Natural meat tenderizers

[Tenacious E]

Nothing to do with OP's mom, to get that out of the way.

I did flank steak yesterday and was going to soften it up with lime juice, but read that pineapple is actually much more powerful. So I blended some fresh pineapple with soy sauce, garlic cloves, and a little red wine. I marinated the flank steak for 2 hours, which was way too long because the flank steak actually became mushy. I guess I should have only done it for 30 minutes to an hour, or stuck with limes. What do you guys use for this purpose? Always looking to improve the process...

 

[The Tradition]

That's hard to believe the steak reacted that quickly. But you do have three different tenderizers there (pineapple, soy sauce and the wine). Traditionally a marinade should have a balance of acid/sweet/oil/salt/flavorings.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

Nothing to do with OP's mom, to get that out of the way.

I did flank steak yesterday and was going to soften it up with lime juice, but read that pineapple is actually much more powerful. So I blended some fresh pineapple with soy sauce, garlic cloves, and a little red wine. I marinated the flank steak for 2 hours, which was way too long because the flank steak actually became mushy. I guess I should have only done it for 30 minutes to an hour, or stuck with limes. What do you guys use for this purpose? Always looking to improve the process...

Cooking wild game often involves nueatealizing "gamey" flavor for more people's preffered pallete.


Milk. Milk is a great way to take the flavor out of meat and soften if without introducing "orange" flavor. Growing up the inly way we would eat duck was my buddies dad would soak it in a bag of orange juice for a couple days and grill it. It was like a bad version of orange chicken.

 

[Tenacious E]

That's hard to believe the steak reacted that quickly. But you do have three different tenderizers there (pineapple, soy sauce and the wine). Traditionally a marinade should have a balance of acid/sweet/oil/salt/flavorings.

Yes, I just kind of winged it. We made flank steak pinwheels last week, which tasted awesome (butterflied, pounded thin, and rolled with spinach, roasted red peppers, and blue cheese), but was a little tough. I was going to use flank steak again for fajitas (hence the lime juice) but then decided to go a different direction after I read about pineapple. Definitely need to make some adjustments...

 

[BrunoMars420]

I pee on my meat

 

[Tenacious E]

I pee on my meat

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

I pee on my meat

You have an in-y.

 

[Jerome Silberman]

Try baking soda, it's the Eastern way.

 

[lucas80]

Nothing to do with OP's mom, to get that out of the way.

I did flank steak yesterday and was going to soften it up with lime juice, but read that pineapple is actually much more powerful. So I blended some fresh pineapple with soy sauce, garlic cloves, and a little red wine. I marinated the flank steak for 2 hours, which was way too long because the flank steak actually became mushy. I guess I should have only done it for 30 minutes to an hour, or stuck with limes. What do you guys use for this purpose? Always looking to improve the process...

I don’t even know if marinade is the right word, but 30 minutes is about the max for beef. I have a chicken one based on soy, garlic, rosemary and Worcestershire that I’ll let sit overnight.
That is all.

 

[ihawk in FWB]

Yes, I just kind of winged it. We made flank steak pinwheels last week, which tasted awesome (butterflied, pounded thin, and rolled with spinach, roasted red peppers, and blue cheese), but was a little tough. I was going to use flank steak again for fajitas (hence the lime juice) but then decided to go a different direction after I read about pineapple. Definitely need to make some adjustments...

Next time add a little prosciutto to those pinwheels. Delicious!

 

[Tenacious E]

Next time add a little prosciutto to those pinwheels. Delicious!

Reminds me of a very simple chicken saltimbocca recipe, which is quite delicious. Basically a butterflied and pounded out chicken breast, layered with prosciutto and sage, and then rolled and cooked. Might be what's for dinner...

 

[BubsFinn]

Nothing to do with OP's mom, to get that out of the way.

I did flank steak yesterday and was going to soften it up with lime juice, but read that pineapple is actually much more powerful. So I blended some fresh pineapple with soy sauce, garlic cloves, and a little red wine. I marinated the flank steak for 2 hours, which was way too long because the flank steak actually became mushy. I guess I should have only done it for 30 minutes to an hour, or stuck with limes. What do you guys use for this purpose? Always looking to improve the process...

I recommend cooking the pineapple juice before using it as a marinade. It will still tenderize the meat, but it won't turn it to mush. I use canned pineapple juice for my tacos al pastor and that makes all the difference.
For fajitas, use lime and beer as the base and throw in cilantro, onion, jalapeno, garlic, a bit of soy, chili powder, and cumin. I let that go overnight.

 

[millah_22]

I just read about death gripping. Kind of like meat tenderizing in a way.