Quote:
Originally Posted by MG_NorCal
What is the purpose of the oil in the initial step?
Given that the rub's main ingredients are water-soluble (sugar, salt), and a quick 1hr marinade was used, I would think something partially or entirely water-based would be appropriate.
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Good question. There are a couple of reasons.
- The oil helps lubricate the chicken skin, and helps keep the meat from sticking on the grill.
- It also helps the skin to get crispy under high heat
- And finally (and most importantly), while salt and sugar are water soluable, many of our other ingredients are actually more fat soluable than water soluable. So the oil helps carry the chile's and other spices' volitile oils to the meat.
The one hour quick marinade time was just a baseline. We've done this very successfully with up to 24 hours of fridge time.
Check out RedHot's post, she went 3 days on her oil marinade and you can actually see the meat's absorbed some of the chile oils in her closeup "bite" shot...
