# Solid Chicken Marinade?



## SeanCan'tCook (Apr 28, 2010)

OK, I'm trying to learn to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts quickly, simply, and healthily.

I've developed a pretty effective technique by first searing them in a cast iron grill pan till they have some caramelization, then finishing them in a covered casserole dish in the oven.

I've been using prepackaged marinades, but they're loaded with salt, so I decided to make my own.  The last time I tried it, the spices weren't mixed very well, so this time I decided to mix the marinade in the blender first.

I put in a half cup of olive oil, a couple of slugs of Real Lemon juice, some ground black pepper, some Mrs. Dash's salt-free grilling blend for chicken, some Mrs. Dash's salt-free garlic & herb mix, and some McComrack's herb chicken mix and blended it on slow for about a minute.  

It didn't appear to be all that thick when I poured it over 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a small Pyrex container, put the cover on, and put it in the refridgerator, but several hours later the marinade had congeales into semi-solid paste.  I took it out of the refridgerator for an hour, or so and it had gone back to a liquid, so I turned the chicken breasts and put it back into the refridgerator.  A couple of hours later, I checked it again, and it was back to a near-solid.

Is my problem the blender?  The other thing I wonder if it might be is the amount of spices I put in ... it was pretty liberal.

Has anyone else run into this?


----------



## Andy M. (Apr 28, 2010)

Oil thickens in the cold.  Perfectly normal.  Not a problem.


----------



## Uncle Bob (Apr 28, 2010)

Olive oil...thickening.


----------



## BreezyCooking (Apr 28, 2010)

Sean - It's just the olive oil & is perfectly normal.  All oils will solidify when exposed to cold temps.  A 1/2-cup olive oil is a lot of oil for a marinade.  Next time, cut the oil amount back to 1/4 cup or less & use other liquids to take up the slack if you want more marinade.  Try dry white wine or dry sherry (depending on taste); a tablespoon or two of low-sodium soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce, etc., etc.; fresh-chopped garlic, shallots, fresh herbs -tasting the marinade as you go along (BEFORE you add the raw chicken to it, of course!) so that it isn't over or under-seasoned to your taste.  This time around, just leave the chicken in the fridge - taking it in & out of fridge to let the oil warm up isn't healthy.  Just spread the solidified marinade all over the chicken as best you can & let it be.


----------

