Many restaurants love to mechanically tenderize their meat. A meat tenderizer machine pierces the meat with blades or needles to help break down the tissues and fibers so your restaurant can serve juicy, tender meat. However, between the tenderizing and serving processes is the cooking process. You must cook the meat carefully to ensure it is safe to serve and eat. The following four tips for cooking mechanically tenderized meat can guide you through this careful process.

Keep a Thermometer Close to the Cooking Area

Most restaurants know to keep a thermometer close to the cooking area to monitor meat temperatures. However, a thermometer is extra important when cooking mechanically tenderized meat. Since the blades or needles pierce through the surface of the meat, the bacteria from the surface of the meat can penetrate the meat. With these dangerous bacteria in the meat, you must ensure that you cook it to a safe temperature that will kill the bacteria. The safe internal temperature is 145° Fahrenheit.

Cook Meat To 145° Fahrenheit

As we mentioned above, 145° Fahrenheit is the safe internal temperature for all mechanically tenderized meat. When cooking non-mechanically tenderized meat, this is often the safe external temperature. Cooking red meat to this external temperature results in a rare to medium effect. However, it is not safe to eat mechanically tenderized meat at this external temperature. If only the external temperature is this high, then it is colder internally, and the dangerous bacteria are still present within the meat. Use the thermometer to ensure that the internal temperature is safe for consumption.

Flip Meat Twice During Cooking

In addition to using a thermometer to ensure a safe internal temperature, you should also flip the meat twice during cooking. This means you will cook it twice on the starting side and once on the opposite side. Flipping the meat twice ensures the meat is cooked evenly and helps guarantee that the internal temperature is a safe 145° Fahrenheit.

Let Meat Rest After Cooking

Our last tip for cooking mechanically tenderized meat is to let it rest after cooking. Allowing the meat to rest gives time for carryover cooking, which is when the high internal temperature of the meat finishes cooking off the heat source. Carryover cooking keeps the meat at a safe temperature without overcooking it, which is ideal for mechanically tenderized meat.

Resting meat also allows the juices within the meat to evenly redistribute. When your customer cuts into rested mechanically tenderized meat, they will discover each bite is tender and juicy.

If you want to serve tender, juicy meat, then you should mechanically tenderize it. We offer meat tenderizer machines that will take your meat dishes to the next level. They come in various sizes to accommodate any commercial kitchen, including yours.