Naturally tender cuts of meat tend to be more expensive, and serving meat on a budget can be a challenge. There are many ways to tenderize tough meat before cooking it, which include pounding, scoring, soaking in a marinade and sprinkling it all over with a powdered meat tenderizer. All of these methods have the same goal in mind: Break down the dense, tough muscle fibers and the protein that binds them.
The two main ingredients in most powdered tenderizers are papain, found in papayas, and bromelain, found in pineapples. Both enzymes attack the muscle fibers and the collagen webs that holds them together. This softens the meat and makes it more tender. It is also why you cannot put raw papaya or pineapple in gelatin desserts. The papain and bromelain break down the gelatin, just as they do the collagen in meats.
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