What happens when you soak meat in vinegar?
Hereof, what does vinegar do for meat?
The acid content and tangy flavor of vinegar makes it an excellent ingredient in a marinade for meat, poultry, fish, or vegetables. Vinegar can also tenderize tough cuts of meat.
Also to know, what happens when you soak pork in vinegar?
But after prolonged exposure, acid causes proteins to form bundles and tighten, forcing moisture out of the meat. Ultimately, a brine or marinade that contains vinegar causes meat to toughen, ruining its texture. Though vinegar can tenderize the surface of raw pork, it begins to toughen that meat after 2 hours.
That's because meat is made up mostly of water (about 75% by weight) and water and oily marinades don't mix. But in some cases, marinating can actually damage the meat. If you have very much acidity in the marinade -- vinegar or lemon juice, for example -- too long a bath can make the meat mealy.