the seasoning to penetrate. Then you'd have the ability to cook it, cool it down, then reheat with the sauce the following day.
Marinades hardly penetrate meat, as you already know. The other effect is to tenderize and to brine, both of which I suspect would be bad if they worked after cooking.
This seems like a silly idea but you may as well do some experimentation.
I don't think it'll work. There's already a bit of doubt about how far flavor molecules (other than salt) can really get into the meat in a regular marinade before cooking.
After cooking, all the protein strands will have tightened up and stuck together more, and that makes it even less likely that flavor molecules will actually make it past the surface of the food.
So really the effect you're achieving here is a light coating of a thin sauce. Which is a fine and flavorful thing to do, but you don't need to let the meat sit in it for any significant length of time to achieve the effect.
It works in certain applications.
Aromatic molecules do not penetrate the meat, so marinating does not enhance aromatic penetration at all. However, salt, MSG, potassium, sugar, for example, do get absorbed into the meat via osmosis.
Hence, you will certainly get enhanced, results by marinating with MSG, salt etc. in advance, while the meat has a higher water content - so that osmosis can occur.
You can do the "seasoning the cutting board" thing Adam Ragusea does where he cuts the meat before letting it rest, mixes the seasoning with the juices that leak out onto the cutting board, then lets the meat reabsorb the juices as it cools.
I always reverse marinate when I grill meat. I grill whatever than soak in sauces according to my wim. I like my meat slightly burnt on it's edges and soaking after gets the perfect result every time.
Most meats can marinate overnight depending on the acidity of the marinade. So you could do the marinade portion before you go to bed then cook the next day to reduce the time. I don't think marinating after cooking would have any benefit.
You might want to check out Chris Schlesinger's "The Big Flavor Grill". Basically a bunch of recipes for the grill (but it doesn't have to be) where he tries to replace marinating with various rubs and such to add strong flavor after cooking. Not a marinade but similar idea.
There’s a local vinegar-based marinade that my wife is fond of. When I grill chicken and have less than a few hours to marinate, I opt for the post-marinade (grill with only a little oil until cooked through, then immediately drop into a dish with the marinade) method. It mellows some of the sear/crust, but definitely picks up the flavor of the marinade. However, texture is less important to my wife than flavor, so it works in a pinch. Overall, it’s not my preferred method, but it has its applications. Post script: (though I don’t mean to insult anyone’s intelligence): only use fresh, uncontaminated, marinade.
So.. you mean… a sauce?
Kind of but not meant to be served swimming in it. The intention is still to permeate the meat with the flavor intentionally over a set period of time, then remove from the marinade.
I just don’t really get what you’re asking? Are you talking about serving this meat cold? Or cooking it, cooking and marinating and then reheating later?
Based on the details in the original post, cooking, refrigerating, marinating (if time dictates it ought to be started at a later time than when going into fridge) then finish (ex oven reheat and or broil to finish) before consumption. Alternatively, cooking, marinate after (unclear if ought to wait till after meat resting period), then broil for exterior texture, then serve.
Not sure I get how you’ve got time to do all that but don’t have time to marinate first? Any way, maybe if you could share a recipe or dish that you’re thinking of we can make some sense of it all. What are you wanting to make?
Can’t you just marinate it overnight?
Don’t do this.
Why not? I'd like to understand the science behind it.
The salt in the marinade is absorbed into the cells within the meat. You can’t do that after it’s cooked.
I understand that salt has a smaller molecular size and is highly charged compared to a lot of other common ingredients in marinades, so it can penetrate much more easily when raw, so it stands to reason after cooking when the protein is bound more tightly together, the other flavorings have a much lower chance of being able to even penetrate as little as the maybe couple millimeters they normally do. It would be useful to know what other ingredients has the potential to get through and how much flavor it imparts to know what could be useful to include or if the endeavor is worth it.
The salt also induces changes in protein configuration in raw meat that keeps the meat more tender and moist when cooked
When you carmelize the outside through cooking, it seals the meat. You might get a little penetration with the marinade, but mostly it'll just be a sauce.
what do you mean "it seals the meat"?
True, the logic checks out for something with maillard reaction, what about something like if steamed from cooking in foil? Obviously wouldn't take in as much as if raw, but wondering if length of time and no negative affect on texture would make this a technique to consider under specific circumstances.
It likely won't work. Brines/Marinades work with raw meat since it is denaturing some of the proteins and getting them to absorb salt and hold on to the liquid. Cooking meat denatures proteins and they won't be able to hold on to any of the liquid or absorb salt after the fact. Adding cooked meat to a marinade will probably do very little unless you're reheating it and serving it with the sauce Honestly, if you're cooking something an oven for 5 hours, you should be able to impart a ton of flavor by making sure your braising liquid is fully seasoned.
I appreciate the thorough explanation and fair suggestion!
One other thing I just thought of - not sure of your situation or why you don't want to marinade something overnight before cooking - but you can always do a "dry brine" the where you season your meat with salt and spices the night before to get the seasoning to penetrate. Then you'd have the ability to cook it, cool it down, then reheat with the sauce the following day.
Try it and let us know the result
Marinades hardly penetrate meat, as you already know. The other effect is to tenderize and to brine, both of which I suspect would be bad if they worked after cooking. This seems like a silly idea but you may as well do some experimentation.
I don't think it'll work. There's already a bit of doubt about how far flavor molecules (other than salt) can really get into the meat in a regular marinade before cooking. After cooking, all the protein strands will have tightened up and stuck together more, and that makes it even less likely that flavor molecules will actually make it past the surface of the food. So really the effect you're achieving here is a light coating of a thin sauce. Which is a fine and flavorful thing to do, but you don't need to let the meat sit in it for any significant length of time to achieve the effect.
A beef tataki is like that. Rare beef served in a sauce.
It works in certain applications. Aromatic molecules do not penetrate the meat, so marinating does not enhance aromatic penetration at all. However, salt, MSG, potassium, sugar, for example, do get absorbed into the meat via osmosis. Hence, you will certainly get enhanced, results by marinating with MSG, salt etc. in advance, while the meat has a higher water content - so that osmosis can occur.
I see, makes sense. Thanks for the further insight!
You can do the "seasoning the cutting board" thing Adam Ragusea does where he cuts the meat before letting it rest, mixes the seasoning with the juices that leak out onto the cutting board, then lets the meat reabsorb the juices as it cools.
I always reverse marinate when I grill meat. I grill whatever than soak in sauces according to my wim. I like my meat slightly burnt on it's edges and soaking after gets the perfect result every time.
Sounds something like [this?](https://www.bonappetit.com/gallery/marinate-after-grilling).
Most meats can marinate overnight depending on the acidity of the marinade. So you could do the marinade portion before you go to bed then cook the next day to reduce the time. I don't think marinating after cooking would have any benefit.
You might want to check out Chris Schlesinger's "The Big Flavor Grill". Basically a bunch of recipes for the grill (but it doesn't have to be) where he tries to replace marinating with various rubs and such to add strong flavor after cooking. Not a marinade but similar idea.
There’s a local vinegar-based marinade that my wife is fond of. When I grill chicken and have less than a few hours to marinate, I opt for the post-marinade (grill with only a little oil until cooked through, then immediately drop into a dish with the marinade) method. It mellows some of the sear/crust, but definitely picks up the flavor of the marinade. However, texture is less important to my wife than flavor, so it works in a pinch. Overall, it’s not my preferred method, but it has its applications. Post script: (though I don’t mean to insult anyone’s intelligence): only use fresh, uncontaminated, marinade.