[belle1314]

How long can you leave a rack of lamb in a marinade that has lemon juice in it? I know fish and other seafood cannot be left in a lemon based marinade for to long as the acid begins to break down the proteins and such....How would this work with lamb? The marinade also has olive oil, white wine, and some herbs......if that matters at all!!
Thanks

[Suzanne]

Sorry -- didn't mean to leave you hanging all this time! Or to leave the lamb marinating this long.

In terms of safety, you could probably leave it for a couple of days as long it you keep it cold. For attractiveness, probably not much more than a day, because the acid will start to "cook" the meat (the same as with seafood) and turn it a very unappetizing shade of gray. And for effectiveness -- again, a day or so. The marinade won't really penetrate all the way through the meat no matter how long you leave it; you won't really be harming the meat, but you won't be helping it, either.

I once left chicken pieces marinating for a few days on the assumption that longer was better. Wrong! Eventually, the flesh started to break down, and cooked up to mush.

[MarkV]

Yes I would agree with Suzanne. No more than a day. An overnight marinade is sufficient for beef and lamb.