Cola's high acidity and caramel flavor makes a surprisingly good meat tenderizer. Cola typically has a pH of about 2.7—for comparison, lemon juice has a pH of 2—making it acidic enough to break down some proteins without dissolving your meat.
Marinating steaks in a cola-based marinade adds a touch of sweetness and will give your meat a nice caramelized char once it hits the grill.
We advise you max out your marinating time at eight hours. Simmering Coca-Cola evaporates all of the excess water in the soda to leave behind a thick, molasses-like syrup. At this stage, the concentrated Coke is practically begging to be used as a glaze on grilled or roasted meats, especially chicken wings.
Yes, cola tenderizes the meat due to the acids and will also make it flavorful if it sits overnight or for 8 hours.
The cola marinade tenderizes the steaks and adds a slightly sweet flavor, and the sugars caramelize beautifully in the pan to create a delicious crust. Be sure to try my Red Wine Marinated Steak and Coffee Marinated Steak too!
Soda acts as great tenderizer—you could get a tender cut of meat grill-ready in less than a half-hour. Cola-tenderizing for 24 hours yields a meat dish that practically melts, like this Atlanta brisket. Try braising with cola, like you would with wine.
Marinate: Marinating your steak in acids or enzymes breaks down the fibers and tenderizes the steak. To marinate the meat in an acidic solution, add lemon juice, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, or buttermilk to your marinade and let the steak soak in it for thirty minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the cut.
Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meat's surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively, which keeps the meat tender and moist when it's cooked.
Most importantly, ignore what cookbooks say about marinating with beer. Beer doesn't tenderize meat any more than lemonade (nor does wine or vinegar-based marinades). And be careful: If meat is left in the liquid too long, it will take on the grayish hue of a government-issue metal desk.
Myth: If you soak a chicken bone in soda for several days, it will start to dissolve. Answer: Confirmed! Soda contains acids such as phosphoric acid and citric acid. If a bone is left to soak for an extended period of time, the acid will begin to weaken its structure.
Sugary soft drinks might not be great for your health—but they can be very useful for cooking, especially when it comes to meat or anything grilled. Heated and reduced, Coke and Pepsi can impart an incredible caramel-like complexity to all kinds of dishes. Here, 10 incredible ways to cook with cola.
Velveting meat—the practice of marinating slices of meat in egg white, wine, and cornstarch—is a Chinese cooking technique that we've covered here on Serious Eats before. Typically, after the meat is marinated, it is quickly blanched in a bath of hot oil and then drained, at which point it's ready to be stir-fried.
Velveting is a Chinese method of marinating which keeps delicate meat and seafood moist and tender during cooking. The velveting technique is very easy and gives amazing results.
Cook immediately. When preparing thicker cuts of meats, let stand 30 minutes before cooking.
Just add 1 to 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to your cooking liquids and your roasts, stew meats, and steaks will come out tender and juicy every time. Another option is to pierce your meat all over with a fork and then soak it in vinegar for 1 to 2 hours before you cook it.
Slow-cook it. Cooking tough cuts of meat with low-temperature heat over a long period of time is a great way to tenderize it. Tough fibers, collagen and connective tissues will break down, leaving you with tender meat. Try using a slow cooker, or braise with broth or other liquids in a covered dish in the oven.
For well done, cook for 2-4 minutes each side, then turn the heat down and cook for another 4-6 minutes. To test for doneness, use the tip of your clean index finger (or tongs) to gently prod the steak. If the steak is soft and squishy, it's rare. If it's soft but a bit springy, that's medium-rare.
To better understand this, let's look at the three main methods of tenderizing meat: mechanical, thermal, and enzymatic. Mechanical tenderization involves pounding or piercing the meat with one of those medieval looking devices.