Should You Marinate Chicken Before Sous Vide

Question

I’m thinking about Vacuum sealing my chicken pieces with marinade the night before cooking, which would begin in the morning.  Is there any reason not to do this?  I guess i am vaguely worried about food safety.

Lynn Clark · Accepted Answer

Hi Susan - Our our Friend of Milk Street, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, strongly recommends against marinating or brining chicken when cooking it sous vide. Here's what he says about brining:
"Brining—the process of soaking meat in a saltwater solution in order to help it retain moisture better in the future—is entirely unnecessary for sous vide cooking. Your chicken will come out plenty moist and juicy, while also having a more concentrated chicken flavor, as using a brine dilutes the flavor of the chicken with water."
And about adding flavorful ingredients to the bag:
"You definitely can. I like to add aromatics based on the flavors of the finished dish, whether that's a few tarragon sprigs and some wheels of lemon for something like a classic Western chicken salad, or slices of ginger, garlic, and scallions for an Asian cold salad. The key is to avoid excess liquid—otherwise, you end up flavoring the liquid with chicken instead of the other way around—and to bear in mind that most spices and garlic will intensify in flavor when added to a sous vide bag."
So it's not really about food safety, it's more about flavor and texture of the chicken. If you'd like more information about sous vide and chicken, he has a great, well-researched piece on Serious Eats you can check out.
I hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Should You Marinate Chicken Before Sous Vide

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