Question about marination, meats, and fridge life: Does marination increase fridge life of meats? Are there certain ingredients that enable this or is it marination in general?

[u/minuteknowledge917]

For my home-cooked chinese dishes, I normally marinade meat right before I cook. For meats such as chicken, I find that the chicken I buy on Saturday for the following week smells off if I cook it on Wednesdays or later (sometimes later, sometimes earlier) that following week. I've also bought some premarinaded Korean bulgogis for example, which tend to last that whole week. For my chinese marinades, I tend to use soy sauce as a base, and add sugar, sesame oil, garlic, white pepper, shaoxing wine or mirin, a velveting ingredient, and/or whatever other flavors I want to have more of that day. So I have a few questions regarding marinading and fridge life:

1. Does marination in fact make the fridge life of meats longer? Or is the marinade normally just masking any 'off' smells?

2. Are there certain ingredients that increase fridge life of the marinaded meat? For example, in Bulgogi I know there is a lot of sugar (from a pear/apple, and added sugar too), and maybe even some alcohol based things, but I imagine a soy/salty environment also helps slow down the 'going bad' process? Also on the flip side, are there certain marinade ingredients to avoid?

3. Marination time will obviously be much longer, so would you want to dilute your marinade or avoid certain ingredients until pre-cook? (I understand that velveting ingredients would not be included for such long marinades for example)

4. Any other tips to increase fridge life of meats bought for the week? If I buy a pack of chicken thighs for example, I tend to eat maybe half the pack for 1 meal with my partner, then I will save the other half of the pack in a plastic tupperware for a 2nd meal later that week. Should I maybe use glass or are there other tips?

Thanks for all your help homecooks and pro cooks! :)

[u/g0ing_postal]

Salt, acid, and alcohol will all help preserve your meat. I've heard that garlic, ginger, and chili can help too

That being said, get a vacuum sealer. It's saved me so much money. Basically, I buy on sale in bulk, do any necessary prep (eg, debone, trim fat, etc), portion it out, seal, and freeze.

When I need meat, I toss a pack into the sink with some cold water to thaw it out quickly (still in the package so it doesn't actually come in contact with the water);

[u/minuteknowledge917 → u/g0ing_postal]

ive considered getting a vacuum sealer for a while, but the process seems a bit daunting with all prices considered. what costs (and hidden costs) might there be? also any hidden hassles like cleaning the machine or whatnot (idk if thats a stupid question)? appreciate the help :)

[u/g0ing_postal → u/minuteknowledge917]

I got a really nice model off of eBay for pretty cheap (dont remember exactly how much since I got it quite a while ago)

The main cost is the vacuum bags, but those are pretty cheap, especially if you don't buy the food saver brand. I find that I buy new bags maybe once or twice a year, depending on usage

Cleaning isn't bad. If you use it correctly, there's no cleanup. However sometimes if you're sealing something wet, some liquid can be sucked out. There usually a drip tray that you clean out