How early is too early to rub/marinate?

[Colin Edwards]

Anyone have experience with letting some meat (butt, chicken, brisket, whatever...) sit in a marinade or rub for an extended period of time before cooking? Maybe, for example, it's prepped and refrigerated 36-48 hours in advance?

 

[Russ Harris]

The most I've ever done is about 24 hours when it comes to marinades. Not to say you can't go longer, but 24 is the longest I've ever gone. I know when it comes to rubs on pork you need to be careful with how long you let them sit on. If the rub has a decent amount of salt in it, it could start to "cure" the pork. Then your ribs could wind up with a slightly "hammy" taste. I usually only let my rub sit on my ribs about 2 hours or so. As far a marinades?? - like I said, I go about 24 hours but maybe there's other guys on here who go longer and can tell you what their experience is.

 

[Chris Bjork]

butts- overnight
ribs- rub them and then fire up the smoker (approx maybe 2hrs untill ready?)

 

[Louis]

hi,

I often cook a balsamic pork tenderloin and let it sit in marinade for 48 hours .. marinade do not really penetrate meat, it is only the acid part then tend to tenderize the meat, i suggest you read this recent article from Craig MeatHead Goldwyn :

The zen and myths of marinade
http://www.amazingribs.com/rec...en_of_marinades.html

 

[Jeff Boudman]

I've marinated chicken wings from 24 to 72 hrs. in the same marinade and haven't noticed a real difference in flavor.
I'll prep and put a rub on ribs 2 hrs. before smoking on a Saturday, but 18 hrs. in advance if I'm cooking on a Sunday because of church. I use Sucklebuster's rubs because they aren't salty. I'll coat a butt with oil and rub 24 - 48 hrs. in advance. It makes for a nice bark and there really isn't that much penetration. BTW, a lot of spices are soluble in oil but not in water.

 

[Colin Edwards]

Thanks for the responses.

That link to the zens and myths of marinade is a great resource.

I was mostly concerned with negative impacts (like Russ said, if there's a decent amount of salt in the rub it can start to cure the pork).

I've got 40-50 people coming for a party this weekend and I have a lot of prep work to do (not only for bbq, but for other apps, salads, etc), so I was thinking about what I could get out of the way in advance.