Wrote off the $9 plastic tenderizer for 4 months, then a 30 pound case of top round humbled me

Emery Lopez · 2026-10-01T21:30:56.905518+00:00

I always figured those cheap plastic mallets were junk and kept using the flat side of my cleaver like my old boss taught me back at the shop on 5th Street. Then last month I got a 30 pound case of top round at $4.19 a pound and needed cutlets for a wedding order of 200, so I grabbed the $9 mallet off the shelf just to save my wrist. That thing flattened 60 pounds of meat in under an hour with no torn edges, and my shoulders didn't ache the next morning for once. I still use the cleaver for small jobs, but the plastic one lives on the rail now. My old boss would probably give me grief about it. Has anyone else got a cheap tool they avoided for a long time that actually held up?

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Wrote off the $9 plastic tenderizer for 4 months, then a 30 pound case of top round humbled me | Butchers - SMM Buzz