<P> A meat tenderizer, meat mallet, or meat pounder is a hand - powered tool used to tenderize slabs of meat in preparation for cooking . Although a meat tenderizer can be made out of virtually any object, there are three types manufactured specifically for tenderizing meat . </P> <Ul> <Li> The first, most common, is a tool that resembles a hammer or mallet made of metal or wood with a short handle and dual heads . One face of the tool is usually flat while the other has rows of pyramid - shaped tenderizers . </Li> <Li> The second form resembles a potato masher with a short handle and a large metal face that is either smooth or adorned with the same pyramid - shaped tenderizers as found in the first form . </Li> <Li> The third form is a blade tenderizer that has a series of blades or nails that are designed to puncture the meat and cut into the fibers of the muscle . </Li> </Ul>

What is meat tenderizer and what does it do