8 Clever Ways To Tenderize Pork

If you've been browsing at the butcher counter lately and found yourself drawn to the so-called other white meat, you are probably curious about the best ways to prepare pork. Whether you're considering a big pork roast for your next Sunday dinner, some pork chops or ribs for the barbecue, or a simple breaded pork cutlet for a quick week night meal, there are so many different cuts of pork to choose from. All of them can make for a delicious meal, but pork, like all meats, can run the risk of being tough or even chewy when not prepared well. And some cuts are naturally tough if the meat isn't properly tenderized. 

Luckily, there are many ways to tenderize pork that can help to ensure a super succulent result. We consulted with several chefs to get their top tips and favorite cooking methods. Some of them take hours, while others take only a few minutes. So, no matter what's for dinner, and how much, or how little, time you have to cook it, there's a method here that will work for you.

Brining can be a wet or dry process of seasoning meat with salt. It's the single most important thing you can do to make your meat flavorful and tender, and it's also the easiest. A dry brine simply involves covering the pork with a generous amount of (preferably kosher) salt and leaving it in the refrigerator for a few hours, up to overnight. A wet brine involves making a solution of salt and water and submerging the pork in the salty liquid. A good wet bring will often include other seasonings. It's a great method for larger cuts, but you can even brine baked pork chops for juicer results.

So, when would you choose one method over the other? Well, sometimes it's simply a matter of preference, but you probably won't want to leave smaller pieces of pork submerged in liquid for too long, or they could become mushy. If you're going to roast or barbecue the meat, you'll also want to make sure it's nice and dry before adding it to a hot pan or grill. Even when dry brining, the salt draws moisture out of the pork, so you'll need to pat it dry either way. If you're going to braise or slow cook the meat, your recipe may still call for a good searing first, so even then, pat dry or risk inhibiting the famed Maillard reaction.

Both brining methods are intended to maximize flavor and help keep the meat tender and moist. Some brines include other aromatics like bay leaves, peppercorns, or ginger, and if you like adding spice read on for more about marinades and dry rubs.

A dry rub is a seasoning blend that is rubbed all over the pork meat before cooking, up to a day ahead of time. This is a common technique in the world of roasts and barbecue. It can be applied after or along with a dry brine. Dry rubs themselves often contain a certain amount of sugar as well as salt. Other common dry rub ingredients include mustard, paprika, pepper, onion or garlic powder, and even dried mustard. It's super easy to make your own, but even easier to grab a premixed dry rub at the grocery store or order one, like this Bone Suckin' Seasoning and Rub on Amazon.

You can treat a dry rub like a brine and apply it to meat up to a day in advance to really get the flavor into the meat. Chef Richard Sandoval of Richard Sandoval Hospitality tells us that for a quicker approach, he recommends scoring the meat lightly and before using a dry rub with salt. "The salt draws out moisture and then reabsorbs it," he explains, "naturally tenderizing the pork before cooking." Scoring just means cutting shallow slits into the top of the meat. Simply run a pairing knife across the fatty side of the cut. This allows the seasoning to penetrate deeper.

Is there really a difference between a marinade and a dry rub? Both see the meat bathed in flavorful spices before cooking, but if there is a major difference, it's probably liquid and some amount of acid. You can make marinades with all kinds of ingredients, but some acidic ingredient is usually crucial to help balance flavor, and to break down and tenderize the meat. Chef Maricel Gentile says vinegar, soy sauce, pineapple juice, and calamansi, are all common acidic bases for marinades, and they all "help break down the proteins in pork while imparting layers of flavor."

Chef Rena Awada, owner and Head Chef at Healthy Fitness Meals, reiterates, "the acidity in these ingredients helps soften the meat, making it more tender and flavorful." The process of marinating can take a few hours or even overnight depending on the cut of pork. "If you're working with a tougher cut like shoulder or loin," Awada says, "then I suggest marinating it for a longer time to really help tenderize the meat." She suggests adding herbs and spices to the vinegar or citrus. There's really no end to the flavorful combinations in a homemade marinade.

Adding to the chorus of experts espousing the virtues of a citrus marinade, Chef Richard Sandoval is a big name in contemporary Latin cuisine, with more than sixty restaurants across four continents."One of my favorite methods is using a citrus-based marinade," Sandoval says, "especially in Latin cooking, where we rely on ingredients like naranja agria (sour orange) or pineapple juice." Every cuisine has its signature acidic ingredients. Whether it's sour orange, soy sauce, or red wine vinegar, you can whip up a fabulous marinade for any recipe.

Braising is a cooking method whereby meat is simmered in liquid over a longer period of time to allow it to soften and absorb the maximum flavor. You can salt or marinate meat before braising, or just add the ingredients together before cooking; there will be lots of time during the process for flavor to absorb. There are a couple methods of braising to keep in mind that can take more or less time, depending on how long you have and your desired results. Other slow cooking methods can use less liquid, and while this method yields complex layered flavors, it doesn't have to be all that complicated. You could slather a pork shoulder in barbecue sauce, for instance, and leave it in the slow cooker to make tasty pulled pork. Or even put it in the oven on a really low temperature.

There are lots of reasons to slow cook your pork. Maybe you simply want to leave something in a crock pot all day so dinner is ready to go by the time you get home from work. But tougher cuts of meat also need longer cook times. Cooking pork low and slow will yield a succulent, pull apart texture. Favorite dishes like pulled pork or carnitas are prepared in this method. 

