Chipotle's Adobo Marinade

Ok, so who doesn't love the burritos from Chipotle? Well there may be a few detractors, but for the most part everyone I know loves the marinated and grilled chicken, steak, and barbacoa at Chipotle restaurants. Let's face it though, not everyone has a Chipotle restaurant in their local area. Have no fear there are quite a few recipes on on the world wide web on how to make your own “Chipotle' style marinade. Some are better than others, but the problem is that even the employees working at Chipotle's restaurants do not know the recipe.So what is Chipotle's secret ingredient? Actually, it is not so secret, it is simply a marinade made from adobo sauce. However, it is the recipe for their adobo sauce that is the secret.

According to the multiple accounts I have read from employees who have worked for Chipotle, their marinade comes in clear plastic bags that are simply labeled 'adobo'. Now I cannot verify this as I have never worked for Chipotle, but it makes sense that they would make their own proprietary adobo sauce in their company commissary and then ship it to their restaurants to keep folks like me from making my own. The best recipe that I tried before deciding to make my own was originally posted over on Chipotlefan.com. I have included a small batch version of their original recipe here for you to look at.

Chipotle Fan's Chipotle Marinade

5 ancho chilies, dried (about 1 ounce)

1 (7oz can) of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

½ red onion, minced

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon black pepper

To be honest, I think this marinade it a pretty close facsimile of the 'Chipotle' marinade, but what I really disliked about this recipe was that it called for you to remove the chipotle peppers and seeds and only use the sauce. Personally I thought this was a big waste. If all you wanted from the can is the adobo sauce, why not simply buy a can of adobo sauce or make your own? With that thought in mind, I started experimenting with making my own adobo sauce. I played around with a lot of recipes making some changes here, adding some other ingredients until I was satisfied that I have a nice well rounded adobo sauce of my own.

Making Your Own Adobo Sauce

Making your own adobo sauce is pretty easy, the only thing that you may not have in your kitchen is ancho and or guajillo peppers. Adobo is traditionally made using dried guajillo peppers, however in many recipes guajillo and ancho peppers are used interchangeably, so if you do not have any guajillo peppers on hand, or do not want to spend the extra money on them, then just substitute ancho chilies for the guajillo.

My Adobo Sauce (makes ½ Cup)

5 to 6 dried guajillo or ancho chilies
1 to 2 dried jalapenos (2 if you like it spicy)

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

½ onion, minced

3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and toast the chilies, turning frequently, until very pliable and soft; do not allow them to burn. Remove the dried peppers from the skillet and transfer them to a plate. Remove the stems and seeds and place in a saucepan. Add enough hot water to just cover and bring to a boil. Cover the pan, remove from the heat and allow chilies to soak for 20 minutes. Remove the peppers and reserve soaking liquid for later use.

In a blender or food processor, combine all of the ingredients and puree until smooth. If needed, add a little of the chile soaking liquid (only as much as is needed) to enable the mixture to blend. The consistency should be thick but smooth. Cover and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

Chef's Note: I will be honest, I do not always toast my dried chilies. If I am in a hurry, I simply remove the stems and split the peppers with a pair of kitchen shears and throw them in the saucepan and cover them with water.

Chipotle Marinade (The Final Product)

Once I had created an adobo sauce that I was happy with, I wanted to streamline the process to come up with a quick way to make my own Chipotle style marinade. So the next logical step was to combine the ingredients from my adobo sauce with the ingredients from the 'Chipotle Fan' marinade listed inthis article. I really enjoy this marinade and think that it is a good representation of Chipotle's marinade. Is it exact no...but unless Chipotle decides to publish the steps to make their signature marinade it will have to do.

My Chipotle Marinade

10 ancho chilies, dried (or 5 ancho and 5 guajillo chilies)
1 to 2 dried jalapenos (2 or more if you like it spicy) 

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

½ red onion, minced

3 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons liquid (water from reconstituted peppers)

1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried)

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and toast the chilies, turning frequently, until very pliable and soft; do not allow them to burn. Remove from the skillet and transfer to a plate. Remove the stems and seeds and place them in the saucepan. Add enough hot water to just cover and bring to a boil. Cover the pan, remove from the heat and allow chilies to soak for 20 minutes. Remove the peppers and reserve soaking liquid for later use.

