Tenderising meat: These are the best tips and tricks

If you want to tenderise meat, there are a few simple tips and tricks to help you do it. The extra steps are worth it as the flavour of the meat is enhanced by its tender consistency.

Tenderising meat: steps before preparation

With the right technique, you can tenderise any type of meat. The steps before the actual preparation are especially important:

• Cutting: To make your piece of meat cook faster and not become tough, cut it into smaller pieces. It is important to use the knife at right angles to the grain of the meat.
  • When cutting, you shred the meat fibres, which changes the structure. This makes the meat tender rather than tough when cooked later.
  • Tapping: Before roasting, you should tap the meat softly to loosen up the meat fibres. It is best to use a metal meat tenderiser. This is heavier than one made of wood and breaks the meat fibres more quickly.
    • If you don’t have a meat tenderiser at hand, a small frying pan is also suitable for the treatment.
    • Place the piece of meat on a cutting board. Take the meat tenderiser and pound the piece of meat well on both sides.

    Soften meat by marinade

    By using the right marinade, you can make tough meat tender and soft. The most important element of such a marinade is acid. This breaks down meat fibres and makes the food particularly tender. Some fruits contain a lot of acid, especially fruits such as kiwi, lemon, papaya or pineapple.

    • Puree the fruit with a high-powered blender or a hand blender. If you do not have such a device, simply cut the fruit into small pieces.
    • Add the puree or chunks to the meat and mix well. Make sure to squeeze the meat a bit. This loosens the fibres and the fruit acid can work better.
      • If you don’t have any fruit, but you have onions, this works just as well. Buttermilk, kefir or yoghurt are also perfect for a marinade thanks to the lactic acid.
        • Especially when roasting in the oven, you should marinade the meat beforehand so that it doesn’t get too dry.

         

        How to prepare tender meat

        Once you have processed and prepared the meat according to the two points above, it is time to prepare it. There are two variations here:

        • Boil the meat until tender: Fill a pot with water and put the piece of meat in it. Let the water boil. Then add a few halved onions to the water.
        • Let the meat simmer for a few hours. The onions that are cooked in are there to tenderise the meat.
          • It is important to cook the meat over a low heat, but for a longer period of time. Goulash, for example, is usually simmered for 2 hours so that the beef is as tender as possible.
          • Tender meat from the frying pan: Put some oil in a pan and fry the piece of meat until hot. The temperature should be about 70 degrees.
          • Add some water to the pan and let it simmer a little longer. The pan should be covered with a lid when you do this.
          • To cook the seared meat, you can also put it in the oven. The meat feels comfortable at about 90 degrees. Leave it in the oven for up to an hour, depending on the thickness of the piece.
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