Quote:
Originally posted by That Guy
You don't need to puncture steak to let it marinade. Lime juuice is very acidic and will start the protein-breaking process right away, thus getting the delicious falvors into the meat.
Pick up a copy of Kitchen Essentials (I think that's the name, but I'll check again). He explains many of these concepts in depth.
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So it's called
Kitchen Science, and was written by Howard Hillman (ISBN 0-395-30533-0).
From pp51:
Quote:
How do commercial meat tenderizers work?
Most of the powdered meat tenderizers sold in grocery stores user papain as the tenderizing ingredient. . . they break down the proteins in muscle fibers and connective tissue into smaller molcules. . . If you increase accessibility to the interior by deeply piercing the meat, as some papain-promoting recipes suggest, your efforts will be counterproductive. Your cooked meat will be tougher than it would be normally because you have created channels through which a lamentable share of juices escapes during the cooking process. The store-bought products also tend to be laden with salts and other additives that can impart an unwanted flavor to your finished dish.
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If you like to cook, I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book. I got mine at the Austin Public Library (which shuold answer your last question, Dave -- sorry I missed it before).