What temperature to cook a pork tenderloin at?

Question

What temperature do you normally cook a pork tenderloin at? I was searching on the internet and saw anywhere from 325° to 450° and couldn't seem to find a good answer.

Also, does it depending on how long you want to cook it or in how you prepare it before cooking?

Asked by amurra

Answer

With a pork tenderloin:

Season the meat, sear all sides in a very hot pan, and then finish in the oven at 350 degrees until the internal temp. hits 145. Let sit for 10 minutes, then cut 'er up.

If you need it done faster, a higher oven temp will accomplish this, but may compromise quality. But like I said, for a tenderloin, you don't want too low, or too high. Just watch the internal temp., that is the key.

Answered by mrwienerdog

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Is cooking with hydrogen peroxide an accepted practice?

Question

I had some pork (shoulder) I had to use today, suspecting it might be unsafe tomorrow.

So I thought I'd soak it in some hydrogen peroxide, about 2-3% concentration to at least get rid of any surface bacteria.

After about 10 minutes, the pork looked half-cooked and felt extremely pliable. I assume the proteins had denatured like in a ceviche. Stir-frying it quickly to finish it off took less than a minute and it was really tender.

Is cooking with hydrogen peroxide an accepted practice?

Asked by jontyc

Answer

The Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety offers the following information and advice:

Use of Hydrogen Peroxide in Food Processing

1. Because of its strong oxidising property, hydrogen peroxide is used as a bleaching agent in some foods such as wheat flour, edible oil, egg white etc. in countries like the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
2. It is also allowed to be used as an antimicrobial agent in food, e.g. milk, and as a sterilizing agent for food packaging materials.

and

Safety of Hydrogen Peroxide

1. Oral ingestion of 3% hydrogen peroxide solutions (household strength) generally does not result in severe toxicity but may result in vomiting, mild irritation to mucosa and burns in the mouth, throat, oesophagus and stomach. Ingestion of higher concentration, e.g. >10%, can result in more dangerous sequelae such as burns to mucus membranes and gut mucosa.
2. Hydrogen peroxide is unstable and would decompose in contact with food and after cooking.

and, finally,

Advice to the Trade

1. If hydrogen peroxide is used in processing food, only food grade hydrogen peroxide should be used in processing food.

2. The amount of hydrogen peroxide to be used in food processing should be limited to the amount sufficient for the purpose.

3. Appropriate measures should be taken to remove residual hydrogen peroxide from the finished products.

Based on this information, it seems there is some precedent for using hydrogen peroxide in a cooking environment.

Answered by Eli Lansey

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How long should roast pork be cooked so that it stays light pink?

Question

Often pork is much too dry when served, I would like to have it slightly 'rosé' pink.

So I am looking for some cooking instructions for cooking a roast pork in the oven. A time/temperature table should be fine.

I ask this as from the information I see around, temperature varies from 160ºC to 210ºC. But from experience 200ºC makes the meat much too dry.

Asked by HeDinges

Answer

The USDA recommends an internal temperature of 160ºF (about 71ºC) for pork to be considered safe to eat. The exact time and temperature for your oven will depend on many factors, so always use a probe thermometer to check. If you're worried about it getting overdone, start checking the temperature a while before you expect it to be done (based on your previous experiences). There are also thermometers which you can leave in the oven, and have a remote part that can sound an alarm when a certain temperature is reached. Also note that the internal temperature will continue to rise a bit after you remove the roast from the oven, so you may want to aim for a few degrees below your target temperature.

210ºC (410ºF) does seem too hot to cook a roast, so I'd aim for something on the lower end. Whatever time/temperature combo you use, it's always the internal temperature of the roast that matters, both for safety and for taste.

Answered by Bob

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Tenderness of sous-vide pork chops

Question

I made some sous vide pork chops this week that didn't turn out as tender as I expected. They were about as tender as when I grill them; maybe a little bit worse.

I had marinated them overnight in a Vietnamese soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, lemon grass, etc., marinate and them cooked them at 132 degrees in the marinade for about eight hours.

