How do you like your pork done?

[silverpig]

The steak thread got me thinking about this, so I thought I'd ask.

I have a couple Thomas Keller cookbooks, and when making the brined roasted rack of pork, he says to do it to an internal temperature of about 135 for medium. I've always had pork done well because I thought if you didn't cook it well you'd get sick.

Well apparently trichinosis is pretty much a thing of the past in Canada at least, so I've been having my pork medium to medium well lately and have been loving it. Gone are the days of requiring applesauce to get a chop down. I now make my thick pork chops the same way I make a steak: A little oil, salt and pepper, then sear them on both sides in a hot skillet and then into the oven at 475 for 5-7 minutes a side. The chops come out mostly cooked through with a little pink in the middle.

I also do the rack of pork roasts to medium/medium well too. I leave a bit of pink in the very center now.

I've been doing this for about a year and I've not gotten sick or anything. Does anyone else do this or is it always well done for you?

 

[buck]

I leave it up to the restaurant or my wife.

 

[iamwiz82]

For pork tenderloin I do medium rare, and it's oh so good.

 

[dakels]

My tapeworm and I like it rare.

 

[Drako]

I like my silverpig well done thank you.

 

[randay]

hard and fast.

 

[spidey07]

Medium or medium rare. Around 155 degrees MAX. Otherwise you wind up with dry pork. This is the single most important aspect of cooking pork. Most people severely overcook it giving a tough/dry meat. Tender cuts you should be able to cut with a fork like chops and tenderloin.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: randay
hard and fast.

Brilliant!

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Drako
I like my silverpig well done thank you.

I see what you did there.

 

[nageov3t]

bacon'd?

 

[KeithTalent]

Pink and glazed.

KT

 

[SKORPI0]

medium rare.

 

[oiprocs]

I don't eat pork. Pork is nasty.

 

[randay]

covered in BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSsssssssss!

 

[LS21]

i ALWAYS use a digital remote thermometer now

for thick pork chops, etc, 155 and rest which brings it up to 160

but i rarely ever cook pork anyway

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: randay
covered in BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSsssssssss!

Haha, nice. :thumbsup:

KT

 

[sjwaste]

Medium rare preferably. Pork is pretty lean, so if you overcook it, you get dry pork. For something like a whole shoulder, though, I'd cook to a higher internal temp, but at low temperature until its falling apart. Otherwise the connective tissue doesn't break down at all and it's just stringy.

 

[Descartes]

All pork aspires to be served as chorizo or al pastor in delicious tacos or tortas.

 

[miketheidiot]

in the trash, where it belongs

 

[Muse]

Lately chorizo, period (make myself). I have chops in the freezer. I fry 'em good once in a while. Never make pork roast.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: LS21
i ALWAYS use a digital remote thermometer now

for thick pork chops, etc, 155 and rest which brings it up to 160

but i rarely ever cook pork anyway

I still use my finger poke to tell when meat is done. Once you get the hang of it, it never fails you. Bigger roasts of course use the thermometer. What you describe is medium.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: obscenethistle
I don't eat pork. Pork is nasty.

wtf are you talking about? Just trolling??

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Medium rare. Trichinosis is almost completely gone these days thanks to vast improvements in pig farming since the 50s. If you overcook pork it's leather, if you do it right it's juicy and delicious.