What are meat tenderizers used for?

Meat tenderizers are used to make meat more tender by physically breaking down its tough muscle fibers and connective tissue, so it is less chewy and easier to eat. They do this either by pounding the meat (a mallet-style tenderizer with a flat or textured head) or by piercing it with many small blades or spikes (a bladed or needle tenderizer), both of which break up the fibers. As a result, meat tenderizers are used to tenderize tougher or cheaper cuts, to flatten meat to an even thickness so it cooks evenly and quickly (for schnitzel, escalopes, chicken breasts and the like), and to help marinades and seasonings penetrate deeper into the meat through the broken surface. So their purpose is to improve the texture, evenness and flavor absorption of meat before cooking, turning tough cuts tender and thick pieces into even, quick-cooking ones. Our Best Meat Tenderizers compares five of them.

Making tough meat tender

The core use of a meat tenderizer is, as the name says, to tenderize meat, meaning to break down the tough fibers and connective tissue that make some cuts chewy. Meat is made of muscle fibers held together by connective tissue, and tougher or more worked cuts (and cheaper ones) have more of this, making them chewy if not dealt with. A tenderizer physically breaks up these fibers, either by the impact of pounding or by the cuts of blades, so the structure is loosened and the cooked meat is more tender and easier to chew.

This lets you take a tough, inexpensive cut and make it palatable and tender, which is valuable for economy and for getting good results from cuts that would otherwise be chewy. So people use meat tenderizers to improve the eating quality of meat by mechanically breaking it down before cooking. This mechanical tenderizing is the fundamental function, and it is why the tool exists, allowing even tough cuts to be cooked and enjoyed tender rather than requiring only naturally tender (and usually pricier) cuts. It is a simple, direct way to change meat’s texture for the better.

Flattening to an even thickness

A major use of the mallet-type tenderizer is to flatten meat to an even thickness, which serves cooking as much as tenderness. By pounding a piece of meat (like a chicken breast, pork or veal cutlet, or steak) you can thin it out and even its thickness, and an even thickness means the meat cooks uniformly, no thick part still raw while the thin part overcooks, and thinner meat cooks faster. This is essential for dishes like schnitzel, escalopes, scaloppine, chicken paillard and other pounded cutlets, which rely on thin, even meat.

So people use a meat tenderizer (mallet) to pound cutlets flat and even for quick, even cooking and the right texture for these dishes, as well as for rolling or stuffing meat that needs to be thin. The flattening also tenderizes at the same time (the pounding breaks fibers), so you get both effects. This use, flattening and evening the thickness, is a big reason the flat or lightly textured side of a meat mallet is so handy, and it is distinct from pure tenderizing: here the goal is shape and even thickness for cooking, which the tenderizer achieves by pounding the meat out. Many cutlet recipes depend on it.

Helping marinades and seasoning penetrate

Meat tenderizers are also used to help marinades, brines and seasonings penetrate the meat more deeply. By breaking the surface and creating channels into the meat, especially the bladed or needle type that pierces it with many small cuts, a tenderizer lets marinade soak in further and faster rather than just coating the outside, so the flavor (and any tenderizing marinade ingredients) reaches deeper into the meat. This gives more thorough seasoning and marinade effect.

The bladed/needle tenderizer is particularly used for this and for tenderizing without flattening: it pierces the meat with rows of thin blades, cutting the fibers internally to tenderize while keeping the meat’s shape (useful for thicker cuts or steaks you do not want to pound thin), and the many holes it makes also speed and deepen marinade absorption. So people use these tenderizers both to tenderize thicker cuts in place and to improve marinating. Combined with the pounding type’s tenderizing and flattening, this means meat tenderizers are used across several goals, tenderness, even thickness and better flavor penetration, all by mechanically working the meat before cooking.

Types and how they are used

There are two main types, used slightly differently. The mallet (hammer) tenderizer has a handle and a heavy head, often with a flat side (for flattening and gentle tenderizing) and a textured, spiked side (for more aggressive fiber-breaking); you pound the meat with it, usually between sheets of plastic wrap or in a bag to contain splatter, using the side suited to whether you want to flatten or tenderize. The bladed or needle tenderizer has many thin blades or spikes you press down into the meat repeatedly to pierce and tenderize it in place.

In use, you choose the type and technique for your goal: pound with a mallet to flatten a cutlet or tenderize and thin a cheap steak, or press a bladed tenderizer into a thicker cut to tenderize it and help a marinade soak in. (There are also powdered enzyme tenderizers, but the question here is the tool.) Afterward the tenderizer is cleaned, especially important for bladed ones that contact deep into raw meat. So meat tenderizers are used, by pounding or piercing, to tenderize tough meat, flatten it evenly, and help marinades penetrate, and the type you use depends on which of these you want, which is what meat tenderizers are for.

The short answer

Meat tenderizers are used to make meat more tender by physically breaking down its tough muscle fibers and connective tissue, either by pounding it with a mallet-style tenderizer or by piercing it with the many small blades of a bladed/needle tenderizer. This lets you take tough or cheaper cuts and make them tender and easier to chew. Mallet tenderizers are also used to flatten meat (like chicken breasts or cutlets) to an even thickness, so it cooks evenly and quickly, which is essential for dishes such as schnitzel and escalopes, and the pounding tenderizes at the same time. Both types, especially bladed ones, are used to help marinades and seasonings penetrate deeper by breaking the surface and creating channels into the meat. So a meat tenderizer’s purpose is to improve meat’s texture, evenness and flavor absorption before cooking: tenderizing tough cuts, flattening thick pieces to an even thickness, and letting marinades soak in, all by mechanically working the meat, with the mallet type used for pounding and flattening and the bladed type for tenderizing thicker cuts in place.