As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a bottle of KC Masterpiece® Buffalo Marinade recently. At first, I thought “Wow! Awesome, I can use this for some great things”, and then I thought, “Oh.. It’s a marinade… I need to marinade things…which will take time…and has to be meat”.
So I tried that. I marinated some chicken breasts in the sauce for 30 minutes as was suggested and grilled them on a gas grill. while they were grilling, we brushed more sauce on the chicken and also brushed some on some white onion rings. The chicken tasted alright, but I felt like the flavor wasn’t truly absorbed. The onions on the other hand, tasted great with the marinade. And that’s when I realized: I shouldn’t use this as a marinade, as intended, but rather a sauce or dressing!
The photo above is of some shirataki (yam) noodles that I marinated in the sauce, then added some vegetables and cooked in a pan. I also used some below-average produce (crisper bin potatoes and frozen brussel sprouts) and they got a second lease on life with this sauce! I tossed the cubed potatoes and sprout quarters in the sauce, added some pepper and cojita cheese, and roasted at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. The vegetables had the perfect done-ness and spiciness.
The only thing to mention is that with a marinade-method, most of the sauce is discarded, so the flavor isn’t as strong. When using this as a cooking sauce or “dressing”, the sauce stays put so the flavor is stronger. In the case of the buffalo sauce I received, the flavors are red pepper, garlic, paprika, vinegar, and…hot sauce. The heat tends to build up a bit if you don’t take a break with a beverage or side dish, but that might be my low heat tolerance talking.
Since it’s a large commercial product, I’m guessing the marinade is full of HFCS and myriad other ingredients one wouldn’t normally combine for a dressing or marinade. I understand it was sent to you for review by KC Masterpiece, but I’m wondering how you feel about those kinds of ingredients, and how does it weigh on your shopping decisions? Are you slow food?
Hi, I’m Charles, I just found your blog and so I’m commenting! Yay!
Thanks for the comment Charles! If there is an option that doesn’t have HFCS (ex: Ketchup), then I buy it, no matter the price difference since I think that it’s healthier. But, many times there isn’t an alternative option.
I think that I’ve bought 1 marinade myself in my life, I usually make my own marinades or brines since I like being able to customize the ingredients and flavors. I do think that you could probably make this marinade yourself and it would be healthier. But, this is a good shortcut for those that don’t have the time or knowledge to make their own marinades/sauces. It’s probably just hot sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic, and pepper flakes since that’s what the label shows. Of course it won’t have that gooey HFCS consistency, but since it’s a marinade, that doesn’t matter.