Quick BBQ Marinade product reviews

I prepared this marinade for use with some Tri-tip steak.

I wasn't sure of the exact quantities so started with 2Tb each of the soy, worstershire and brown sugar and 1Tb of honey. Followed kiwireviewer-00's suggestion of heating to dissolve the sugar.

Marinaded for about 3 hours.

Cooked on a cast-iron char. Very nice. Good char marks (mainly due to the high sugar content) and the steak came out very tender.

Highly recommended.

OK, the marinade looks like something you'd find on the driveway under the car's engine, but that's not the point... you aren't going to eat or drink this stuff, it soaks into the meat and makes it tender and gives it a rich, complex flavour. The sliced kiwifruit contains an enzyme compound that splits the long proteins, causing the meat to become more tender and thus more appealing and less chewy. You could substitute the kiwifruit with another fruit with the right enzymes, such as pawpaw or pineapple, but the flavour changes dramatically.

This marinade takes about 3 minutes to prepare, and the results are beyond words to describe. It works really well on beef, but could probably do a good job on pork or lamb too, if you plan to be a total barbarian and BBQ them. However, a little trick I found to make the marinade a bit smoother was to mix the worsh and soy sauces in a small saucepan and warm them up a bit, but not to boiling... then mix in the honey and sugar and stir until they are fully dissolved and blended. This stopped the marinade being grainy, and improved the absorbtion into the meat. This method adds about 5 more minutes to prep time.

Overall, another winner from our resident Alternative Recipe Guru...