What could I try to do differently? Longer cooking? Brining?

Asked by David Norman

Answer

I had similar experiences, and I've found that there is a big difference for long cooking between 132°F and 138°F (55°C vs 57.5°). Try a slightly higher temperature next time, you should be pleasantly surprised!

Answered by Marc-André Lafortune

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What are double-cut chops?

Question

I was in a restaurant recently and the menu included "double-cut pork chop". The person I was with ordered this, but it looked like an ordinary pork chop to me. (I don't eat pork so I don't have a lot of experience with this -- just what I've seen others eat.) Google led me to speculation, but nothing authoritative, that they're thicker; one site said up to 20oz, but the menu in this restaurant said 10oz. (I also searched Seasoned Advice but didn't find anything.)

Are double-cut chops cut from a different part of the animal (more toward the center, maybe?), or is it just a wider cut from wherever the butcher was cutting anyway, or is the Google speculation wrong and it means something different? And is this term specific to pork, or are there other kinds of double-cut chops (e.g. lamb)?

Asked by Monica Cellio

Answer

The term "double" is not specific to pork - it's also used with lamb - but it means something different in each case.

• A lamb double chop or loin double chop differs from a regular loin chop by including both the top loin and tenderloin, but not the flank. It hasn't actually been cut twice.

• A pork butterfly chop is sometimes called a "double chop" because, as the name implies, it's been butterflied. A very thick cut is taken from the loin eye and then cut again to make the butterfly.

Of course, if you cut a butterflied pork chop in half, and served just one half, it would basically be a regular pork chop. So if you that's what you actually got, I'd call it a marketing gimmick.

I've never actually heard the term "double-cut chop" - there are some vague references to it on Google, but as far as I know, it's not a proper butchering term. Perhaps the term got relayed through several people and mutated somewhere along the way.

Answered by Aaronut

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What is the name (in Chinese) of the utensil that is used to prick lots of tiny holes in pork skin to make it very crispy?

Question

I have seen people mentioning this and I've heard it's available in Chinatown in NY or in Hong Kong but I can't find it listed anywhere for sale online. I think this is because I don't know the term for it so if anyone can help with a name or a link it would be much appreciated. NB: I have tried a German meat tenderiser that looks similar but it's not sharp enough. The thing I'm looking for is wooden and has lots of very sharp pins coming out the botton

Asked by petenelson

Answer

The answer to the question is "Chap Zai".

The name for Chinese Crispy Roast Pork is "sio bak" by the way

talon8 - I bought a tenderizer from Amazon exactly like the one you posted but the pins were not sharp enough to make the required number of tiny holes - and therefore the skin on the pork belly did not get that crystalised look where the fat has flowed out through the skin. My best result was by using a sharp knife but this took a long time.

Anyway - long story short, I got this by emailing a number of Chinese supermarkets (was never listed on their website shops) and they told me the name. Would be good if anyone can verify this name...

Answered by petenelson

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Tough roast.. what's going wrong?

Question

My housemate often manages to pick up reduced meat from the local supermarket (Sainsbury's in the UK) at the time he comes home.

It's usually silverside, topside or brisket of beef. Occasionally it's pork shoulder.

Without fail however my meat ends up "tough". Here's the exact procedure I follow for my standard "roast":

1. Take frozen joint of meat out of the freezer around 8-10AM.
2. Prepare 2 onions, celery, carrots and half bulb garlic. Throw them in my roasting pan.
3. Season joint with salt and pepper, pour extra virgin olive oil over it, sear it in a frying pan.
4. Cook at 20degC less than the suggested temperatures for the suggested times according to my MasterChef book, specifically for that cut of meat. For instance tonight's brisket was 900g - I cooked it at 160degC for 1h30m.
5. Rest for 10-15m while I make the gravy and finish off the potatoes in another pan.

I cook it at 20deg less because it's a fan oven.

Can anyone explain the factors that affect how tough the meat becomes? Am I not searing properly? Is the meat prone to being tough because it's not fresh (reduced stuff)? Is it not defrosting for long enough?

