I'd appreciate some input, need a meat tenderizer.

Diane Lane

Diane Lane

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I have no idea how I've survived all these years without a meat tenderizer. Perhaps I had one in the past and gave it away since I didn't use it, but when I went to look for one the other day, I was flabbergasted to see that I don't have one. I even double checked the bag of kitchen items I've had sitting to the side for months now, that I'll be donating, but there wasn't one in there.

I started looking around, and I noticed that there are a couple of different styles. Since many of y'all are experienced cooks, I thought this would be the perfect place to ask. I've only encountered the pounding kind, that sort of resemble a hammer with a square or round end that has raised parts that pound into the meat. I recently saw a different sort, that has stainless blades that pierce the meat. I'm on a budget, and the piercing type looks to be more expensive, but since I can't afford expensive meat, I might be willing to splurge if it's a much superior design.
 
I don't have one as I rarely try to cook meat which is on the tough side (unless I slow cook it, in which case no need to bash it first!). But,as far as I'm aware a good heavy mallet style one like this is fine for the job. This one costs £12 (just under 17 dollars) so they don't seem to be expensive. You can use the flat side to flatten out meat into escalopes. I currently use a rolling pin to do that but think I may get one of these for that purpose!
meat tenderiser.jpg
 
What we use here to tenderize meat is the wooden pestle. That is the traditional tool for that maybe because the older generation was not exposed to modern kitchen gadgets. Remember, there was no rice cooker yet and even the refrigerator was just being invented. But in fairness to that tradition, the wooden pestle is good enough although the pounding should be monitored well so the effect is even. I remember my grandmother wrapping the meat in papaya leaves and leaving it for 1 hour before pounding. She said that the papaya leaf is a good meat tenderizer.
 
I really don't use a meat tenderizer as such, I will sometimes use the meat tenderizer that comes in a bottle, if the meat seems like it might be a bit tough.
I think one of those mallets with the raised ends would be a good thing to have though...because not only could you tenderize meat with it..you could
also flatten your meat if need be. I like to sometimes make a dish with a rolled up chicken breast, and having a mallet would be good. As a tenderizer I think people have been using them for years.
 
Thanks @morning glory, that's the type that I've seen before, although yours is prettier than some. The other type is newer, I think, but I prefer the idea of using one like this to pound the meat and get out some aggression. Pounding nails into the fence works the same way. I'm adding this to my 'must purchase' list, for the next time I come across a nice deal on cheap tougher cuts of meat.

@kgord I've seen those meat tenderizer spices, but have never investigated to see what is included. I'm trying to cut back on salt somewhat (not entirely, ever), so I'll have to see what they contain.

@Corzhens I have a few mortar and pestles, one wooden and one marble. I guess you mean just using the pestle on a flat surface? That had never occurred to me, nor had using a rolling pin, as @morning glory mentioned.
 
Diane Lane said:
@Corzhens I have a few mortar and pestles, one wooden and one marble. I guess you mean just using the pestle on a flat surface? That had never occurred to me, nor had using a rolling pin, as @morning glory mentioned.
Click to expand...

I think the rolling pin is much better than the wooden pestle but since we have no rolling pin so I had been using the pestle for that purpose. What I do is to spread a thick placemat on the table - by the way, our table is thick wood that is okay for pounding - and then the chopping board where the meat is placed for pounding. But the pounding is slow and not too hard. I actually learned that trick from my mother-in-law who was doing that to beef when she cooks "morcon" which is a beef dish with fillings.
 
I am not sure if I will be using such a tool to tenderize the meat. I was in the same situation looking for some ways to tenderize a pork belly. I am glad some members shared their tried and tested ways like using a slow cooker or pressure cooker. Anyone here who had used some meat tenderizing powder? How did you find it? Is it safe to use on a regular basis?
 
Tough cuts are worth cooking long and slow. The rewards of taste and texture justify the wait. Not aware of any shortcuts that really work.
 
There are other types of meat tenderizers out there as well, aside from your standard metal mallet type. For example, there are ones such as the Jaccard meat tenderizer, which has a series of small blades which tenderize the meat. I own an Oxo brand version of this currently. In some ways I kind of prefer these types over hammering my meat, because it's less noisy and it really penetrates the meat instead of just smashing it - so it absorbs marinades faster too. You do need to be careful with overdoing it with them though, otherwise it makes the meat have a really "processed" texture to it.
 
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