Meat tenderizer

This article 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.

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

An example of a meat tenderizer in use

Stainless steel meat tenderizer

Example of a blade tenderizer in action

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