Marinades 101

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Grilling expert Elizabeth Karmel offers her tips to make the most out of a marinade on your grilled food

Marinating and adding spice rubs to fish and meat before it hits the grill can add some serious flavor to your food, but it's also easy to overdo. We called in our friend and barbecue expert Elizabeth Karmel to explain the ins and outs of both methods.

These step-by-step tips from her latest cookbook, "Soaked, Slathered and Seasoned," will guide you through your next barbecue endeavor and make it a delicious success.

Do you marinate a different way? Karmel says that "a lot of cooking is about tradition. Keep doing it the way your mom or dad did it if it tasted good."

Click on the gallery below for Karmel's tips and share your secrets in the comments below.

Marinades/Rubs 101

Marinades

These liquids add an extra dimension to meat's flavor with the help of active ingredient -- acid.

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Step One:

The acid cooks the food, breaking apart the fibers of fish or meat and tenderizing it. Acids can be an array of things: vinegar, citrus, buttermilk, wine, yogurt and much more. Add only one or two acidic ingredients to the mixture. More than that will ruin the balance of the marinade.

Step Two:

Mix the acid with a base ingredient to keep food moist. Extra-virgin olive oil, vegetable oil or nut oil, and other flavored oils will work well. Not only does the oil lock in the flavor, it promotes caramelization. Without it, the food may stick to the grill and dry out.

Step Three:

After you've chosen the appropriate acid and oil, add in aromatics and ingredients such as ginger, herbs, spices, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to heighten the flavors.

Tenderizing

"There is no reason a super-long soak," according to Elizabeth Karmel. "Smaller, more delicate cuts of meat need a shorter soak, while larger, heartier cuts need a little longer." Over-marinating meat can result in a mushy, tough, or over processed texture. Soaking in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 2 hours will suffice for most foods.

Don't:

Don't add too many sweet ingredients in the marinade, they'll burn quickly.

Don't reuse the marinade as a sauce without boiling it for 3 minutes. The marinade has touched raw meat and could make guests sick.

Don't rinse off the marinade. Use a paper towel to pat off the excess marinade.

Tools of the Trade

-A nonreactive bowl or container such as glass, plastic or stainless steel

Large resealable plastic bags

Marinade Shaker: Grill Friends' shaker includes five easy recipes and is made out of odor-resistant acrylic.

Grill Friends

Rubs

These spice mixtures, are used to bring out the best flavors of fish, meat and even fruit.

Dry vs. Wet Rub

Dry: spice mixtures without wet ingredients. If you're looking for a great crust and increasing the natural caramelization, the dry method is ideal.

Wet: paste that is made up of spices and olive oil and creates a crust on its own.

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The Right Way to Rub:

Holding your hand at least a foot above the food, sprinkle the food from one side to the other. Once the seasoning is on, gently pat it in. Rubbing the seasonings into the meat can damage the fibers and texture of the meat.

Seasoning the meat 15 to 20 minutes before you plan to cook it gives the rub time to permeate the meat.

While you can season your food the night before, make sure the mixture doesn't contain salt -- it will draw out the moisture in meat.

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