Meat tenderizer

Short description: Hand tool used to tenderize slabs of meat

This page is about the utensil. For the powdered meat tenderizer "spice", see Bromelain § Meat tenderizing and other uses, Papain § Uses, and Actinidain. For a variety of techniques for tenderizing meat, see Meat tenderness § Tenderizing.

An example of a meat tenderizer in use Stainless steel meat tenderizer Example of a blade tenderizer in action

A meat tenderizer or meat pounder is a tool for mechanically tenderizing and flattening slabs of meat.[1]

Meat tenderizers come in at least three types:[1]

* The first, most common, is a tool that resembles a hammer or mallet made of metal or wood with a short handle and dual heads. One face of the tool is usually flat while the other has rows of pyramid-shaped protrusions.[2]
* The second form resembles a potato masher with a short handle and a large metal face that is either smooth or adorned with the same pyramid-shaped protrusions as found in the first form.
* The third form is a blade tenderizer that has a series of blades or nails that are designed to puncture the meat and cut into the fibers of the muscle.[2]

Tenderizing meat with the mallet softens the fibers, making the meat easier to chew and to digest.[2] It is useful when preparing particularly tough cuts of steak, and works well when broiling or frying the meat.[3] It is also used to "pound out" dishes such as chicken-fried steak, palomilla, and schnitzel, to make them wider and thinner.

## See also

* Cooking
* Meat tenderness

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hutton, Elinor (2020). The Encyclopedia of Kitchen Tools. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7624-6998-7.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Madhusankha, G. D. M. P.; Thilakarathna, R. C. N. (2021-02-01). "Meat tenderization mechanism and the impact of plant exogenous proteases: A review" (in en). Arabian Journal of Chemistry 14 (2). doi:10.1016/j.arabjc.2020.102967. ISSN 1878-5352.
3. ↑ Gwyther, Pamela (2001). The Beginner's Cookbook. Bath, UK: Parragon Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 1-4054-3689-1. OCLC 233261474.

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