Questions tagged [tenderizing]
Tenderizing refers to any number of processes which make meat less tough and easier to chew and swallow.
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How to tenderize/soften steamed octopus
I have got some steamed Spanish octopus in the freezer that I'm going to grill and serve as an appetizer. From testing with a pairing knife it seems quite chewy.
I've had success in the past with ...
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Curled, Tender Beef in Noodle Soups (esp. Vietnamese)
I've noticed that both in Europe as well as Vietnam, the beef slices in noodle soups (in particular phở bò) tend to have two salient qualities:
they are absurdly, melt-in-your-mouth tender, and
they ...
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Steak still tough despite using methods to tenderize it
First method: dry marinating the meat with sea salt for an hour.
Second method: cooking the meat with low heat using 80 degrees Celsius (electric oven) for 30-40 minutes.
The cut looks like the one on ...
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Can sourdough starter be used for tenderizing meat?
This paper says that after:
"Lactobacillus alimentarius 15M, Lactobacillus brevis 14G, Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis 7A, and Lactobacillus hilgardii 51B were selected and used in sourdough ...
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Will uncooked meat tenderise or toughen while stored in a refrigerator?
In an effort to make fewer food shopping trips, I want to store meat in the fridge for a few days before cooking.
However, if I'm entertaining guests I want the meat to be as tender as possible.
Will ...
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Tenderizing vegetables (chili pepper)
I am trying to emulate a hamburger recipe I ate at a restaurant with some green chili pepper (Chile Verde) which I really enjoyed.
My problem relies on how to cook it, if I just use the pan it burns ...
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How to do the most that I can to make too-fresh non-hanged beef steak-ready and not flood the pan with liquid?
Yesterday I asked a question about how to prevent beef meat losing water during storage, and I learned that I actually shouldn't want that, quite the opposite, its probably a good thing for the beef ...
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Why cook octopus with an onion?
I've been following all the rule books on how to cook fresh/thawed octopus, specifically to "frighten" the octopus before cooking. The "frightening" is a quick 10 second bath in ...
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Why is beef butchered in small scale almost subsistence farming so tough that even tenderloin is only good for ground beef?
I just bought a whole beef tenderloin on a wet market in a small rural place in a developing country in Asia. I noticed something is wrong with it regarding tenderness from the first moment I touched ...
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Tenderizing fava bean skin without overcooking inside
For the umpteenth time I'm going to give fava beans a try, never having achieved satisfactory results thus far. I love them when someone else makes them, or even the canned ones ready to eat at my ...
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Stewing meat with vinegar or adding it after
Wild turkey legs are rather tough, and some hunters even throw them away, but I decided to give it a shot in a slow cooker set at the lowest setting for 8 hours, with vegetables. I definitely like ...
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How long to sous vide a tough cut of steak?
With most steaks the recommended cooking time in sous vide is about an hour (of course depending on the thickness of the cut).
I have done some sous vide cooks recently, and they always ended up ...
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Why do some meats get tougher with higher temperatures, while others become more tender?
I am looking for example at a sous vide recipe for goat on the joule app. The tenderness seems to increase with the temperature, while with beef steak it's the other way around. Is that true and why ...
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How to pound chicken breasts without a meat tenderizer?
I do not have a meat tenderizor. I want to fry my chicken breasts but need to pound out the meat. What can I use instead?
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Is there any other substitute of papaya paste to tenderize the mutton or beef?
To tenderize mutton for BBQ I use fresh papaya paste, but it is not available in some areas. Are there any alternatives to papaya paste that could be easily found?
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How to tenderize squid for ika nigiri?
I was at a Sushi restaurant in San Diego today and ordered some squid nigiri. Although it had been roughly scored with a knife, it was still quite chewy. I'm assuming it was yari-ika.
Is there a ...
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Chemical meat tenderizers
I know pineapple (Hawaiian cooking), onion (Chaliapin steak), pickle juice (Chick-fil-A) and honey (Shokugeki no Soma). All tenderize meat via cooking and / or marinating. My questions are:
What ...
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How to make 1/2 inch thick porkchop brown but tender?
Cheap porkchop cuts here in the Philippines are only 1/2 inch thick.
It's so hard to brown them or give them color while frying, but still keep it tender. Everytime it's the right color, it's already ...
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How do I avoid duck ending up tough?
I bought a small wild duck and I don't know how to cook it. I read that duck meat may be tough and hard to keep the meat tender after cooking. How do I avoid this? Should I debone it, or separate the ...
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What ingredients to use to prevent steak from drying out on the grill?
I know from experience that finely crushed onions mixed with vinegar, work well on keeping the meat from shrinking while on the grill. I also know of honey, but have yet to try and incorporate it into ...
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Cooking sliced ham to make it tender
I am preparing sandwiches that have only really soft ingredients, like gouda cheese, cream cheese, etc.
But I would like them to have meat in them, I've decided to use sliced ham for that but the ...
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Does cooking octopus in salt or pastry crust produce juicy octopus?
I've been reading up on octopus preparation and the different methods used to tenderise the meat. Rustic recipes call for a good beating against a rock until soapy, others talk of a long boil or ...
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How do I make prepared seitan (gluten) more tender?
The 'chicken' Twinkie-sized logs from Chinese grocer are roughly the texture of firm silicone.
I sliced them thinly and braised for 1 hour. Not noticeably softer.
How do I tenderize them? Would meat ...
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What is the effect that cooked sieved egg yolks added to pastry dough will have on the final product?
I have heard that this will create a more tender end product.
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How does pineapple tenderize meat?