In a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients and 2 tablespoons of the chile soaking liquid and puree. Add additional chile soaking liquid as required, however, keep in mind the consistency of the marinade should be thick and smooth. Cover and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

Chef's Note: This marinade or paste makes about 1 1/2 cups which is enough marinade for about 10lbs of meat (depending on how spicy you like your meat). The marinade or paste is pretty thick and can be thinned with the water reserved from the chilies or stock if you want a more wet marinade. I divide the marinade into three parts and place the other two parts in small plastic containers that I then freeze until I am ready to use next time.

How to Use This Marinade

As I mentioned, no one at the restaurant knows what is in those little clear plastic bags simply labeled 'adobo', but what they do know is how it is used. According to former employees, for 40lbs of chicken, they use two of the 10oz bags (20 ounces total) of adobo (that's ½ ounce of marinade for each pound of boneless chicken thighs). For 40lbs of steak, they use four 10oz bags (40 ounces total) of adobo (that's 1oz for each pound of steak). Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any reference to the amount of marinade used for Chipotle's Barbacoa, so some experimentation is needed here. Remember the marinade for Chipotle's chicken, steak, and barbacoa is the same, just different amounts of marinade are used depending on the meat being marinaded.

I do not believe my marinade is as concentrated as the abodo sauce that Chipotle uses. My recommendation for best results when using my marinade is to use the following ratio of marinade/paste per pound of meat.

Boneless Chicken Thighs 1 ounce of marinade per pound of meat.
Round Steak 2 ounces of marinade per pound of meat.
Barbacoa (chuck roast) 1 ounce of marinade per pound of meat.

Conclusion

There you have it, my version of Chiptole's marinade. A couple of things to think about when it comes to this marinade or paste. Chipotle is the name of the restaurant, not the marinade. The marinade they use is actually an adobo sauce that is traditionally made with ancho or guajillo peppers not chipotle's (which are smoked jalapeños). Varying the amount of marinade that you use will increase or decrease the intensity of flavor of the meat being marinaded. Soon to come, making your own Chiptole style burritos. As always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us a friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.


References:

Chipotle Fan Website

Dry Heat Cooking Methods

In this article, we are going to examine the different types and techniques of dry heat cooking. Dry heat cooking generally uses higher temperatures to cook foods than moist heat cooking methods because air, fat, and metal can be heated to temperatures much higher (300°F or more) than the boiling point of water which is 212°F. While moist heat cooking methods transfer heat to food through a liquid, dry heat cooking methods transfer heat to foods through air, fat, metal, and/or radiation. For more information regarding moist heat cooking methods, check out my article on our blog Moist Heat Cooking methods.

Meats, vegetables and seafood cooked using moist heat techinques may get light applications of salt and pepper before cooking, but for the most part the flavor and seasoning for the dish comes from the sauce or juice in which it is cooked, or the accompanying sauce in which they are served. Foods cooked using dry heat techinques on the other hand, get their flavor and seasonings from a variety of different applications depending on the specific technique employed.

Roasted and baked meats tend to get liberal applications of salt and pepper and are basted during the cooking process to not only help keep the meat from drying out, but to evenly distribute seasoning on the surface of the meat, whereas broiled meats are more likely to marinated before cooking. Grilled meats may be marinated or rubbed with wet or dry spice rubs and or mixes prior to cooking and finished with a sauce during the last 15 minutes of grilling. Foods that are deep fat fried may be marinated or seasoned with dry spices before the application of the batter. In addition, the dry portions of the batter (flour, bread crumbs, cereal, etc...) as well as the wash or dipping liquid may be seasoned as well. On top of all that, fried foods such as 'chicken hot wings' may be coated with a sauce after frying to add an additional flavor component to the food.

As with moist heat cooking methods, many of the dry heat cooking methods are similar and may at times overlap or may be used in combination in a particular recipe. In fact, even moist heat and dry heat methods can be used in conjunction to cook foods such as pork ribs which may be blanched or poached (moist heat) before being grilled (dry heat). Having said that, it is important that the home cook know the subtle differences of each technique to help them employ the best cooking options for the food they wish to purchase and prepare. The Dry heat cooking methods that we will be discussing today are generally broken down into three primary categories 1) roasting and baking, 2) broiling and grilling, and 3) frying.

