Pounding Meat Tenderizes by Breaking Structure
A meat mallet doesn't just flatten a cutlet for even cooking — it physically ruptures the connective tissue and muscle fiber bundles that make a tough cut chewy, shortening the fibers the teeth have to work through when you bite into it. Pounding also evens out thickness across the whole piece, which (separately from tenderness) helps it cook at the same rate edge to edge instead of the thin parts drying out before the thick parts finish.
Sources & methodology: These tips draw on established food-science references —
Harold McGee's food-science writing, America's Test Kitchen /
Cook's Illustrated testing, Serious Eats'
technique reporting, USDA food safety guidance,
and peer-reviewed food-safety research (including UC Davis
cutting-board studies) — not reworded recipe-blog consensus.