Marination by vacuum tumbling is commonly practiced in the meat industry; however, the optimal temperature of the process to maximize marinade absorption and retention is yet to be defined. Furthermore, the role of marinade functional ingredients and pH of the marinade in alleviating problems with pink color in cooked meat and water retention during cooking is yet to be elucidated. For denaturation model study, myoglobin pigments from chicken gizzards were extracted. Observed results from the model study were validated in whole muscle and comminuted chicken meat. In addition, temperature of vacuum tumbling operation was optimized with respect to marinade pick- up, cook yield and expressible moisture. Also, trivalent Eu+3 was used to trace the penetration of marinade in chicken breast meat. Results showed that increasing concentration of salt and pH in marinade increased the persistence of the pink color in cooked meat. Furthermore, degree of denaturation of myoglobin pigments was not a determining factor for cooked meat color under the condition of higher ORP values in meat products. On the other hand, temperature of marination was found to be a significant factor in marinade penetration and retention in a vacuum tumbling process. Higher marination temperature promoted deeper penetration of marinade in the meat as traced by trivalent Eu+3. Consequently, marinade pick-up was found at higher temperature. However, cook yield was found highest when marination process was initially at a higher temperature followed by lowering to near refrigeration temperature. Amount of salt soluble protein extracted at lower temperature was higher compared to higher temperature of marination that may be a factor in higher marinade retention on cooking In conclusion, pink color incidence in cooked meat is dependent to the ORP value of meat during and after cooking. Pink color can be induced in a product that has the cooked meat color by altering the ORP by addition of a reducing agent. In addition, Eu+3 tracing of marinade penetration in meat showed marinade to be only near the surface of the chicken breast meat even at the elevated temperature of vacuum tumbling.