Roasting and Baking

The terms roasting and baking are used interchangeably by many chefs in that they both describe a hot dry air method method of cooking foods generally inside your oven at temperatures greater than 300°F. Despite their similarities, roasting generally refers to the process of cooking meats, poultry and vegetables, and baking generally refers to bread, pastry, cakes, and cookies. Delicate foods such as fish and other seafood are also considered to be baked, as opposed to roasted. When in doubt, just remember that roasted foods are cooked at quite a bit higher temperature than baked foods. This higher temperature causes the foods to not only cook faster, but have more pronounced browning.

Both roasting and baking cook foods fairly evenly as all of the food's surfaces are exposed to the same air temperature. As mentioned previously, these two dry heat methods use hot air to transfer heat to food yielding a wide variety of results depending on the temperature, rack position, and type of baking dish used. Unlike baking, foods that are roasted are often basted with a fat or other liquid to prevent them from drying out during the cooking process. Roasting differs from pan-searing, a technique in which the surface of the food that touches the hot pan gets much hotter than the side that facing up. When roasting or baking, the food is cooked uncovered, so that the hot, dry air cooks the food rather than the steam from the food. Roasting of meats in dry heat allows the meat to not only brown, but develop complex flavors that just cannot be attained using moist heat cooking techniques.

Roasting and baking can be performed in a conventional or convection oven. The choice of the type of oven does not affect the technique, but it may affect the time necessary to cook the food. Cooking foods in a conventional oven uses uncirculated hot air, whereas a convection oven uses a fan to force air to circulate over and around the food as it cooks. Convection cooking transfers heat more quickly and efficiently to foods thereby decreasing the cooking time (20 to 30%) of foods compared to a conventional oven.

Broiling and Grilling

Broiling and grilling, like roasting and baking are dry heat cooking techniques that rely on heat conducted via the air to cook food. The difference being that foods that are broiled or grilled are cooked at higher temperatures. While they two techniques (broiling and grilling) are different, they produce similar results. Because air is a relatively poor conductor of heat, broiling and grilling require the food to be quite close to the heat source, which may be an open flame or heating element. Thus the surface of the food cooks very quickly, making this type of cooking ideal for poultry, fish and the tenderest cuts of meat. In fact, due to the extremely hot and dry nature of these cooking methods, most meats that are broiled or grilled are marinated prior to cooking. With both techniques meats and or vegetables are typically cooked on a grid or grate of some kind and are turned at least once during cooking which gives the food the distinctive grill marks that are the hallmark of these cooking techniques. As with sautéing, preheating the broiler or grill prior to putting the food on it is essential to achieve the desired results.

As mentioned previously, broiling is the technique of placing food in the oven very close to a heat source located above the food that can attain very high temperatures in a short period of time. Most home ovens only have one temperature setting for broiling and the amount of heat applied to the food is controlled by moving it closer or further away from the heat source by adjusting the grates in the oven. In many instances broiling is a finishing technique used to brown baked meats or other casserole type dishes.

Grilling, like broiling, uses very intense high temperatures to cook meats, vegetables, and on occasion seafood. Unlike broiling however, the heat source is located beneath the food to be cooked. The heat source for grilling can come from either direct or indirect flames from either gas, charcoal or wood, or direct or indirect radiant heat from charcoal briquettes.

Pan and Deep Fat Frying

Frying is a dry heat cooking technique that uses fat (butter, oil or shortening) to transfer heat to food. Because frying does not involve the use of water or stock it is considered a dry-heat cooking method. Techniques such as sautéing, stir-frying, and pan frying are all methods for frying food that use a small amount of fat to give cooked foods a brown and crispy texture. If you've ever seen the violent reaction of hot oil when water hits the pan or deep fat fryer, you know full well that oil and water just don't play well together. Getting a burn from hot oil can ruin any aspiring cooks day, take it from me, been there, done that, got the t-shirt. To minimize your chances of being burning from hot oil splatter, make sure anything you place into the hot fat is free from excess moisture before frying. For non-battered items, I recommend that you pat the food dry with a paper towel before frying it.

Deep fat frying is one of those cooking techniques that at first glance appears to be a moist heat technique. However, since deep frying requires food to be totally submerged in a hot liquid fat, it is actually a form of dry heat cooking. Foods that are deep fat fried are usually coated in a simple batter to protect and seal in its moisture as well as giving it that attractive golden brown color associated with foods cooked using this method.

