How to Use a Meat Tenderizer

Getting meat tender, or thinning out a cut of chicken until it is thin enough for a specific recipe, is an art. It isn't impossible, but there are a couple pitfalls to jump over to make your way to a successfully tenderized piece of meat. Once you know how to use a tenderizer, your recipe options will multiply.

Things You'll Need

• Meat tenderizer
• Flank steak
• Grade-A filet mignon, sliced thin
• Chicken breast
• Plastic wrap

Instructions

1. Prepare your beef for a marinade. One use of the tenderizer is to prep meat for a marinade. For this, you will want to take a cut of beef that will take a marinade well. This could be any low-fat, tough cut. Flank steak is an excellent choice. Place it on a hard, washable surface. Using the spiked side of the tenderizer, use medium force and pound the steak evenly. Flip and do the same on the other side. Do not use excessive force, otherwise the flesh will became mushy and the marinade will destroy the meat.

2. Prepare the filet for a carpaccio. Another use for the tenderizer is to thin or flatten meat. When preparing a beef carpaccio, the meat must be two things: very high quality, and very thin. Have your butcher slice your piece of filet thin at the store. Once home, lay each piece out, one at a time, on the washable surface. Cover the beef with plastic wrap. This will keep the meat from sticking to the tenderizer when you are using it. With the flat side of the tenderizer, use light force and pound out the meat. Use a pounding motion that goes down and away from you, so you are not only pressing down on the meat, but OUT as well. Work from the center out and go around the entire piece. Repeat on the rest of the pieces of filet.

3. Prepare the chicken for a cutlet. Chicken cutlet must be thin so it can cook evenly. The best way to do this is with the tenderizer. Cover the breast with plastic wrap, as you did before with the beef. Begin pounding in the same pattern that you did with the beef filet, away from you. This should thin and spread the chicken breast. Once finished, the breast should be a thin and uniform shape, making it perfect for quick and easy cooking.