Why don't they just cut out the middleman and put a stick of
dynamite up a cows butt, would save time all around.
Buena Vista, Va. (AP) — Coming soon to your supermarket meat
counter: a dynamite new way to tenderize cube steaks, pot
roasts and brisket.
Hydrodyne, Inc., a Puerto Rico based research company, has
discovered a way to immerse packaged, leathery cuts of meat
into water, send a shock wave through it by detonating an
explosive charge and — viola! — melt-in-your-mouth
meat.
Now, the company is on the verge of signing a deal with a
major meat processor that will bring this technology to
market.
"This method will essentially make lower grade meats more
valuable than they were before," Hydrodyne president Stanford
Klapper said. "The consumer will be able to pay a lower price
for meat, but still get higher grad quality."
The Hydrodyne method — tested in a Buena Vista, Va. Lab —
works by lowering a metal bucket filled with about 400 pounds
of vacuum-packed meat into a sealed, water-filled vat anchored
in concrete. Then, an explosive charge the size of an orange
is detonated from above, sending supersonic shockwaves
rebounding back and forth through the meat. The shockwaves
tear certain fibers that bind muscle tissue, thus tenderizing
the meat without changing its appearance or flavor.
The Hydrodyne process requires no government approval
because it does not penetrate the meat packaging or introduce
any foreign substance into the meat, Klapper said.
Hydrodyne's staff occasionally tests meat after it's
blasted. A bottle of steak sauce sits in the fridge as an aid
to the testers. "It's good. I definitely can tell the
difference," said staff member Ron Smith. Surplus meat is
donated to the Natural Bridge Zoo for tiger food.
The Hydrodyne process was invented by John Long, 79, a
retired nuclear weapons designer who hold several patents
besides the one for Hydrodyne. Long came up with the idea for
using explosives to tenderize meat in the 1960's.
Hydrodyne officials say the process also works on pork
chops, chicken and lamb. But some people in the meat trade
still need some convincing.
"It sounds exciting, but I'd have to see it to believe it,"
said William O'Brien, whose family owns O'Brien Meats in Salem,
Va. "I guess it's possible in this new age we're in now. My
father was leery about cooking meat on an electric stove back
in his day. I wonder what he'd think about microwaves and now
this?"