Chef Rena Awada says slow cooking is the perfect method for tougher cuts like shoulder or ribs. "By cooking the meat slowly over low heat," she explains, "the collagen in the meat breaks down over time, making it incredibly tender." Whether you're braising pork shoulder in adobo or cooking cochinita pibil in banana leaves, Chef Richard Sandoval says "time and moisture work together to create a melt-in-your-mouth texture."

There's a reason meat mallets are also called tenderizers. Pounding pork with a tenderizer will break down the muscle fibers and, yes, tenderize the meat. "You just need to be careful not to overdo it," says Chef Rena Awada, "too much pounding can turn the meat mushy." It doesn't need to be broken all the way down, that's what chewing is for.

Tenderizing with a meat mallet is a method that works best for cuts like pork chops, and cutlets, and it's a great way to go if you're making thinner breaded and fried pork dishes. If you want to make pork schnitzel, for instance, you can use a mallet to tenderize and pound a boneless loin chop to the perfect thinness.

Chef Maricel Gentile also uses a mallet tenderization to prepare the pork for Cantonese salt & pepper pork chops and Vietnamese bun cha (a type of grilled pork cutlet). You can tenderize pork before adding a marinade to help it absorb the flavor, and definitely tenderize when you're going to be cooking the meat quickly, like when frying up a breaded cutlet. Meat mallets are easy to find and affordable, so it's worth adding one to your arsenal. You can snag one at a kitchen supply store or even on Amazon for under $15.

This Chinese technique can be done with baking soda or corn starch and works to keep meat tender, even when it's cooked on a very high heat. "In Asian cooking we don't just focus on softening the meat," says Maricel Gentile, "we also want to enhance its ability to absorb marinades and seasoning." Velveting aims to maximize both factors.

A baking soda Marinade is a great option for quicker cooking recipes like stir-fries. "Baking soda alkalizes the surface of the meat," explains Maricel Gentile, "slowing down the coagulation of the proteins and keeping it from getting tough." That can be super helpful when cooking smaller or thinner pieces of meat at a high heat. The simplest baking soda marinade calls for just a tablespoon of baking soda per pound of pork. Massage it into the pork, Gentile advises, and let it sit for fifteen to thirty minutes before rinsing it off. Then pat the meat dry, and proceed to cooking your recipe.

When working with thinner slices of meat it's very easy to overcook them. Velveting can help keep the texture, well, velvety! Slice pork into bite sized pieces and coat them in a mixture of cornstarch, egg white, and a little oil before quickly blanching them in water or oil. "It will give the pork a silky texture and keep it from over cooking. " Gentile says this technique is used when adding pork to Hot and Sour Soups, stir fries, and other Szechuan dishes.

Essentially another slow cooking method, smoking can add a ton of flavor to many favorite cuts of pork. Larger cuts of meat, and even pork ribs or chops, can be smoked in a cooker or on the barbecue. Chef Jim Giberson, Co-Founder and Chief Culinary Officer of Tamarind Heads award winning barbecue sauce, explains that smoking allows the meat to cook slowly at a low temperature and while adding that signature smoky flavor. "Tougher cuts of meat such as beef brisket and ribs pork or beef will benefit in the tenderness category from the Smoking process," says Giberson.

Most barbecue recipes will call for a combination of methods, first marinating the meat in a dry rub or citrus marinade before smoking. If that all sounds pretty delicious to you and you think you may want to give it a try at home, check out these 12 tips for smoking tender pork shoulder.

Enzymatic tenderization works by using natural enzymes found in fruits like kiwi, pineapple, and papaya to break down the proteins and connective tissues that can make the meat tough. Enzymes like bromelain (found in pineapple) and papain (from papaya) are particularly effective in breaking down collagen and muscle fibers in pork, which can be tougher compared to other meats. When applied to pork, these enzymes target the bonds in the connective tissue, weakening the structure and resulting in a more tender texture. 

You'll want to use fresh, ripe fruit if you try this method, not canned. Mash or puree it, and marinate the pork meat in the fruit, or a combination of the fruit, oil, and other seasonings. You can simply add some to your favorite marinades. There are also powdered enzyme tenderizers that isolate the enzymes so there's no need to blend up fancy fruits. You can purchase one on Amazon.

The process helps to soften tougher cuts like shoulder or loin without requiring slow cooking or mechanical methods. But be cautious about how long you leave these natural enzymes to work their magic. If the enzymatic treatment is left too long, it can cause the pork to become overly mushy. Use sparingly for optimal tenderness.

There are so many different cuts of pork out there, and as discussed, they will be more or less tender depending on how you prepare and cook them. Some cuts need a low and slow cook to break down, while others stay more tender the faster they are cooked. Knowing which is which is essential, or you could end up with a tough and chewy mouthful. Be sure to avoid these cooking mistakes that are ruining your pork.

When choosing a great recipe you may need to know the difference between pork loin and pork tenderloin; they are not interchangeable cuts. The former is a much larger cut that benefits from a brine. You'll also want to read up on the right cut to use for succulent pulled pork, or the best cut of pork for thin and crispy schnitzel. And check out these tips for juicy baked pork chops.