THE OJAI COOKCarne Asada, Mojo Criollo, 64 Ounce

I'm from San Diego where Carne Asada Burritos (CABs) are as ubiquitous as hamburgers. They're awesome. I love 'em. But now work as brought me to Florida and they either don't know about CABs, or if they have one on the menu, the ruin it by stuffing rice and beans into it. So I've had to start making my own CABs, and while I made my own marinade at first, I've since discovered the Ojai Cook Carne Asada marinade. and it's made the process so much easier. Just get some flank steak or similar cut, put it in a bag and marinate for a few hours, and you're ready to cook. The Ojai Cook marinade makes for great carne asada and I love the large bottle. I recommend it highly.

This was another result that came up in one of my regular searches for Gluten Free items. My wife and daughter both have celiac disease.I was a little worried that it might be too spicy for my family (they seem to think bell peppers are too spicy) but it wasn't. Better still, it says "Certified Gluten Free" right there on the label. If you're not dealing with celiac, you don't know what a great comfort that is. Note that I've only used this with chicken; my wife is semi-veg (poultry only) on top of having celiac (because plain old celiac isn't challenging enough.)Once I get past the crippling fear that something might have gluten in it (despite no obvious gluten ingredients -- man I love that (GF) logo!), the next test is whether or not my kids will actually eat it. Generally, this means finding out if my youngest, Mr. Picky will eat it. In this case, he did and he liked it. There were no tears or threats of "no more rice until you eat some chicken!" He just ate it. And my daughter, who can be picky -- more skittish, actually, because of the pain she went through before being diagnosed -- loved it too.It's a 1/2 gallon for around $14 which is not bad at all. I dump some chicken parts in a Ziploc bag, pour in some of this marinade, mix it up a bit, and let it sit in the fridge overnight. I've also thrown in some sliced onions which was nice too. We've grilled it and baked it and both were fine. This is definitely going to be a regular on our shopping list.Pros:- It's certified gluten free. Ah, sweet piece of mind. No worrying with this one.- The kids like it. Not much point if we can't get at least 2 out of 3 to eat it; all three liked this. Big win there.- It's not unhealthy. I'm no health expert, but the ingredient list looks pretty okay to me -- no high fructose corn syrup. When you're trying to find foods that are safe for someone with celiac, worrying about things like HFCS end up pretty low on the priority list.- It's not outrageously expensive. Back in the days Before Kids (BK), I would happily spend $10 for a 10oz bottle of tear-inducing salsa (because I love that stuff. Yes, I'm weird. Deal with it.) Now, with three kids and piano lessons and dance shoes and theatre performances to pay for, cost is a serious consideration. And, usually, GF stuff is best described as "bloody expensive." Makes that salsa look cheap sometimes. This is actually normally priced.Cons:- There aren't any, really.- Well, I will say I don't find the color all that attractive. Does that count?To sum up, yeah, just go ahead and get some.

Based on the high reviews here, I bought this stuff - and by the way hopefully Amazon gets it back in stock because I paid 1/3 of the price and free shipping compared to what it's listed from a 3rd party seller right now.Anyway - I tried this first just to taste it and I was amazed at how great it tasted. No joke, I can't imagine anyone interested in a Carne Asada sauce not loving this stuff. I then used it as a marinade on some pork loin chops that I grilled later. Although I poked the chops good this didn't sink into the dense meat very well, so I used more as just a sauce while we ate it and it was great.Then, yesterday, I smoked some ribs. I marinaded them in lime juice, honey and a little apple cider vinegar. Then I put a bark rub on them (mostly pepper, kosher salt and granulated onion) and smoked them at 250 for around 3.5 hours. Instead of BBQ sauce, I just used this stuff - straight, nothing else. The sauce worked just like a BBQ sauce would - got much thicker and sticky on the ribs and I have to say they may be the best ribs I've ever had. What a sauce....can't wait to use it on chicken, pulled pork and even steak.I can't get enough of this sauce - if you can't find it locally, or if it goes back to a reasonable price (I paid a little over $10) for the 64oz bottle, GET IT.

After reading the handful of reviews I thought $14 with Prime was worth a try. WOW!! This marinade is fantastic!! Excellent flavor!! The flavor is very close to a true authentic carne asada. Okay, I have to add to my original review now that I've gone through several jugs of this delectable wrath of goodness. Let me wipe the tears from my eyes and just say this stuff is insanely good! I agree with a previous reviewers comment, I really think you could put this on bat guano and serve it to your hoity-toity culinary guests and have them rave about it.Soooo, after using many jugs of this delectable marinade for the past year or so I again return to rave about its goodness!! Where to start...What more to say...Yes, this is a rare moment in which I've found myself at a loss for words to describe this magnificent bottle of bliss. How do I use this to achieve extraordinary results? I simply place my chicken (sliced about 1/4" thick) or beef in a sealable bag and cover it with this marinade (dont' be shy) and let it rest in the ole refrigerator for two, yep let it rest for two days for the best results. After those two days it's onto the grill and WOW! Just amazing!

Very vinegary not very tasty

This marinade was not for me. I’m not going to give it a 1 star though because taste is subjective. It’s possible that others will think it tastes great. I have been buying carne asada for close to 35 years now and I’ve had excellent, and have had what I consider to be bad, but still edible. This would rank in the lower part of the taste scale for me.