This recipe is from Peace, Love & BBQ.

Apple Cider Marinated Pork Loin
1 Pork Loin (4 to 6 pounds)
1 Can (6 oz) frozen Apple Juice
concentrate, thawed
1/3 cup Apple Jelly
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
3 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
2 TBS Dried Rosemary
1 tsp Dried Sage, crumbled
1 tsp Kosher Salt (finely ground)
1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
Apple Wood Chunks (for smoking)

Set the loin in a shallow dish. Combine the remaining ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy. Pour the marinade over the loin, coating thoroughly. Marinate, covered and chilled, overnight.

Discard the marinade and smoke at about 225 degrees for about 3 hours or until internal temperature measures 165 degrees.

Pronounced “hu’ mex”, this product of Mexico can be found in the latin foods section of almost every supermarket. Jumex comes in many different flavors including apricot, mango, and guava. The mango and guava can be used with salt for an easy pork or poultry marinade that will add flavor as well as act as a natural meat tenderizer.

Mango/Habanero Glaze
I’ve used mango Jumex to make a mango/habanero glaze. Simply pour the mango Jumex into a pot. The seeds and the veins of any hot pepper is where the heat is. I find that the meat of the habanero is enough heat while giving you the flavor of the pepper. Add the rough chopped habanero to the pot with the seeds and veins removed. Bring to a simmer until the liquid reduces by 50%. You’ve just made a reduction. Strain out the peppers and brush on to finish glaze. Is great on chops or chicken.

This is a follow up article that I wrote for GetYourGrillOn.net.

In the first post on Marinades we established that those with high acid levels can “cook” or denaturize your meat proteins before they even reach the heat of the pit or grill. High acid marinades include those with citrus or vinegar, like italian dressing. Let’s look at some low acid options that also act as natural tenderizers.

Certain Fruits
Certain fruits like pineapple, kiwi, mango, ginger root, papaya, figs, or guava are great in marinades. They contain a natural enzyme called papian that breaks down connective bonds of the proteins without the cooking affects mentioned before. Your marinade time with one of these options can be much longer, absorbing all of that liquid and flavor. Flavors like pineapple and mango goes great with BBQ or grilled food. Pineapple adds a freshness while mango is great paired with habaneros or other hot peppers. Kiwi or figs don’t come to mind when talking about barbeque, but to each their own. Sometimes you just need to experiment and can surprise yourself.

Yogurt
Yogurt also contains enzymes that break down protein. Proteolytic enzymes are the biproduct of the bacteria used to create yogurt. These enzymes can breakdown other proteins. Yogurt is used in Tandoori dishes for this reason. Yogurt also has a PH level that is even lower than milk.

Buttermilk
One of my favorite marinades of all time for smoked or grilled chicken is buttermilk. With sage and other herbs, buttermilk chicken from the smoker or grill is fantastic. It is savory in taste, which is a nice change from the sweet or spicy that you get from most BBQ rubs and marinades.

This is a follow up article that I wrote for GetYourGrillOn.net.

We’ve all used the bottle of zesty italian dressing to marinade our chicken before grilling or smoking. In many of the BBQ books I own from well known and well respected barbeque experts, they all warn about using marinades if you don’t know how to use them. Great, but how do I use them?!?! A taboo that happens often is the use of high acid marinades… like our beloved italian dressing.

Marinades add flavor. We all know that. Marinades can also add moisture. Where many get in trouble is not understanding the affects of a marinade on the protein structures of the meat. Meat proteins can be “cooked” or denatured in two different ways: heat and acid. Heat is obvious, but acidic elements like citrus and vinegar change the proteins in a way similar to heat. This is seen in the white color of chicken breasts after they have sat in a high acid bath. This white color change is the outer protein of the meat being literally cooked after just an hour or two. Also consider the dish Ceviche from Peru which is raw seafood soaked in lemon and served cold. The texture of a Ceviche dish is more like a poached piece of meat than raw.

So why worry about high acid marinades? By cooking that outer layer of proteins with acid, you are about to cook them further with heat on your grill or in your smoking pit. Moisture will be lost. You maybe adding some flavor from the italian dressing, but you are creating a tougher piece of meat as well. Italian dressing, with all of its vinegar is a fine marinade, but your time should be short. Keep it to under two hours at the very most.

Come back for Marinades Part II to learn of some low acid alternatives that also act as natural tenderizers, too.