Pounding Chicken

by Tara

(Let's go ahead and get the 12-year old giggling out of the way because of the overuse of the word "pounding" in this post.)

I've been making several recipes lately that require pounding chicken into thinner chicken. It's not usually something I think about a lot, but since I've been doing it a lot, I have been thinking that I need a kitchen tool that is actually made for this. For the last 9 years (I didn't start cooking till I got married) I have been using the side of an old school meat tenderizer, like this:

Photo from Williams-Sonoma.

It works fine, but sometimes the pointy part tears up the chicken if I'm not super careful, and it's quite the arm workout since it's such a small tool. So I think I need something new. What should I get?

 

This one looks a lot like a spatula, but the wider head would work better than my current tool.

Rosle Meat Tenderizer

(Photo from Bed, Bath, & Beyond.)

 

This might work just as well as anything. Although maybe it wouldn't hold up to lots of pounding?

Crate & Barrel Crab Mallet

(Photo from Crate and Barrel.)

 

I really, really like this one. And we all know that I adore PC products.

Pampered Chef Meat Tenderizer

(Photo from Pampered Chef.)

 

Or maybe this one? It also looks like a spatula, but less so since it's rounded.

Norpro Meat Pounder

(Photo from Chef's Catalog.)

 

Maybe I should just call it a wash and head to a home improvement store for a rubber mallet?

Workforce Rubber Mallet

(Photo from Home Depot.)

 

What do you think I should get to pound chicken?

Comments

[heidi]

I use a rubber mallet because that's what I had. Works well and cheap!

[Lydia]

I use...a sturdy coffee mug. Sad but true! It works pretty well, though I'm usually not too picky about the chicken being uniformly thin. Perhaps I'll invest in one of these. But I live in a tiny apartment so storage is an issue. Hmm.

[Julie]

Ha! I can totally see my husband wandering through Home Depot, trying to figure out what he can convince me is a kitchen tool.

[Christy M]

I happened to be watching America's Test kitchen this past week and they tested these! The one the picked was like the Pampered Chef one without the spikes. It was the cheapest one they tested too. It was under $20 I think.

[Pam]

I was wondering about just this thing! Funny you should post it. After I try the rubber mallet, I'm going to try the Pampered Chef version I think.

[Temerity Jane]

This is the one on my Amazon shopping list at this very moment.

http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Meat-Pounder/dp/B0000DAQ7I/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=4FW2L9BYPO89&coliid=I2P5AZYG18COYQ

[Temerity Jane]

Oh, and I've BEEN using the salt canister. SALT EVERYWHERE.

[Elsha]

I've always used our rolling pin. Works so far!

[Dawn K.]

We have a triangle shaped one we picked up at BB&B forever ago that we really like. It has a side for chicken, and then two sides each with spikes of different sizes. We usually just use it to prep chicken breasts for grilling though, so nothing super thin or even needed.