1. Cut two 1/2 inch steel disks sized to fit the diameter of a 55 gallon plastic water barrel.
2. Put first steel plate in, and fill with water almost to the top.
3. Vacuum-seal steaks in heavy-duty plastic bags and place on the bottom plate. Drop top plate into barrel.
3. Suspend plastic-wrapped pool-ball size chunk of C4 with cord or wire about in the middle of the water. Tie off detcord to the support.
4. Raise barrel about 6 feet into the air. A forklift is good for this.
5. Fire in the hole!
6. Retrieve steaks, which should be resting on the bottom steel plate. The plastic bags should still be intact. The steaks will be flat, but very tender.
They used the actual USDA standards for judging tenderness. They lightly browned the tenderized steaks and control steaks, then froze them. After they were thawed out, they cut out 1/2" plugs of meat, and put them in a guillotine equipped with a digital strain gauge and a mechanical actuator.
Average tenderness of the control steaks, using the official USDA protocols, about 2.5 pounds. The "C4 steaks" came in at zero pounds.
Very tender, but they looked more like meat mush than steaks. It should also work on even the toughest armadillo.
I have done that trick........old demolition dog and pony for open house grilling on the EOD range. When they open a beer using micro shape charges and flex linear ping me to that episode !....:o)
You said USFS suggested that method to em ?!?!?........LOL !