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How do you currently prepare your meat for cooking? Do you trim your chicken, lightly season it, and toss it in a pan? There are so many ways you can enhance the flavor of your meat to create a better meal. Consider trying one of the methods we list in this article—your taste buds can thank you for it later.
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Soak the Meat in a Marinade
You can create a marinade with vinegar, oil, herbs, and spices; then, you soak the meat in it before cooking it to add flavor. However, the marinade will likely only seep into the surface—we recommend poking small holes in the meat with a fork or knife so that more of the marinade works its way inside. Fish and chicken are the easiest to marinate because the muscle structures are less dense than beef or pork.
Add Spices With a Dry Rub
Many people use a dry rub in conjunction with grilling. Mix a combination of spices in a bowl and gently rub the mixture onto beef or chicken before cooking. The dry rub will create a coating on the outside that gets crispy once you throw it on the grill while you seal in the juices and natural flavors of the food for the ultimate flavor.
Smoke Your Meat With Cooking Wood
There are many delicious benefits of cooking with wood that you won’t want to skip this flavor-enhancing method! If you have yet to try smoked meat, now is your chance! Slowly cooking fish, chicken, pork, or beef over cooking wood, such as cherry or oak, will fuse the flavor into your meat for a perfect smokiness that tastes like heaven.
Brine Your Meat With Salt
Brining is similar to marinating, but it excludes all the added flavors and spices—it’s just water and salt. The purpose of brining your meat in this mixture is to make it more tender and to keep your food from drying out during the cooking process. This helps retain the natural flavors and juices.
Don’t Get Rid of the Fat
Do you know why bacon is so flavorful? It’s because bacon is a fatty part of the animal, and the fat holds the majority of the flavor. Because of this, you never want to trim away all of the fat from your meat. For example, a marbled cut of beef will pack more flavor than if you tried to trim it away. You might not eat the fat, but it can make everything taste better!
Stop adding only salt and pepper to season your food. There are so many different ways you can enhance the flavor of your meat. Trust us—if you use any of the above methods next time you’re cooking, your family will permanently make you the designated cook—it will taste that good! Which technique will you try first?
