Ultrasonic meat tenderising

[Guineafowl21]

Hi all.

Not been on for a while, as there’s not been much woodworking of note going on here.

There are a few experimental foodies on this forum: I’ve recently bought a cheapish 15L ultrasonic cleaner, and it’s occurred to me that it might be useful for tenderising meat (not cooking, as the thermostat isn’t accurate enough).

So, vac-pack, ultrasonic (cold), then into the sous-vide bath, or even just cook as normal.

Any thoughts on this, regarding timings, etc?

 

[AJB Temple]

It works well and is used in some professional food environments (mainly bulk catering - not restaurants).

My own experience of it is very limited. They get names like soniciser and meat buzzer. Basically they just break down collagen. However, this is indiscriminate and for my taste I feel like the resulting texture is a bit odd. I would expect this to be more so after being in a water bath. My wife's firm sells a german one aimed at industrial production.

Give it a try - I would be interested in how you get on.

Personally I like to use the multi needle manual tenderisers (no power usage, quick and controllable) or the old fashioned meat hammer for schnitzel etc.

PS it is used as well to achieve artificial ageing without moisture loss.

 

[Guineafowl21]

I shot a duck over the weekend, so I’ll vac pack the breasts separately, do one in the ultrasonic for a 1/2-hour cycle, then sous vide and sear both in the pan as normal.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Well, I did the above, and the US-treated breast was a little more tender than the other, but not massively so.

The most striking effect was that it contracted up much less than the untreated one when seared in the pan.

To get a greater effect, I imagine more time was needed (30 mins in this case), or possibly a higher temperature (tap water temp used). As I say, I don’t want to do any cooking in the US machine.

AJ Temple, does your wife know of the time/temp/frequency etc protocols used in the machine her firm sells?

 

[AJB Temple]

She's in Milan at the moment but I can ask her at the weekend. However, I predict she will say she just sells them not cook with them! They do not do domestic stuff at her firm and the units I have seen are either enormous commercial tray like things, which are fully automated to be used by unskilled operators, or a hand held unit that looks like the kind of ultrasound scanner that is used when your wife is pregnant. I've seen the hand held units in use and they just ran them across room temperature steaks of suitable meat, quite slowly. The meat was then set aside in mise for later cooking.

In restaurant kitchens you will often see the meat prep guys pricking meat that needs tenderising / skin crisping with a needle tenderiser. This is like a handle with about 20 sharp nails sticking out, and they prick (with lots of force) through the skin of things like pork belly and duck breast numerous times. Used a lot in Asian restaurants and eg Korean street food etc. This helps the fat to render and stops the skin contracting too much so you get crispy skin without a layer of part cooked fat beneath. Cheap as chips and very easy.

 

[AJB Temple]

To do the test meaningfully, I suggest you also try the manual tenderising method and also a marinade that contains ingredients (eg salt and sugar) that will break down collagen (slash or prick the skin). Test against the bath method. My guess is that the industrial ones use a fair bit of power. Don't really know though.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Interesting. We do have one of those needle prickers, used for preparing pork belly for crackling. Not used much anymore because the air fryer, which I was a bit cynical about, is an absolute master at getting crackling right.

No need to prick/dry overnight/pour boiling water on/say 50 Hail Marys, just bung any old pork cut in a low (conventional) oven for a while with the skin oiled and salted, then transfer to air fryer for about 15-20 mins (keep checking).

I’ll keep playing with the ultrasonic.

 

[AJB Temple]

You will be converted to using the pricker for pork, in the air fryer, if you watch Elizabeth Haigh in action and try her method. I've worked with her and she is great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1LrE5JC1sk

 

[Guineafowl21]

You will be converted to using the pricker for pork, in the air fryer, if you watch Elizabeth Haigh in action and try her method. I've worked with her and she is great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1LrE5JC1sk

I’ll have a look. Always looking for the perfect crackling! I’ve even brought the heat gun in from the workshop before, and nearly set fire to a joint once. It did the make good crackling, but the margin for error between that and burnt is about a nanosecond.

The pricker works OK, but it’s pretty hard work getting it to penetrate the skin. It’s outdoor Tamworths we have, so maybe that has something to do with it.

But do, seriously, try just oil and salt, low cook, then air fryer. You’ll be amazed at how simply it can be done. My wife is HK Chinese, and goes through a lot witchcrafty steps to make her crispy pork belly, but she does look a little miffed when my simple method turns out well.

 

[AJB Temple]

Slight problem .....I don't own an air fryer. (Nor microwave actually).

 

[Guineafowl21]

Slight problem .....I don't own an air fryer. (Nor microwave actually).

Well, although I was a bit against yet another gadget clogging up the worksurfaces, the air fryer has earned its place on the crackling alone. Also does a tremendous job with things like roast squash (cubed) and the ubiquitous Gressingham duck legs. It’s absolutely useless with a whole chicken, though (burns the top and undercooks the rest).

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My Instant Pot (and the Ninja before it) does whole chickens beautifully.

 

[AJB Temple]

For me if I am doing whole chicken I almost always slow cook it in the BBQ (summer and winter) with a little smoke and low temp. Part of the reason why I don't use an air fryer, which I accept is the trendy thing, is the Miele oven we have will hit 220C fan in 3 minutes from scratch. As I am always cooking something else as well (feeding my roast potato addiction for example) the oven is fine. Air fryers as I understand it don't fry: they are just lower volume fan ovens. We have a much bigger oven as well but only use that for big deal stuff (it will take 4 cast iron dutch oven). Really I can't quite bring myself to spend £170 ish on a good air fryer that will take three years to pay back on electricity savings. :shock:

 

[Guineafowl21]

Yes, an AF is essentially a fan oven with (quite intense) top heat. It certainly has its uses, but equally certainly is not indispensable.

We could probably play around with the settings for doing a whole chicken, but I think I can do them better in the normal oven - allow chicken to reach room temp, then spatchcock. That way, it roasts beautifully in about 40 mins, the shorter cooking time meaning the white meat doesn’t go dry.