Thanks in advance,

Asked by dunc

Answer

Meat is tough for two reasons:
1- An abundance of connective tissue.
2- When over cooked.

In your case I'd say you probably have both problems. Cheap meat is tough meat. It is from older animals or well worked muscle groups. This means that it has been fortified with a lot of extra connective tissue. It also means it has a lot of flavor.

The solution to #1 is slow, wet cooking that will melt that connective tissue into delicious gelatin. Braising is the normal way to do this. When meat is heated too far, even if the connective tissue has been carefully melted out, the meat proteins bunch up and stiffen- resulting in #2, a dry, unpleasant meal.

You are buying tough meat and cooking it relatively quickly with no thermometer. You don't have enough time or moisture to melt the collagen and you can't be sure you haven't over cooked the meat because you don't know the temperature. Using time doesn't work because chunks of meat are irregularly shaped so you can't know how long it will take for the heat to penetrate.

Buy yourself a probe thermometer to prevent #2. For #1 look for pot roast recipes. Some are easily done in slow cookers- others use a tent of sealed foil over the meat to seal in moisture. Plan on it taking much longer than your 1.5 hours. 3-6 hours are typical to produce a really succulent pot roast.

The searing is just for flavor and will not play a role in either melting collagen or cooking the interior of the meat.

Answered by Sobachatina

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How should I choose a BBQ sauce for root-beer-braised pulled pork?

Question

I made some pulled pork using this slow-cooker recipe a few weeks ago. Ingredients include:

• 1 (2 lbs) pork shoulder
• 1 (12 fl oz) can or bottle root beer
• 1 (18 oz) bottle "your favorite barbecue sauce"
• 8 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted

The pork was very shreddable due to the acidic root beer. The flavor of the meat was also pretty good. The only thing that I was unhappy with was the BBQ sauce I choose.

What should I consider when choosing a BBQ sauce? What style of BBQ sauce would pair well with these ingredients? Is there a "standard" BBQ sauce or type of sauce used in traditional Southern pulled pork?

Asked by sixtyfootersdude

Answer

A Southerner will probably tell you that there is no type of BBQ sauce to go with this type of pulled pork because it's not actually real pulled pork... or real BBQ. Authentic pulled pork is smoked, and that comes with a completely different set of pairings. This is technically just braised, shredded pork.

Which is not meant as a criticism, mind you - I often make a similar recipe in the winter time using a dutch oven. But terminology is important here because there's a huge difference in flavour between pulled pork and braised pork. I'll note for the record that any kind of slow-cooking will make a pork shoulder fall right apart; you do not need the root beer (which isn't that acidic anyway, and acid-tenderizing is somewhat of a myth) to tenderize the pork. The heat and moisture do that all by themselves, although root beer is as good a choice as any if you're braising.

Now onto the flavouring. Because the braise, unlike smoke, only minimally flavours the meat, you're going to need strong flavours from elsewhere. If you're really trying to mimic an authentic Southern-style pulled pork then you need to incorporate the smoky flavour somehow, which means using a smoky BBQ sauce (hickory is common) or better yet, incorporate this flavour at the very beginning of the cooking process by applying a dry rub containing smoked paprika or including a small amount of liquid smoke in the braise.

If you do use a rub then the other flavours are up to you - there are plenty of recipes out there - just don't use salt in it because pork already has plenty. As with any braise, stick to aromatics like garlic/onion powder, various chili powders/peppers, cinnamon, etc.

Once you've successfully incorporated the smoke (or what passes for smoke in indoor cooking) then a little sauce goes a long way. Definitely incorporate some of the leftover braising liquid so as not to waste those delicious drippings - I use about half of it but that's with a much milder braise. Ketchup and dijon mustard in a 50/50 to 60/40 ratio is very simple and surprisingly effective when mixed in with the juices.

