9 Ways of Tenderizing Meat
Like many things at the grocery store these days, the price of meat has gone up. So, if you’re looking to stretch your budget by buying cheaper cuts of meat, good news. Once you learn the secrets behind these 9 ways of tenderizing meat, you can buy those cheaper cuts and have them cook up like an expensive piece of meat.
Cook in Your Slow Cooker
There’s something about the slow roast that occurs in a Crock Pot that makes meat fall apart. So when you have a tougher cut of meat — pork, steak or chicken — consider slow cooking it so you’ll have a tender dinner in the end.
Use Your Electric Pressure Cooker
Like the slow cooker, your electric pressure cooker, aka the Instant Pot, does a great job of automatically tenderizing any meat you put in it. When we use our Instant Pot to make pulled pork or carnitas, we know that at the end of the cook, the meat will melt in our mouth.
Mechanical Tenderizing
Mechanical tenderizing can help make meat thinner and break down muscle to make it more tender and easy to cut. One of the common ways to use mechanical tenderizing on cuts of meat like a round steak or other tough cuts of beef is a meat mallet.
Brining
You probably think about brining and your Thanksgiving turkey. Well, brining works to tenderize meat, too. Brining itself is rather easy. It only involves mixing the brine — sugar and salt — submerging the meat and keeping it all cold.
Yogurt Marinade
Yogurt is a popular way of tenderizing meat, because the lactic acid in the yogurt breaks down proteins in the meat, making it tender and flavorful. It’s a popular choice for middle Eastern and South Asian dishes, such as tandoori chicken or kebabs.
Mustard and Honey Marinade
Marinating is a common way to quickly tenderize meat and add flavor. Many different ingredients will tenderize meat when added to a marinade, such as mustard, an acid, and honey, a sugar.
Using Vinegar or Wine
Once again, acid and sugar play a part in tenderizing a piece of meat. So reach for vinegar, be it apple cider balsamic or white vinegar, or a wine to marinate your meat in. Think of a dish like coq au vin, where the meat cooks right in the wine.
Velveting Meat with Baking Soda
According to Arm and Hammer, “Velveting is a simple process of using baking soda or a mixture of egg whites, cornstarch and oil to marinate and tenderize economical cuts of steak, chicken and other meats before cooking. Velveting meat softens fibers to reduce toughness and enhance juiciness for maximum flavor and tenderness.”
Pineapple or Pineapple Juice
Pineapple and pineapple juice have an enzyme called bromelain that breaks down the proteins in meat, making it more tender. You may think about pineapple on an Easter ham but chances are it made that meat tender and delicious.
Read the article for more tips on how to tenderize meat