5 Tips -A Guide To Creating Tender Meat

Not all cuts of meat are tender. Here's how to make tough meat tender using only a few steps.
You may be surprised at how easy it is to tenderize meat! By using these tricks, even budget-friendly and unfamiliar cuts will become incredibly tender. Check out these five easy tips.

1. Marinade It --
Grilling steaks like flank and skirt are tasty, but they are so tough you won't want to eat them without marinating. Citrus juices, vinegar, or buttermilk add flavor and help break down tough proteins, giving the meat a "pre-cook" before grilling. You should make sure there isn't too much time for it to marinate (30 minutes to two hours should be adequate), otherwise it will become soft and mushy.

Here are a couple of marinade recipes- Basil Olive Oil Marinade, Mango Lime Marinade

2. Definitely salt it! --
Even if you don't marinate the meat, salt it thoroughly before you cook it. When salt is added to meat, it draws out moisture and creates a brine to concentrate the flavors. As opposed to marinades, you can salt your meat up to 24 hours in advance.

Try some of our specialty salts- Smoky Citrus Salt, Lemon Rosemary Garlic Salt

3. Bring meat to room temperature --
For grass-fed beef and other lean cuts of meat, this is especially crucial. These cuts are less forgiving if they're slightly overcooked because they don't have much fat. Before cooking the meat, allow it to sit for 30 minutes at room temperature.

4. Hit the right internal temperature--
A meat that is overcooked can become dry while a meat that is undercooked can be quite chewy. Use an instant-read meat thermometer to determine when your meat is ready. Natural tender cuts, such as beef tenderloin, can be cooked as rare as 125°F, while tougher cuts, such as brisket, should be cooked to 195°F.

Find the minimum safe cooking temperatures here

5. Let it rest before cooking--
When you don't let your meat rest after preparing and cooking it, it will turn out dry and tough. For steaks, the rule of thumb is five minutes per inch of thickness, or ten minutes per pound for roasts. This will keep the juices inside the meat rather than spilling out onto the cutting board, which means your meat will be dry and tough.

 From the blog Taste of Home