6 Ways To Put Your Meat Mallet into Action – Aside From Meat!

 

 

The unfortunate truth for meat mallets is that they really should be renamed kitchen mallet. There are several useful ways to incorporate the meat tenderizer into regular use. The mallet may even move into the front of your tool drawer after reading these ideas. 

 

Crushed Ice

The next time you need crushed ice, grab your mallet. Put the ice cubes or block of ice in a large freezer bag, then wrap it in kitchen towels and pound away.  

 

Savory crushed garlic

If you've crushed garlic with a sharp kitchen knife and are afraid of cutting yourself, well, that's because it's not very safe. Using a knife doesn't crush garlic all that well. Instead, use your mallet's weight (with the flat side, if possible) to crush the garlic clove thoroughly, and you'll have a tastier outcome. 

 

Pitting olives

Using a pitting tool to de-pit olives can be quite messy and unproductive. An easy way to remove pits from olives is to crush them under the mallet's flat side gently. 

 

Smashed potatoes

Next time be sure to use the meat tenderizer to smash down potatoes after parboiling them. Most have found this extremely useful and saves your hand's heel or mishaps from using a heavy spoon. You might discover smashed potatoes on the table more often, to the delight of hungry family and friends.

 

Fibrous veggies and spices

Working with ginger, lemongrass, and fibrous vegetables can be tough. Gently bruise or be more aggressive to break down the fibers with wondrous ease and continue with your recipe. Many dishes for soups, salads, or dips have smashed, crushed, or bashed vegetables or beans. Rather than struggling with a rolling pin, use your meat mallet. Again, you can place your food in a reusable freezer bag before crushing it to keep your veggies contained and your meat tenderizer clean.

 

Breaking and cracking

When breaking or cracking hard items like peppercorns and chocolate (make sure it's cold first), use a reusable freezer bag. Do the same when pulverizing crackers, cookies, or candy. For nuts, apply gentle pressure, and the nut will break apart. Having lobster or crab soon but hate the shell crackers? Just use your mallet to break the shell open quickly. 

If you don't have a mallet handy, you could use a rolling pin or heavy cast iron pan. If you choose the rolling pin, be sure there are layers of plastic wrap, wax paper, or freezer bag for anything that could leave an unpleasant taste or smell. Nobody wants their perfect pie crust to taste like garlic or pepper!