tenderizingmeat

Ever wonder why the slab of meat on your plate is hard as a rock, and sometimes it is so tender? This is because of the way the meat has been prepared. In other words, it depends on how the cook has tenderized it. There are two equally easy ways to do it, by simple mechanical or chemical methods. **Tenderizing meat mechanically** is done by pounding the meat, breaking its fibers. Meat pounders come in metal or wood and in all sorts of shapes and sizes. **Tenderizing meant chemically** means refers to softening the meat fibers by long, slow cooking and marinating it in an acid-based marinade, or using a meat tenderizer. The base of this marinade may include ingredients such as salt, acid and vegetable enzymes. There are various vegetable enzymes such as papain(papaya), bromelin(pineapple) and ficin(fig). These tenderizers normally come in the form of liquid or powder.

The most commonly used vegetable enzyme is the active enzyme in the papaya- papain. It is refined from papayas and is commercially available. Connective tissues that come in contact with the protein-digesting enzymes get broken down.

Direct contact is crucial when tenderizing meat. This means that by placing a piece of meat in a marinade will only allow the surface to be tenderize. Puncturing the meat for the marinade to penetrate through it will only result with uneven texture and might cause excessive lost of juices when cooking. Thus, to ensure that entire piece of meat is being marinated fully, place it in an air-tight container.

In slaughter houses, they inject papain into the animal right be fore they get slaughtered. The injected papain is being carried throughout the bloodstream and is activated when cooking. This might result in mushy pieces of meat, due to the fact that the presence of too much enzymes has destroyed too much muscle fiber’s firmness.

Papain if made into paste with water, is also a home remedy treatment for jellyfish, bee, wasps stings and stingray wounds because it breaks down the protein toxins in the venom.
 * DID YOU KNOW….**

Sources: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ0856.html http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/knowledge.asp?catitemid=21&id=351