If you still find this to be lacking punch, you can throw in some cider vinegar, which pairs well with both the pork shoulder and your root beer braise. I actually boil off the pan (after reserving some braising liquid) and use cider vinegar as a deglazer for the fond, but since you're using a crock pot (or equivalent), you probably won't have much/any fond and this would require an extra vessel, so... just throw a splash or two into the finished sauce, and reduce if that makes it a bit watery. Worcestershire sauce is also a good way to punch up any homemade sauce, and if it starts to get too intense or tangy from either that or the vinegar, tone it down with some brown sugar or molasses if you have any.

If you're dead-set on following the recipe to the letter, then, as above, I think I'd choose a hickory or mesquite sauce, something smoky and not overly thick. Some of the better brands/products will actually include a small amount of alcohol, like whisky or bourbon. Almost all will contain onion, garlic, paprika, sugar, molasses, and vinegar (often cider vinegar, as above) - not surprisingly, exactly the same kinds of ingredients as I'm suggesting in the dry rub and homemade sauce.

Answered by Aaronut

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Pork Mince and Apple Pie - Re-heating?

Question

My wife made a Pork and Apple pie yesterday using pork mince, and half of it is still in the fridge.

I have read conflicting advice on reheating pork from different websites, some saying definitely shouldn't, some saying definitely should.

So, can I reheat the Pork Pie and is it safe or are there any guidelines?

Thanks

Answer

Questions to ask yourself... How long did it sit in that danger zone of 4C to 100C before it was fully chilled down to <4C? How long will it take you to heat it back up to a temp of 160C-180C? Are you legally libel to anyone other than yourself if you serve this? If not then how concerned are you about an upset stomach?

Quick answer for the proffesional kitchen is... 4 hours in the danger zone and it's tossed. That includes reheating and cooling.

Home answer... heck, I've eaten pizza left out for 5 hours or more and never been bothered but that's me and I know that I don't have any money if I sue myself. ;-)

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What's a good molasses-based glaze for pork tenderloin?

Question

My wife and I cooked a pork tenderloin with a molasses-based glaze/sauce this evening. However, we didn't care for it, not because of the molasses but because the recipe called for ground cumin—turns out, we don't care for cumin.

How could I make something similar without cumin. The original ingredients were:

• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb pork tenderloin

Answer

To expand upon baka's comment: this would taste good without the cumin too; it'd just be a simpler flavor. You can then replace it with any other spice that appeals to you, since pork's flavor isn't going to strongly clash with many spices. ElendilTheTall's answer suggests one option; I'm sure you can come up with others. This gives you a chance to make your pork fit well with whatever other dishes are in your meal.

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What types of sauces would pair well with boiled pork knuckles?

Question

I'm going to be boiling some pork knuckles. What type of sauce would be a good pairing?

I am guessing that because pork knuckles are fatty, the sauce should tend to be sour or pepper-ish to balance out the fatty taste?

Answer

One traditional accompaniment for pork is apple sauce. This follows the convention that a fruity sauce cuts through the fattiness of meat - duck a l'orange is another example.

Apple sauce is easy to make - just taking a cooking apple, chop it up, stew it down with a little water, then stir in some sugar and butter to taste.

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How to boil pork knuckle?

Question

My family would like to eat pork knuckle (ideally the Germany/Austrian style but not necessary as long as they taste fine). I looked up various receipt but most require an oven, which I don't have (No! I do not have an oven!). I also do not have large enough fry pan - just one small enough to cook up the gravy.

I do have a very large boiling pot though; so I wonder in what way can I cook the pork knuckle just by boiling it and still manage to make it tasty. Should I add salt, tomato sauce, oil or what sort of seasoning in the boiling water? And normally in what way and how long it takes to boil pork knuckle to tender?

Some has suggest to boil pork knuckle in Coca Cola to make it tender and taste...Any creative receipt is also welcome.

Answer

When I was a child every christmas day we would have ragout des pattes de cochon (pigs feet stew) With meatballs in it. It is definetly possible to cook pigs feet in a pot!

That being said, I have never done it myself. This looks like a good recipe, you can get a good idea of what to do.

http://www.food.com/recipe/rago-t-de-pattes-de-cochon-pork-stew-with-meatballs-398226

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Is it OK to marinate chicken and pork together?

