Eager El Paso Cooks: The Reasons for Pounding Your Meat Before Serving It

October is here and summer is officially over but that doesn't mean that your grill needs to be covered up and put into storage. As an eager home cook I've tried many different recipes to get the most tender grilled chicken. And through trial and error I've discovered that the secret to a tender meal is pounding your meat before hand.

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Yes pounding your chicken produces quite a bit of juice and it results in a very tender piece of meat.

The secret is that pounding your meat helps redistribute the juices throughout the muscle fibers of your meat. Pounding your meat also flattens it out which helps cook the meat more evenly.

Below is my recipe for pounded and grilled chicken.

First I bought six chicken breasts.

Second I divided the chicken breast into three different one gallon Ziploc bags, two chicken breasts each.

Then I pounded my meat.

I used a large surface frying pan you can use whatever heavy object you want to beat your meat.

We're looking for is an even thickness across the whole meat. This even thickness will allow the meat to cook evenly and not lead to dry spots.

Next add 1/3 cup olive oil or high smoke point oil of your choosing to each ziplock container bag with two chicken breasts inside.

Coat chicken breast evenly with oil. Next add seasoning. Make sure seasoning evenly coats chicken.

Next let Chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Next set up a clean grill and set temp to high. After 30 minutes turn down grill from high to medium high to prevent flames.

Don't forget to oil the grill beforehand.

I noticed this works with heavily marinated chicken; if not heavily marinated skip this step.

Immediately set out all chicken breast on grill.

Grill for 1.5-2 minutes on each side.

Turn grill off completely, or at least to the lowest setting and move meats to indirect heat. Keep cooking with grill lid down for another 8-12 min.

Take meat off grill and allow for it to rest for at least 5 min before cutting and serving.

I took my pounded meat into the studio the next day so the girls could try it.

Joanna thought my meat was super juicy and seemed quite pleased with it! Look at that smile!