 

Optimum deep fat frying is done in oil that has been heated to a minimum of 325°F and a maximum of 400°F. Any hotter than 400°F and the oil may begin to smoke, if the temperature of the oil drops below 325°F, the oil will begin to soak into the batter as well as the food making it greasy. When cooked properly, deep fat fried items actually have very little oil on or in them and when used in moderation can be a healthy addition to any diet. The most effective way to keep the oil hot is to fry items in small batches, so that the oil does not cool off too quickly. Overcrowding your frying vessel will cause the oil temperature to drop drastically increasing the amount of oil the food absorbs (up to 2 to 3 times the amount) making it soggy, greasy and extremely unhealthy. I am not saying frying is healthy, rather the technique of frying can be healthier when foods are fried properly.

Conclusion

Knowing how to use the proper dry heat cooking method is an important skill for the home cook or anyone who is cooking on a budget. Like moist heat, using the correct dry heat technique allows you to properly cook meats which are tender, juicy, and delicious that your family will surely enjoy. Whether you are roasting or baking in the oven or using a faster and higher temperature technique such as broiling, grilling or deep fat frying, knowing which foods work best with each technique will serve you and your family well. If you are looking to find additional ways to stretch your food dollars, be sure and check out some of my other articles on the subject on our blog. 

And as always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us a friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles. If you want a good reference copy of Wayne Gisslen's Professional Cooking, you can download a free PDF copy by clicking on the following link 'Wayne Gisslen's Professional Cooking 7th Edition'.

Related Recipes On Our Blog:

Grilled Tandorri Rabbit

Grilled Jerk Chicken: Ya Mon!

King Ranch Chicken:Chicken Enchilada Casserole

The Humble Sandwich Loaf: Making Your Own Bread

References:

Labensky, Sarah, Hause, Alan. ON COOKING: A Textbook Of Culinary Fundamentals. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

Gisslen, Wayne. Professional Cooking 3rd Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995.

Moist Heat Cooking Methods

 

Moist heat cooking refers to several different methods for cooking food with, or in a liquid. The item to be cooked may be first seared or sautéed before being added to the liquid such as when braising or stewing or the item may be totally immersed and cooked in a liquid such as when poaching, simmering or boiling. The liquid required to perform moist heat cooking can be either water, stock, wine and even steam (pressure cooking is also a moist method that combines both liquid and steam). When it comes to moist heat cooking, there is a fine line between one technique and another and many of them are combined together to finish a particular meal. For example a pot roast or pork butt may be both braised and then simmered to produce a the final product that is both tender and succulent.

Braising and Stewing

When using the technique of braising, the item to be cooked is browned (seared or sautéed), and then covered with a liquid and gently simmered at a relatively low temperature for a prolonged amount of time. When using the technique of stewing, the item to be cooked may or may not be browned depending on the recipe, it is then covered with a liquid and gently simmered at a relatively low temperature for a prolonged amount of time. Sounds similar right? Most people use these terms interchangeably, and while the techniques are similar, they are different. Braising is used to cook large cuts of meats (roasts, pork buts, chicken etc...) that are partially covered in a liquid, whereas stewing is used to cook small portions of meats (cubed, diced or cut up) that are totally covered by a liquid. Not a big difference, but a difference none the less.

Braising and stewing can be done on the stove top, in a slow cooker, or in the oven. Of the three, the option that produces the best results for braising and or stewing is the oven, although the slow cooker is a close second. Braising or stewing in the oven allows the heat to fully surround the cooking container, cooking the food more evenly than if it were only heated from below.

Because a slow cooker functions like a small oven, (the sides and bottom tend to heat evenly due to it's heavy ceramic pot) it is particularly good at braising and stewing. The ability to cook food long and slow while you are at work or out for the day is a big advantage, after all most of us would not leave our oven on all day while we were at work. It's primary limitation is the size of the ceramic vessel making it not as flexible as your oven when it comes to cooking larger portions of meats. In addition, the slow cooker does not allow for the reduction of liquid as a traditional Dutch oven or saute pan so your stews and braised meats will have more liquid making any accompanying sauce a little thinner.