Question

I just want to minimize dishes taken to a BBQ--marinating pork chops in a lemon/herb/olive-oil baste along with some chicken skewers. Is there anything to worry about with trichonosis when preparing pork in same dish with other meats at room temperature? I can't imagine it's a problem, but you never know...

Answer

Don't worry about the pork contaminating the chicken, but rather vice versa. A good rule of thumb with chicken is to treat it as a biohazardius contaminant. Because it is. Salmonella is present IN chicken meat, unlike other meats where you will only find microbes on the surface. Your marinade doesn't seem particularly inhospitable to pathogen growth, so cross contamination would be a nontrivial concern. OK, if you overcook your pork chops as some insist on doing, it shouldn't be much of a concern. However, may as well be safe and split the marinade between two ziploc bags. It's a small effort to mitigate risk.

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Chinese pork jerky, what makes them so tender, how do you make it?

Question

If you've ever had Chinese beef or pork jerky, you'll know why I'm asking this question. If you have a Chinatown in your city, I'm sure you'll be able to find a market that sells them in vacuum sealed plastic packages. If you're lucky enough to have an actual beef/pork jerky store that's even better! We have one in the Chinatown in New York City.

I want to know how to make the pork jerky. What makes them so tender and soft. I've never had any other kind of jerky that has this texture. Most jerky is very chewy. Maybe it's due the high fat content of the meat? Maybe they dont' dry it out as much.

Here are some images on Google. It's probably hard to tell from the photos but the jerky is a bit translucent. I wonder if it they grind up pork and fat together.

Answer

I just found the recipe for it. The name of it is Bak Kwa (Sweet BBQ Pork Jerky). Here's the wikipedia entry (boy it's easy to find things when you know the name!). The recipe actually grind up the pork. They use about 70% meat and 30% fat. But according to the wikipedia entry there is also an expensive version where they slice of a solid piece of meat.

Sugar and salt was originally used and then the meat was smoked (this sounds really close to BBQing, which generally cooks the meat with smoke...yummy tender ribs).

These days, people make them in the oven at low heat. In the recipe, they put the minced mixture between two sheets of parchment paper, which probably keeps it moist and tender!

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Is this a true? You should use garlic with pork and ginger with beef and never vice versa?

Question

"You should use garlic with pork and ginger with beef and never vice versa."

This is coming from my dad who says that fact has been handed down from generations and generations of Chinese cooking. He says if I mix it (i.e. cook pork with ginger and beef with garlic), there will be an unpleasant taste. Maybe he's just exaggerating, I'm not sure. Do you think there is any truth to this saying?

Answer

Whether or not it's a good idea is subjective, but the Chinese seem to break that rule a lot! For example, Northeastern Chinese sweet and sour pork (guō bāo ròu) is characterized by an intense ginger flavor. The Sichuan classic twice cooked pork (huí guō ròu) calls for boiling the pork with ginger. A common condiment for beef dishes/sauces is black bean garlic paste (蒜蓉豆豉酱). Perhaps this saying is associated with a specific Chinese regional cuisine?

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Substitution for beef (veal) in a stew

Question

I have a recipe for an Italian stew that is pretty much just caramelized onions and juice from tomatoes plus veal. My partner does not eat veal so we've substituted stewing beef to good effect, though it takes longer to cook and is not quite as tender.

I'd like to make the dish for some friends of ours, but they don't eat beef of any kind. We've tried it with chicken in the past but the chicken came out tough; we probably cooked it too long. The veal cooks for 1.5-2 hours over very low heat, the stewing beef is more to the 2 hour end, if not a little more. Can I successfully substitute chicken or pork and not have it come out tough? Any pointers on how long to cook it, or how to know when it's cooked but not overcooked?

Thanks!

Answer

I'd suggest skinless bone-in chicken thighs, as they have plenty of fat and collagen to keep them moist and tasty. I've cooked them in French-style wine-based stews, not to mention cacciatorre, for 2-3 hours before now and they just fall off the bone.