It seems to be common knowledge that pineapple tenderizes meat. Most sources say that it does so due to proteases (specifically bromelain). However, I've also seen suggestions that acid is an ...
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Does honey actually tenderize meat?
I was recently reading a cooking manga named Shokugeki no Soma, in which the protagonist uses unconventional methods to cook specific dishes. In one chapter, he uses honey specifically to tenderize ...
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Using liquid nitrogen for tenderizing octopus?
I recently had an idea to try and rapidly break down the "rubberizing" connective tissues in octopus using a different method than the tried and true boiling or hammering. It is well known that ...
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Why is the chicken in Indian food so tender?
I used to go to an Indian restaurant that had the most tender chicken I've ever had. In general, it seems like Indian curries have very tender chicken. Could somebody explain if there is a secret? Is ...
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help me identify the factors which make grass-fed beef tender or tough
I have been buying grass-fed beef straight from the farm both in Germany and in Poland. The beef I bought in Germany was invariably tender, regardless of the cut and what way I prepared it, while the ...
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How to tenderize large squid?
My whole life I've been buying small squid (maybe 4-6" long bodies without the head and tentacles), which are very mildly chewy and tender. All it takes is sautee them in a little OO and they are ...
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Extremely tender beef at hospital
My dad was recently in the hospital for intestinal surgery. While he was recovering they served him some beef that he was very surprised to find incredibly tender. He let me have a bite. It was so ...
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Can I tenderize conch meat with baking soda
I want to tenderize conch meat with baking soda for the first time. It works on meats, beef, pork and chicken, but I have never tried it on conch meat. I have in the past, tenderized conch by ...
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What would be an alternative cooking technique for the Orion Cooker to get more tender ribs?
After cooking my first batch of baby back ribs on the Orion Cooker, I found that they were more "Kansas City Style", as opposed to what I like (fall off the bone). So although the Orion Cooker is ...
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How does velveting work?
The Chinese technique of velveting works. It creates a lusciously tender bit of meat, and I'm a complete advocate of making the small additional effort. If you've ever done it, you're already a ...
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Is there a downside to tenderizing meat?
I'm specifically asking about manual or mechanical tenderization prior to cooking, as with a meat tenderizer (also called a mallet). Wikipedia says
Tenderizing meat with the mallet softens the ...
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What types of alcohol will make meat tender when marinating?
When marinating meat for Russian "Shashlik"(BBQ) some people marinate meat in alcohol. My uncle prefers to use beer when preparing pork. My Georgian(this Georgia) friend uses red wine, which was the ...
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How to cook extremely soft chicken?
I had this chicken that was extremely soft at a thai restaurant in Portland, Or. The cashew nut chicken dish had small strips of extremely soft chicken.
As you can see, the chicken is not cripsy or ...
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Whisky instead of wine in marinades?
I know that almost every one of us use wine or vinegar for marinades or meals. Recently I was cooking a Chinese food and tried whisky instead just for a difference. That bitterness of the whisky ...
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Why did my roast beef turn out chewy and not tender? Where did I go wrong?
I recently made an Oven Round Roast in the oven and I followed directions quite well. I would really like to know where I went wrong.
The roast was 1.4kg and relatively round in shape, it was also ...
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How is Kiwifruit used to tenderize Meat?
I just read today that Kiwifruit is used to tenderize meat. I wanted to make some fruit chutney anyway, normally I'd go for mango, but why not use kiwifruit fruit this time?
I read that the actinidin ...
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Marinating in yogurt
I'm currently letting some wild turkey (the bird, not the whiskey) marinate in some plain yogurt. I saw this somewhere on TV or online. Does anyone know what's actually going on chemically when the ...
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How do I make the beef in my beef stroganoff more tender?
Tonight I prepared some beef stroganoff with a recipe from allrecipes.com as a rough guide. It came out really well, except that the meat was very tough.
I bought the meat pre-cut as "stew meat," as ...
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Does a mechanical meat tenderiser denature chicken so that it will absorb more salt water?
Does a mechanical meat tenderiser denature chicken to the point it will absorb more salt water in a soup?
If I use a £20-£40 meat tenderiser on chicken and thereafter make chicken soup(with more salt)...
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How do Chinese restaurants tenderize their meat?
I eat at a lot of Chinese restaurants now and also while growing up. I often wondered how is it that the chicken, pork, and beef in dishes are always so tender. I can never replicate it when I cook.
...
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Soaking beef in water
I've begun cooking Asian food in the past year or so, and in many Korean and Chinese beef recipes, I see instructions to soak beef in water. Just plain water, not salt water or anything. And every ...
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Kabobs to Fajitas - how to make the meat tender
I made a bunch of kabobs. Now I want to turn the leftovers into fajitas. How can I keep the meet tender for the second dish? I'm using beef and chicken.
The kabobs were (slightly over) cooked on a ...
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Cooking beef: how to make it tender?
I have been trying to sauté beef and make pan sauces, but the meat seems to always become somewhat dry and chewy. How do I avoid this? I have the same issue when stewing beef in a slow cooker or dutch ...
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Does milk tenderize meat?
In another question I suggested that milk might be used as a tenderizer. That generated an amount of scepticism, so I think it is worth breaking the question out.
The idea came from "The New Best ...
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How do you cook grass-fed beef so it is not tough?
I recently went to a farmers market and bought some grass-fed beef. I went with what we normally buy, and got a couple of bone-in thick cut ribeye. I typically prepare this by liberally applying ...
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What are other techniques are used to tenderize steaks apart from using a meat mallet?
I'm familiar with using a meat mallet to tenderize steaks, but I'm curious what other techniques or methods there may be to achieve the same or similar results.
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