When it comes to cooking cheaper and tougher cuts of meat (ones with more connective tissues), braising and stewing are the best techniques. Cheaper cuts of meat generally come from older animals, and older animals have more connective tissue. It is the connective tissue of older animals make the meat tough, and only the long, slow application of moist heat will result in a tender end result as moist heat dissolves these connective tissues. In addition, as the connective tissues break down and dissolve they turn into gelatin which helps to thicken the liquid and give it a smooth, velvety texture.

Poaching, Simmering, and Boiling

As with braising and stewing, poaching, simmering and boiling techniques are similar. Each of these methods involves cooking food by submerging it in a hot water, stock, and on rare occasions oil (not frying however as this is a dry cooking method). However what makes each of these cooking techniques uniquely different is the different range of temperatures used by each method. Because foods surrounded in liquid cook very evenly, these three methods are very popular and effective with each technique employed for a specific type of food or desired outcome.

Of the three, poaching is done at the lowest temperatures (140°F to 180°F). At this temperature range you may see small bubbles forming on the bottom of the pan, however the liquid should not be bubbling at all. Foods cooked in this lower temperature range tend to be more delicate such as eggs and fish. Turn the temperature up a little (180°F to 205°F) and you will be simmering. When simmering foods the same small bubbles that you saw at the bottom of the pan when you were poaching will be gently rising to the surface of the water, however, the water is not yet at a full rolling boil. This technique is most commonly employed when preparing soups or stocks, or when something needs to be cooked slowly over a prolonged period of time (see braising and stewing). Boiling is the hottest of the three (212°F), at this point the liquid has reached it's highest possible temperature and the bubbles that form on the bottom of the pan are violently bubbling on the surface of the liquid. This rolling boil is not a method recommended for cooking delicate foods such as eggs, fish or pasta. In fact of the three, boiling is probably used the least in modern commercial kitchens.

Steaming

Once water reaches it's maximum temperature (212°F) it begins to boil. At this temperature, it's physical makeup begins to change from a solid and it becomes vapor (steam). While the water may be violently bubbling, the steam it produces is very gentle, making steaming ideal for cooking delicate items such as seafood and vegetables. Seafood that is steamed maintains it's delicate texture, while vegetables that are steamed maintain both their vibrant color as well as their essential nutrients that may otherwise be lost when they are boiled.
 

Unlike water, steam can be forced to exceed it's natural temperature (212°F), by pressurizing it. During the 1960's and throughout the early 1970's before everyone had a microwave oven, many home cooks used pressure cookers to substantially reduce food cooking times. Traditional pressure cookers are self contained cooking vessels that are usually made of aluminum with a locking lid and rubber gasket that uses a small amount of water which is heated to create steam. This steam is then kept under pressure by use of a weighted, dial gauge, or combination of the two to increase the heat of the steam. The higher the pressure, the hotter the steam becomes. The following temperatures are approximations of the heat of steam under pressure (5PSI = 220°F, 10PSI = 235°, 15PSI 250°F), keep in mind the altitude at which you live makes a difference.

During that last few years, several brands of sleek new easy to use electric pressure cookers have become available for the home cook. Because of their ease of use with their multiple preset buttons that not only controls the cooking time but the pressure setting they have become quite popular.

Conclusion

Knowing how to use the proper moist cooking method is an important skill for the home cook or anyone who is cooking on a budget. Using moist cooking techniques allow you to purchase cheaper and tougher cuts of meats which can then be turned into tender, juicy, delicious dishes that your family will enjoy. Whether you are using a slow and low temperature such as when braising or stewing, or using a faster and higher temperature technique such as steam generated pressure cooking, knowing which foods work best with each technique will serve you and your family well.

If you want a good reference copy of Wayne Gisslen's Professional Cooking, you can download a free PDF copy by clicking on the following link 'Wayne Gisslen's Professional Cooking 7th Edition'. If you are looking to find additional ways to stretch your food dollars, be sure and check out some of my other articles on the subject on our blog. As always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us a friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.

Related Recipes On Our Blog:

Beef Stew: It's What's For Dinner

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Pressure Cooker Beef Stroganoff

References:

Labensky, Sarah, Hause, Alan. ON COOKING: A Textbook Of Culinary Fundamentals. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

Gisslen, Wayne. Professional Cooking 3rd Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995.