It is virtually impossible to overcook them, unless you boil them mercilessly for hours. Just get a nice gentle simmer going - not only will this make the meat tender, but it will improve the flavour of the tomato sauce as well.

Do not use chicken breast - it is far too lean.

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Is this a true? You should use garlic with pork and ginger with beef and never vice versa?

Question

"You should use garlic with pork and ginger with beef and never vice versa."

This is coming from my dad who says that fact has been handed down from generations and generations of Chinese cooking. He says if I mix it (i.e. cook pork with ginger and beef with garlic), there will be an unpleasant taste. Maybe he's just exaggerating, I'm not sure. Do you think there is any truth to this saying?

Answer

Whether or not it's a good idea is subjective, but the Chinese seem to break that rule a lot! For example, Northeastern Chinese sweet and sour pork (guō bāo ròu) is characterized by an intense ginger flavor. The Sichuan classic twice cooked pork (huí guō ròu) calls for boiling the pork with ginger. A common condiment for beef dishes/sauces is black bean garlic paste (蒜蓉豆豉酱). Perhaps this saying is associated with a specific Chinese regional cuisine?

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pork fillet cooking time

Question

I have a pork fillet which I've cut in half and marinated in some honey and soy. I heated a pan, and seared it on all sides, then put the pan in the oven at 180 deg C. The question is, how long to leave it in the oven until it's cooked through? I suspect it's about 20 minutes for the average fillet (3-4cm in diameter). Any suggestions?

Answer

Every Kitchen needs a meat thermometer. Little too late in this case but it would have saved you here. I never used one at home until after I started working in a restaurant that only had a flat top and a convection oven with burgers on the menu. I got a relatively cheap one for $5-10 at Wal-mart and it does the job. Another option for next time is to check your meat often and poke it with a spoon, once it feels firm throughout, like the skin on the back of your hand when you make a fist, it's done.

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What distinguishes pork sausage from ground pork?

Question

Let me preface this by saying that I am basically a complete novice when it comes to cooking. So I apologize if this is a silly question.

I sometimes like to cook things using ground pork sausage, but much of the time it's nearly impossible to find in the local grocery stores. However, they always seem to have ground pork, which I've considered using as a substitute. I know it wouldn't cause my kitchen to explode or anything like that ;-) but I'm curious, what's the difference? What exactly am I putting in my food by using the sausage that I'd miss out on if I used regular ground pork?

Answer

Ground pork is simply that, pork. Pork sausage is ground pork that has been seasoned.

You can substitute, but you'll have to bring your own seasoning.

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Recommendations on how to have a hog butchered?

Question

I have commissioned a pig from a local farmer and it will be going to the butcher soon. It turns out that I can have it butchered to my specific requests. Has anyone done this before and have any recommendations?
Specifically, should I have the bacon sliced or leave it in slabs (Alton Brown says slab is better but how hard is it to cut)? What is the best way to have the shoulder cut? I am thinking a picnic roast and a butt. What is the best way to deal with the loin. Will each side give just one tenderloin and one "center cut loin" for a roast? If I get those will there be any back left for pork chops? Any recommendations for the back leg? Ham vs. roast?

Answer

Lucky you. I usually have all the shoulders split in two, cured and smoked, hocks and shanks smoked, belly smoked (bacon). Some roasts and the rest into chops and steaks.

Your cut and wrap (butcher) will put things up the way you ask, so have him put up meal size bits. The usual way to receive custom cut and wraped meat is frozen, haven't heard of anyone getting it fresh..there's just too much of it.

I like my pigs between 105 - 110 kilos/230 -240 pounds on the hoof; seems to give the right lean/fat ratio. They grow them much fatter in some places, China is one.

You can have the shoulders left whole, that is a fairly large cut of meat though, better to have them cut into hams and picnics. Have them cut your shanks and hocks up a bit too.

Custom cut and wrap outfits that are good are very good, some of them make excellent sausage, which brings this consideration into the mix, I would recommend trying the sausage you are thinking of having made first.

Finally, the smoke on your very own pig parts will totally blow any other smoked pork product flavors out of the water, there is just no comparison.

enjoy :)

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