How do restaurants make beef so tender? (2023)

How do you make beef so soft and tender?

Low and slow cooking methods can help to tenderize tough meat cuts. An easy, low maintenance way to achieve this is by using a slow cooker. Set the meat to cook at a low temperature for 8-10 hours, and be sure to add a sauce, marinade, or broth in order to keep your meat moist and flavorful.

Velveting is a simple process of using baking soda or a mixture of egg whites, cornstarch and oil to marinate and tenderize economical cuts of steak, chicken and other meats before cooking. Velveting meat softens fibers to reduce toughness and enhance juiciness for maximum flavor and tenderness.

Cook It Slowly

This is certainly true when it comes to notoriously tough cuts of meat like beef brisket and pork shoulder. Cooking these cuts of meat slowly, either by braising, stewing or grill roasting, is the best way to get these tasty cuts of meat meltingly tender.

Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate).

If you find the meat has a spongy texture aside from being very tender, then very likely the restaurant put baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) in the marinade. The sodium in baking soda chemically reacts with the meat and make the meat very tender and soft.

What do restaurants use to tenderize meat? If you find the meat has a spongy texture aside from being very tender, then very likely the restaurant put baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) in the marinade. The sodium in baking soda chemically reacts with the meat and make the meat very tender and soft.

Simmering and stewing are used for less tender cuts of meat while poaching is used for tender cuts. Also, poaching is only appropriate for beef while any type of meat (beef, veal, pork or lamb) can be simmered.

To better understand this, let's look at the three main methods of tenderizing meat: mechanical, thermal, and enzymatic.

Does baking soda make meat tender?

Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meat's surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively, which keeps the meat tender and moist when it's cooked.

Tenderizing with a baking soda solution is faster than using a saltwater brine. Meat only has to sit in a baking soda solution for 15 to 20 minutes, but a brine solution can take at least 30 minutes to start working.

Cola's high acidity and caramel flavor makes a surprisingly good meat tenderizer. Cola typically has a pH of about 2.7—for comparison, lemon juice has a pH of 2—making it acidic enough to break down some proteins without dissolving your meat.

① Dissolve baking soda in water (for every 12 ounces of meat, use 1 teaspoon of baking soda and ½ cup of water). ② Soak the meat in the solution for at least 15 minutes. ③ Remove and rinse. ④ Cook as desired, then bite into a seriously tender piece of meat.

The Aging. Most fine restaurants age their beef to intensify the flavor and improve the tenderness of the cut. Aging is done by letting the meat sit (in very controlled conditions) for several days or weeks.

It's milk.

But the acid in milk is so mild that you can soak beef in it long enough to tenderize it effectively, without damaging the proteins on the surface. The calcium-rich properties of milk react with enzymes in the meat to gently soften the proteins.

Velveting is a Chinese method of marinating which keeps delicate meat and seafood moist and tender during cooking. The velveting technique is very easy and gives amazing results.

Velveting meat is a common practice in Chinese stir-fries: By marinating strips of meat with egg white and cornstarch, then dipping then in a hot oil bath before finally stir-frying them, the meat develops a texture that is tender, silky, and smooth.

They use infrared broilers

You can thank an infrared broiler for that. While some steakhouses still grill or griddle their steaks, many including Bobby Van's, The Palm Restaurants and Morton's use infrared broilers, which superheat large surfaces to an even temperature.

What is a natural tenderizer for beef?

Salt as Natural Meat Tenderizer

Salt and its alkaline cousin, baking soda, both break down proteins in beef. A thick coating of kosher salt, sea salt or baking soda applied one hour before cooking will draw water from the meat, allowing some of the salt or soda to sink into the beef. This improves the meat's texture.

Considered the most tender cut of all, a filet mignon is taken from the center of the beef tenderloin. It is lean yet delivers a melt-in-your mouth, buttery succulence. Perfect for grilling, pan-searing and broiling in the oven.

Slow-cook it. Cooking tough cuts of meat with low-temperature heat over a long period of time is a great way to tenderize it. Tough fibers, collagen and connective tissues will break down, leaving you with tender meat. Try using a slow cooker, or braise with broth or other liquids in a covered dish in the oven.

Protease treatment is an efficient method used for meat tenderization. In the food industry, different proteases such as bromelain, papain, ficin, actinidin, and calpain are widely used for proteolytic degradation, to improve meat tenderness.

Brining makes meat juicier. Unbrined meat loses 30 percent of its moisture, while brined meat loses only 15 percent. Make a brine by combining 1 cup of salt to 1gallon of water. Brine the meat about four hours and rinse thoroughly.

Yes, there are scientific reasons to back up the fact that slow cooked meat is better. Tenderness in meat comes from the melting of collagen – the connective tissue protein present in meat. When collagen melts, it turns into gelatin, a rich liquid that gives meat a lot of flavour as well as a silky texture.

Velveting is a Chinese method of marinating which keeps delicate meat and seafood moist and tender during cooking. The velveting technique is very easy and gives amazing results.

Depending on the quantity, size and the cut of meat you use, the beef should be fully cooked at about 30 minutes in total. NOTE: You do not need a lot of water for this recipe, meat produces its own liquid, adding too much water would just water down the flavour of the overall dish.

The first is to submerge meat in cooking oil (sunflower or olive oil) before you start cooking. The oil is absorbed and softens the meat. The second method is to add some vinegar while you're cooking and the vinegar will begin to tenderise the meat.

How long can you tenderize beef with baking soda?

THE BOTTOM LINE: Fifteen minutes is long enough to reap the benefits of a baking soda treatment, but don't worry if your dinner prep gets interrupted and you have to extend that time a bit. A 15-minute (or slightly longer) stint in a combination of water and baking soda keeps meat tender and moist when it's cooked.