How to Marinate Beef With Papain

If you want to tenderize your beef, consider marinating with papain. You can find papain naturally in the leaves and skin of raw papaya. Papain is a protein enzyme that breaks down the connective tissue and proteins in the beef. You can purchase papain at grocery stores, but it is more suitable to buy papayas and peel them yourself. You can combine other ingredients such as salt and soy sauce with the papain to add flavor, but they do not help in the tenderizing process.

Things You'll Need

• 1 papaya
• Glass baking dish
• 1 pound beef
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• Plastic wrap
• Oven
• Electric blanket

Instructions

1. Peel the green skin off the papaya. You want to peel the skin 1/4 of an inch deep where the largest amount of papain exists.

2. Slice the papaya thinly over a glass baking dish. Place the beef on top of the sliced papaya.

3. Combine the soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper in a separate bowl. Pour this mixture over the beef.

4. Cover the glass baking dish with a lid. The papain is only active once it reaches a temperature over 104 degrees F. Do not place the meat in the refrigerator. Refrigeration will flavor the meat, but it will not help tenderize your beef.

5. Place the glass baking dish in a warm oven set at 100 degrees. You can also wrap the glassware with an electric blanket set on low for a couple hours.

6. Marinate the beef for 2 to 4 hours. Marinating it overnight will cause the beef to become "mushy" because the papain is a fast acting enzyme.

Tips & Warnings

• Add 2 tbsp. of raw papaya and ¼ tsp. of salt per pound of meat.

• Bromelain, found in pineapples, is also an effective enzyme you can use to tenderize beef.

References

• Flavor Express: Marinating Beef
• Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences: It's Not Tough to Tenderize Meat: Just Make a Marinade
• Easy Steak Marinades: Ribeye Steak Marinade Recipe