What Are The Benefits Of Using Soy Sauce Vs Salt For Meat Marinades?

Marinating meat is a great way to punch up its flavor. Though there are some caveats to be aware of when undergoing the process — you should always pat meat dry first, for example — there's a reason the process is so ubiquitous. If you're a true pro, you can even reverse-marinade after the meat is cooked, using the natural processes of the resting stage to absorb flavors without compromising the sear. And one of the key components in any meat marinade is salt; the stuff is ubiquitous around the globe for a reason. While you can certainly use basic salt in marinades, it's not your only option. There are also salty ingredients, including soy sauce.

So, when should you use salt in marinades, as compared to soy sauce? Neither is inherently better; there are good reasons and situations to use each. Basically, salt is a lot more versatile and offers more control (and a whole method of marinating unavailable to anything else), while soy sauce adds a specific punch you can't get from salt alone.

The main benefit salt brings to the table is versatility. You can use salt in anything without adding more flavor than the salt itself, something that isn't possible with soy sauce or other salt-based sauces. (After all, they're still going to have things in them besides salt.) In a wet marinade, salt incorporates without affecting the overall flavor profile beyond its basic function, so you have more control with the overall flavor.

But the biggest benefit of salt in a marinade doesn't have to do with a wet marinade at all — it's about a dry marinade (also known as a dry brine). In a dry brine, you cover a piece of meat in salt, which draws the moisture to the surface, mixes with the salt, then incorporates back into the meat itself — essentially seasoning it from the inside. This doesn't work with soy sauce, because the process relies on salt's natural tendency to absorb moisture.

Still, soy sauce has its uses when it comes to marinating. It's all about what you're going for. Soy sauce's flavor is, by nature, more complex than that of salt. 

For one thing, soy sauce marries particularly well with other flavors, such as ginger. But its biggest advantage is that it contains glutamic acid, which has the natural effect of boosting meat flavors (it's one of the key components to making pork taste like pork, for example). Thus, soy sauce would be more beneficial than salt when the natural flavor of the meat is milder and you want to encourage that savory flavor development.

Both salt and soy sauce are viable options for marinades depending on the situation. Whichever you use, they're both going to add a salty bite to your dinner — it's just up to you what form that takes.