Marinade recipe has cream & lactic acid. Why not yogurt instead?

July 23, 2023 8:17 PM

I'm going to try replicating a chicken dish I had several years ago and was able to get the ingredient list for. Apparently the marinade included cream and lactic acid (plus some other stuff). I'm wondering why the chef — not one with terribly exacting standards — wouldn't have just opted for yogurt. Are cream and lactic acid as separate ingredients in a marinade so different in flavor and acidity from a good full-fat yogurt? I imagine the thickness of yogurt would actually be beneficial in this particular recipe, all else being equal.

I've used yogurt in marinades before and have no doubt it would be fine for this one. I'm just curious why a fairly middle-of-the-road chef might choose to use cream + lactic acid, when yogurt seems like such a sensible, easy, and similar alternative.

posted by theory to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Cream has a lot higher fat percentage than even the fattiest yogurt you can buy. Where I live cream is around 35%, while the richest yogurt available is about 10%. Typical full-fat yogurt is usually closer to 4%.
posted by ssg at 8:30 PM on July 23, 2023 [5 favorites]

in addition to the difference in fat levels, the acidity level even with the lactic acid added might not have been as sour as yogurt.
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:14 PM on July 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

I don’t know the proportions here but lactic acid is going to have a tenderizing effect. Fat is mostly for transferring flavors. Yogurt should do both but may not have the proportions in the same amount as the original recipe. A higher acidity in the original recipe could cause it to do more tenderizing work in less time depending on how long you marinate it for - some marinades only need an hour or so.

I’d say go for it with the yogurt. Maybe go a bit longer on the marinade to let it work.
posted by bitdamaged at 7:53 AM on July 24, 2023

Also from a practicality standpoint, if they use cream in lots of things and not yoghurt, it is one less thing to source/stock.
posted by mmascolino at 8:52 AM on July 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

Seconding that it could be a practicality thing - cream often has a longer shelf life than yogurt (can even be shelf-stable), and is less variable brand-to-brand than yogurt.
posted by mskyle at 11:47 AM on July 24, 2023 [1 favorite]