Meat tenderizer

A meat tenderizer, meat mallet, or meat pounder is a hand-powered tool used to tenderize slabs of meat in preparation for cooking. Although a meat tenderizer can be made out of virtually any object, there are three types manufactured specifically for tenderizing meat.

Tenderizing meat with the mallet softens the fibers, making the meat easier to chew and to digest. It is useful when preparing particularly tough cuts of steak, and works well when broiling or frying the meat. It is also used to "pound out" dishes such as chicken-fried steak, palomilla, or schnitzel, to make them wider and thinner.

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