It’s no secret that alcohol goes well in a wide range of recipes, and not just when you drink it alongside your favorite meals. Infusing alcohol within your food can lead to taste sensations like never before and this, in fact, is a go-to food prep method for the vast majority of top chefs.
Most commonly, recipes like this one for calamari on themediterraneandish.com rely on wine infusions for an underlying, tasty kick. But beer can also make the ideal recipe addition for a range of reasons, and we’re going to consider a few of them here.
Beer Makes for Lighter Batter
We’ve all heard of beer-battered foods. Whether it’s fish, chips, or onion rings, this is one go-to that never fails to get the mouth watering. But, why exactly do we use beer in batter? The answer is simple – because it makes it better. And, it does that due to carbonation. The bubbles in the beer create air in the batter which makes for a far lighter finish than the sometimes stodgy batter achieved otherwise. Of course, some beers work better than others for the best flavors, and options like PBR and Coors as mentioned in this post on news.yahoo.com are among the better options. Incorporate these favorites into your kitchen, and you’ll have everyone knocking down your door for that famous beer batter recipe in no time.
The Best Marinades You’ve Ever Tasted
Marinades are all about incorporating flavor, and few things do that better than a good dash of beer. What’s more, this is a benefit that isn’t possible with alternatives like wine, which require cooking off before they can compliment flavors. By comparison, putting your favorite beer straight into the marinade for anything from curry to barbecue braised ribs is sure to lead to some stunning taste infusions with an unbeatable depth of richness behind them. If you want to get especially fancy and really have those beery flavors merge with your meats, incorporate them with condiments like ketchup, or even some sticky treacle for a tangy-sweet kick that’s guaranteed to work well.
Moister Meat
Marinades and batter may seem like reasonably obvious beer benefits to anyone with a little kitchen know-how, but fewer people realize that a smart trick with a half-filled beer can could also make for moister meat at all times. Yes, really! All it takes is to open up a can of beer, drink half of it (or pour it away, if you must) and slip your meat of choice over the top of the open can. Obviously, this is always going to work best with options like a whole chicken, duck, etc., that are easily able to sit over the top of your can. During cooking, the remaining beer will evaporate, both infusing your meat with lovely beer tastes, and also ensuring that it doesn’t dry out in the oven. Now, that’s what we call making magic!
However you bring beer into the kitchen, you can bet it will ratchet your recipes up a gear. Set your wine aside, give these techniques a go, and marvel in cooking like never before.
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