The products we used:
Getting Meat Just Right
When it comes to tenderizing meat, two tools stand out in the kitchen: bladed meat tenderizers and meat tenderizer mallets. Both are designed to make tough cuts more palatable, but they approach the task in distinct ways. Here's a breakdown of how they compare, so you can decide which suits your cooking style—or if you might want both.
Using a Bladed Meat Tenderizer
Bladed meat tenderizers use rows of needle-like blades to pierce and break up the connective tissue and muscle fibers of the meat. I used one for the first time while we conducted the photography for this article. It was fairly easy, although you do need to give it a good push. We started tenderizing our steak lengthwise, but we found it easier to tenderize it widthwise. Pulling out all of the blades was easier, especially around areas with a lot of fat.
Using a Meat Tenderizer Mallet
On the other hand, I have used a meat tenderizer mallet before. It's easy to understand how these work: You pound your chicken or pork to flatten and pull apart the meat.
Comparing tenderizers: Bladed type
Both types of tenderizers are effective and useful for different purposes. Bladed tenderizers excel with thicker, tougher cuts like flank steak, brisket, or pork shoulder. It's great when you want to keep the meat's natural shape intact while boosting tenderness and flavor penetration. It's less effective on very thin cuts, where over-piercing could shred the meat.
In our first experience using the bladed type, we found that our meat was less tender than we imagined it would be. This is probably a lack of experience–we likely didn't pierce our steak enough. Next time, I would go wild and really poke that meat.
One word of caution: When used effectively, the bladed type will drastically reduce cooking time. Keep that in mind the first time you use it. You don't want to be disappointed by tough, dry, overcooked meat.
Comparing tenderizers: Mallet type
Tenderizing mallets shine with cuts that need both tenderizing and flattening, such as round steak, veal cutlets, or poultry. They're also handy for small, uneven pieces that need leveling out. However, they're less suited for delicate meats or when you want to avoid thinning.
We tried both bladed and mallet type tenderizers on some steaks and found that the one we tenderized with a mallet was more tender. However, I attribute that to experience more than the tool: I've often used mallets to flatten chicken for even cooking and more surface area for toppings and seasonings. Chicken breast really benefits from a good wallop.
Other uses for mallets
Another side benefit of the mallet type: You can use it to crush and smash other foods besides meat. Nuts and even vegetables like cucumber can benefit from a good whacking!
More reading
If you're interested in some Japanese foods that might benefit from a tenderizer, take a look at our recipe for tonkatsu. While the recipe calls for thin slices of bacon, that tonkatsu could fit nicely into a nice greedy grilled sandwich. If you are a lover of chunky potato salads, you could us a mallet to crush some cucumber or other vegetables and put them in your mean potato salad.
