tender+meat...+naturally+so

=//__Tender Meat... Naturally so?!__//=

When you walk in to the supermarket to get that tenderloin steak for the barbecue dinner, are you worried at all about if it'll be chewy or tough? You know you've picked the right one when your guests compliment you, remarking how tender it is.





So what is it that makes meats in stores so tender? Because it's not always the case...

All we have to do is put it in the refrigerator and it's all tender, right? Not really. There's something else that needs to happen before that.

**What makes meat tender?**
There are [|many] factors that influence how tender the meat cut we end up buying is: what type of species feeding these include: suspension of the meat electrical stimulation the chill rate aging period mechanical procedure (cubing,slicing) chemical procedure with salt and vegetable enzymes
 * pedigree plays a role- a good heritage is still a good heritage
 * age the animal was when it was killed plays a key role
 * "muscle-to-muscle"- where is the meat cut from? the hip? the tenderloin?
 * different strategies used during the process up until it reaches the stores

Consumers can make use of the chemical procedure to influence the tenderness as well, marinating (recipes [|here]) the meat in a mixture of salt, acid (such as vinegar or soy sauce), and a small amount of a powder or liquid form of an enzyme.

Although you can always do it this way, media type="youtube" key="k2MqL5sBuvA"

many rely on the technique of using vegetable enzymes to put on meat, or soak the meat with. It is a fairly easy way to render the meat just the way you like it! There are numerous different products sold commercially that mix and match different combinations of these enzymes in order for us customers to grill fantastic meat.

=What are these "enzymes", and how do they affect the tenderness of meat?=

[|Enzymes] help lower the energy needed for any type of reaction to take place. In this case, the enzymes hydrolize proteins, meaning these proteins are turned into their subforms, and make it possible to break down muscle tissues like collagen and elastin, which results in more tender meat.

The most common ones used for meats are papain, taken from the papaya, bromelain, from the pineapple, or ficin, from the fig, in powder or liquid form. Marinating the meat in papaya juice would also work effectively, as it contains the papain enzyme. These powders are easily accessible and available at supermarkets and [|online].



Each enzyme has one [|specific] kind(s) of compound it reacts with. Take our "meat tenderizers", for example:


 * Papain (cisteine protease) || Bromelain (a different protease) || Ficin ||
 * Ester substrate || wide range of proteins (casein, hemoglobin, gelatin, soya, fish, etc) || casein ||

Papain (and Bromelain to a lesser extent) can withstand high temperatures (up to around 75-80 °C), and so are used either very sparingly and only on well-done meat, or in restaurants where the procedure is very controlled and strictly adhered to. The reason for this is because papain, if the amount of time the meat is marinated and the temperature at which it's cooked is not strictly controlled, would continue to act on the meat and break down the muscle tissue until it is no more than pulp.

For the good, these enzymes are not negatively affected by the concentrations of pH, salt, phosphate, and ascorbate that usually occur during the meat processing. Although only applied to the surface, this technique ensure exact rendering of the meat the way you like it during cooking, and it doesn't affect the outer shape, like cubing or slicing does. Also, it stops catalyzing reactions after the cooking has been done, and so once frozen or chilled the meat doesn't continue to change.

SO...

no need to worry any longer about how to WOW your guests, it's all right there available for you to make a grill party a successful one!

for additional information, you cann also look at: [|Enzyme development] __[|Prepared Foods]__ __[|About Papain]__