Dear Reader, 

I hope you’ve enjoyed a good week. 

I don’t have a recipe to share tonight. I want to describe how I have used sodium bicarbonate to tenderise meat. 

What is sodium bicarbonate?

Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃) is an odourless white crystal with a molecular mass of 84.0066 g mol^–1. It’s primarily used as a rising or leavening agent to aerate foods like bread. This occurs when NaHCO₃ combines with hydrogen (H⁺) and reacts with the acid, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) plus water (H₂O) and sodium (Na⁺) are formed. CO₂ is the gas that bubbles through the dough. 

I also use NaHCO₃ to clean my stainless-steel cooking utensils in the kitchen, like frying pans and saucepans. 

This week, however, I exploited another feature of NaHCO₃, its ability to tenderise meat. Watch Dan from America’s Test Kitchen (YouTube video below); he explains it well. 

How have I been using sodium bicarbonate?

Most people would use sodium bicarbonate (also known as baking soda) with raw meat. I have been using it with cooked meat. Because I’m a “freestyler” in the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, I design my own meals. This relies on cooking the meat portions on the weekend. I find using a water bath, and water heater/circulator for sous vide cooking the most convenient and time efficient. I know many people do not have this equipment. Many prefer using a frying pan and stove, a barbecue grill, or grilling in the oven. It doesn’t really matter what you use for cooking your meat. I manage my work and life around convenience. 

I don’t know if I’ll stop the weekly meal planning and preparation when I retire. It seems like an excellent discipline to retain. 

Meat cooked this way is always tender; however, the second cooking phase can cause the meat fibres to toughen when using this meat in a stir-fry. I’ve used sodium bicarbonate to avoid this and retain my desired suppleness. It works a treat. 

Another terrific resource on sodium bicarbonate in the process known as velveting is the book, “The Wok: Recipes and Techniques” by J. Kenji López-Alt. Check out page 74, where you will find the “Basic Velveting” section. 

Another blogger you can read for wisdom is Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella. Lorraine, who I think is “Better than Nigella”, has written about velveting in a few of her posts. The main one is velveting Chinese beef, chicken, and pork.

Coincidentally, America’s Test Kitchen tweeted this today.

While velveting is ubiquitous in restaurant kitchens, it is also easy to do at home. Learn more with our Senior Science Research Editor Paul. https://t.co/4Wv9qvbPNs

— America's Test Kitchen (@TestKitchen) February 17, 2023

Why Baking Soda is the Most Useful Ingredient in Your Kitchen

While sodium bicarbonate is not specifically mentioned, I can’t help but share a YouTube video featuring Lan Lam. She is a terrific pedagogue and reminds me of my Mum. 

The Secret To Mastering Burgers, Sausage, and Meatballs

On the subject of my mother, I recall, as a young child, standing next to Mum in the kitchen while she cooked. I would watch her use utensils and toss her wok. I also noted her use of sodium bicarbonate and corn flour (in North America, I think you call this corn starch). 

When I left home, I would try to emulate Mum’s cooking, but I am a lazy man who takes shortcuts. When I’ve taken to using those extra techniques that seemed natural to Mum, my food has brought back some of those pleasurable memories of how soft and delicate meat can feel in my mouth. 

An experiment

In Dan’s video, he also mentions that sodium bicarbonate helps enhance the browning of food. 

I thought I’d see if sodium bicarbonate enhances the browning of a lamb rump steak cooked a few weeks ago and frozen. 

I thawed the lamb overnight and then let it sit in a dilute solution of sodium bicarbonate and water for about ten minutes. 

I washed the surface of the meat and then patted it dry with a paper towel before searing it in a hot frying pan. 

Check out the result in the photograph. 

I don’t think it really helped with the searing of the meat. What it did you is make the lamb rump steak noticeably more tender. It’s a bit of a faff, but worth it if you want to improve the mouthfeel of meat. 

Photographs

Here are a series of photographs and descriptions of how I’ve tenderised meat this week and enjoyed the combination of tender meats and vegetables.

You can improve the texture of beef, chicken, pork, and lamb with sodium bicarbonate. I expect it will work with any other mammalian and avian meat. 

You may have noticed in the photographs of my lunch at work, I’m using a new lunch box. I used to use Tupperware plastic containers that were quite good but there was always a rick the lid would detach accidentally.

I’ve now purchased a couple of Avanti stainless steel containers which have a secure fitting lid.

Gifted kipfler potatoes

A workmate grows kipfler potatoes. Potatoes aren’t a big part of the CSIRO TWD. I can’t say no to free spuds though.

Final thoughts

I hope you found this post interesting. If you’ve never tried tenderising meat with sodium bicarbonate and you give it a go, please come back here, and leave me a comment on what you think about it. I’d be keen to know if you think it’s worth the extra effort. 

A few people have been asking about how I feel while on the CSIRO TWD. I’m feeling well. I’m feeling more flexible and agile and more energetic. One downside, though, has been the change in bowel habits. It’s not as regular, and the pungency of the aroma, especially of my flatus, can be embarrassing in workplace situations. 

This week’s TWD photo