Meat tenderizer - Wikipedia 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 in action. Stainless steel meat tenderizer A meat tenderizer, meat mallet, or meat pounder is a hand - powered tool used to tenderize slabs of meat in preparation for cooking. Although a meat tenderizer can be made out of virtually any object, there are three types manufactured specifically for tenderizing meat. 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 tenderizers. 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 tenderizers 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. Tenderizing meat with the mallet softens the fibers, making the meat easier to chew and to digest. It is useful when preparing particularly tough cuts of steak, and works well when broiling or frying the meat. It is also used to `` pound out '' dishes such as chicken - fried steak, palomilla, or schnitzel, to make them wider and thinner. See also Cooking Meat tenderness References Jump up ^ `` Jaccard Meat Tenderizers ''. Ceramic Shop. Jump up ^ Gwyther, Pamela ( 2001 ). The Beginner 's Cookbook. Queen Street House, 4 Queen Street, Bath BA1 1HE, UK : Parragon Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 1 - 4054 - 3689 - 1. This article about kitchenware or a tool used in preparation or serving of food is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Meat_tenderizer&oldid=793831481 '' Categories : Cooking utensils Kitchenware stubs Talk About Wikipedia Català Cebuano Čeština Deutsch Español فارسی Français Nederlands 日本 語 Русский Svenska Tagalog Edit links This page was last edited on 4 August 2017, at 07 : 14. About Wikipedia

Question: what is meat tenderizer and what does it do
Answer: a hand-powered tool