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 No time to marinate before grilling? Pity: Food would taste so much better. Solution: A Reveo Gourmet Marinator. It marinates in just 10 minutes. Photo courtesy of Callisons.com.
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ALISSA DICKER SCHREIBER is a senior writer at THE NIBBLE.
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October 2008
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Reveo Gourmet “Virtuoso” Marinator Electric Vacuum Tumbler
Page 1: Marinate Meat In 10 Minutes Instead Of Overnight
CAPSULE REPORT: The original Reveo Gourmet Marivac was very popular. It was hand-operated with a pumping action, needing no electricity, so it could be used outdoors. It reduced marinating time from overnight (or days) to 10 minutes! Now, the effortless electric Virtuoso model eliminates the elbow grease. Food writer and cooking teacher Alissa Dicker Schreiber found the Virtuosoto be much more than a “marinating gadget.” It makes meats exceptionally juicy and “among the best” she’s ever eaten. It also uses less marinade, is easy to clean and is dishwasher-safe. It can hold a five-pound chicken or a family’s worth of steaks, cutlets or seafood. At $199.95, this is not a casual purchase—but is well worth it if you marinate frequently. This is Page 1 of a two-page review. Click on the black links below to visit Page 2.
Overview
Let’s face it: A lot of us marinate our food at the last minute. We’re busy and hurried and forget to do it the night before—or simply don’t think about our next meal that far in advance. So we quickly sauce up our chicken, meat, fish or what-have-you mere minutes before cooking. Sure, the food usually emerges from the grill or pan with some marinade flavor cooked around its edges. But as a recent whirl with Virtuoso by Eastman’s Reveo Gourmet showed us, that doesn’t do marinating justice.
You see, a long marinating period, in a mixture consisting of some fat, some acid and some seasoning, infuses meat with flavor, tenderizes it and helps keep it juicy (like the brine for a Thanksgiving turkey). With its vacuum technology, the Reveo Gourmet makes achieving these results fast and easy, usually requiring no more than 20 minutes instead of hours or overnight.
How It Works
The device is a cylindrical vacuum tumbler that holds food and marinade and revolves on a base (see photo below). Mike Manno, executive chef for Eastman Outdoors, says that because of the absence of pressure (air) in the vacuum chamber, the meat acts like a sponge. Its fibers open up to absorb the marinade until it can hold no more. Releasing the vacuum tightens the meat and locks in the moisture. The technology allows the marinade to penetrate deeply and quickly while the slow spinning action helps it to disperse evenly while staying emulsified.
We processed various proteins with our house marinade of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, cilantro, salt and pepper. After five minutes in the chamber, jumbo prawns were ready for the grill. They turned out exceptionally juicy, packing a powerful hit of cilantro, which we loved.
My husband, our official griller, was especially impressed with the machine. He commented on how, since the meat and prawns drank up all the liquid in the chamber, he didn’t have to deal with any dripping marinade causing flare-ups on the grill.
Thinly pounded chicken breasts, which spent ten minutes in the Reveo with a similar marinade, were among the best we’ve ever eaten. You really could taste the marinade—the lemon, the soy, the herbs. The grilled chicken was wildly juicy, with a gorgeous, lemony, caramelized crust.
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Food and marinade swirling in the Reveo’s vacuum chamber. |
The Reveo holds up to five pounds of food, so it’s as easy to prepare food for large parties as small ones.
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