How Meat Stays Juicy

• Exposed to dry heat, meat surfaces undergo what is called the Maillard reaction, or browning, as naturally present amino acids and sugars react to heat, especially between 300 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Meat surfaces change color and form a crust that holds juices inside meat. Other characteristics that keep meat moist are fat and skin. While other browned surfaces can take the place of skin, fat melts with heat, adding flavor to meat while providing a covering for juices that might otherwise evaporate.

About White Vinegar

• White vinegar, like other vinegars, wines and a number of fruit juices, gains its tenderizing and moisturizing reputation partly from the way all acidic liquids interact with meat proteins. High-acid liquids can soften protein fibers on the surface of meat, and cooks associate tenderness with juiciness in meat and other foods as well. The prolonged action of white vinegar, or similar marinades, however, renders meat surfaces mushy, more liquified than liquid-retaining. Further, all marinades or basting liquids applied to the surface of meat remain on the surface. White vinegar can impart a delightful tang to a meat dish but has no qualities that distinguish it from other acidic cooking liquids.

Basting and Flavor

• The intentions of basting are to add to meat moisture -- by pouring a liquid over the surface -- and flavor -- from the content of the liquid and its mixture with runoff juices and fats. Liquids, from broth to vinegar, let you add some variety to the flavor of the meat surface, in contrast to the taste of the inside tissues. The piquant flavor of pepper-laced white vinegar forms the distinctive flavor of Carolina barbecue, but more flavor can be imparted by brining or marinating the meat than by just basting.

Basting and Moisture - Pros

• Basting, according to its proponents, keeps meat moist in several ways. Frequent wetting of the browned outside crust of the meat keeps its dryness from penetrating far into meat tissues. Opening the oven door at intervals to baste meat lowers cooking temperature slightly so that excess heat does not dry out meat. Letting a liquid like white vinegar run off the meat and mix with pan drippings, and then basting with the resulting fat-liquid mixture, restores some of the surface coating that has run off meat during cooking. According to Kitchn.com food professionals, basting frequently, every 15 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the meat, contributes to keeping meat moist.

Basting and Moisture - Cons

• Runoff is runoff, in the eyes of basting detractors. Maillard browning and existing surface fat hold juices in, while a liquid like white vinegar simply washes them away and impairs their function. Cooling meat surfaces by opening the oven to baste can delay cooking time in general, and the achievement of safe internal temperatures in particular. Food scientist Greg Blonder cautions that some meat pathogens remain active when meat internal temperatures do not reach -- or spend only a brief time at -- 155 degrees F. Basting meat with pan juices containing still-viable pathogens spreads potential infection throughout the dish and, if basting utensils are used in other foods, cross-contaminates the entire meal. Further, basting is a poor way to add piquant flavors like white vinegar to the meat.

Basting - What Works

• The best intentions of basting can be achieved by combining it with other meat-preparation techniques. Brine meat with salt, water, seasonings and white vinegar before cooking. At a cellular level, brining adds moisture to meat tissues, and white vinegar can be part of that process. Meat will be juicier and have a tangy zing. Alternatively, marinate meat in white vinegar. Marinades penetrate only a small way into surface tissues, and enhance flavor more than they moisturize, but a surface piquancy can be enhanced by brief additional basting with more vinegar. Instead of opening the oven door frequently to baste, enhance moisture by partial covering during roasting, with basting reserved for the last hour of cooking. Tenting a roasting pan with aluminum foil or using foil to cover parts of the turkey vulnerable to dryness, like the breast, can keep meat moister during prolonged cooking than basting with any liquid.