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School me on pork

S

slackerinabox

Lifer
Grew up with an indian diet (mom christian but didn't grow up around pork and beef) so don't have much first hand knowledge... Plus I usually get my pork on the outside. Love a good pulled pork sandwich, carmelized pork chop, etc. but never get those same luscious umami results at home. From roasts (for tacos, pot roasts, etc) to chops, what are the best tasting pork cuts? I've tried a few and I've gotten funky fishy dryness to just too mind flavor. For beef we stick to chuck roast and rib eye for the fatty lushness and flavor, what's the equivalent for pork? I use an arsenal of methods from instant pot to cast iron, I don't think the issue is technique.
 
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Fatty cuts of pork will be more flavorful, but require more cooking time. These cuts are best for long/slow cooking.

Lean cuts of pork are less flavorful, but great for searing.

Dry pork is usually from overcooking a lean cut. Funky pork is usually from undercooking a fatty cut or boiling it instead of searing it. Pork shoulder would give you similar properties to a chuck roast.

If you're trying to do a pork roast in an instant pot/crock pot:

- Salt/pepper the outside generously
- Sear all sides in a hot oiled frying pan to get some color on it (color=flavor)
- Add the roast to the pot
- Add 2 halfs of an onion (skin on), a few crushed garlic cloves, a carrot (cut in half), and a celery stalk (halved) to the frying pan and sweat them off a bit.
- Add some chicken (or beef, vegetable) stock to pan and srape off any bits that are stuck to the bottom. Dump everything on top of the roast.
- Cover tightly, set the pot to medium, and cook for 5-6 hours.

When the collegen in the pork reaches around 200F, it will melt and give you that pull-apart texture you're looking for in pulled pork.
 
1) Don't buy pork in the supermarket. Get Berkshire (or similar) pork. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire_pig "Berkshire pork, prized for juiciness, flavour, and tenderness, is pink-hued and heavily marbled."

2) For decades people were terrified of trichinosis. This is now mostly eradicated in pork. The problem is that virtually all recipes you will find will have you cook it 20°F to 30°F too hot. Leaving you with dry tasteless leather. Cook pork far less than almost any recipe states. 145°F is fine, not any higher.

3) The cheeks are the tastiest. I'd say even tastier than bacon, although that might get me trashed to say this online.
 
Fritzo said:
Fatty cuts of pork will be more flavorful, but require more cooking time. These cuts are best for long/slow cooking.
Lean cuts of pork are less flavorful, but great for searing.

Dry pork is usually from overcooking a lean cut. Funky pork is usually from undercooking a fatty cut or boiling it instead of searing it. Pork shoulder would give you similar properties to a chuck roast.

If you're trying to do a pork roast in an instant pot/crock pot:

- Salt/pepper the outside generously
- Sear all sides in a hot oiled frying pan to get some color on it (color=flavor)
- Add the roast to the pot
- Add 2 halfs of an onion (skin on), a few crushed garlic cloves, a carrot (cut in half), and a celery stalk (halved) to the frying pan and sweat them off a bit.
- Add some chicken (or beef, vegetable) stock to pan and srape off any bits that are stuck to the bottom. Dump everything on top of the roast.
- Cover tightly, set the pot to medium, and cook for 5-6 hours.

When the collegen in the pork reaches around 200F, it will melt and give you that pull-apart texture you're looking for in pulled pork.
Click to expand...


Left me with nothing much to add which doesn't happen often!

And now I've got the Jones for a pork tenderloin! 😎



dullard said:
I'd say even tastier than bacon
Click to expand...



False.



NOTHING is tastier then bacon. 😡 😉



Otherwise good advice! 😀
 
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There's no best tasting cut. Pretty much every part of the pig is great. If you're not getting good tasting pork, it's your cooking technique that's lacking.

Pork shoulder is super cheap and easy cut to find anywhere. Start with that.
 
Captante said:
False.



NOTHING is tastier then bacon. 😡 😉



Otherwise good advice! 😀
Click to expand...

TRUE!! Nothing else on the pig is as good as bacon, but cooked well it's all good.

ponyo said:
Pork shoulder is super cheap and easy cut to find anywhere. Start with that.
Click to expand...

That. Pork shoulder and a crock pot is an almost idiot proof combo, cheap and easy to make delicious.Start there, chops and loins take a little practice to get right and as mentioned above, they DO NOT react well to being overcooked. They go from moist and yummy to flavorless leather in about 30 seconds.
 
My Chinese mom makes pork chop soup. Real simple. Boil until the meat is flaky. Add salt and MSG, and you have the essential soup done.
 
Fritzo said:
Fatty cuts of pork will be more flavorful, but require more cooking time. These cuts are best for long/slow cooking.

Lean cuts of pork are less flavorful, but great for searing.

Dry pork is usually from overcooking a lean cut. Funky pork is usually from undercooking a fatty cut or boiling it instead of searing it. Pork shoulder would give you similar properties to a chuck roast.

If you're trying to do a pork roast in an instant pot/crock pot:

- Salt/pepper the outside generously
- Sear all sides in a hot oiled frying pan to get some color on it (color=flavor)
- Add the roast to the pot
- Add 2 halfs of an onion (skin on), a few crushed garlic cloves, a carrot (cut in half), and a celery stalk (halved) to the frying pan and sweat them off a bit.
- Add some chicken (or beef, vegetable) stock to pan and srape off any bits that are stuck to the bottom. Dump everything on top of the roast.
- Cover tightly, set the pot to medium, and cook for 5-6 hours.

When the collegen in the pork reaches around 200F, it will melt and give you that pull-apart texture you're looking for in pulled pork.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the fantastic post! I think I'm dealing with a mix of wrong cut and wrong tool (crock pot and the loin I usually get = flavorless mashed meat). I will def. try your instant pot technique with some shoulder. I also realized I like low and slow but I don't like the liquid flavorlessless of crock potting, so I picked up an electric roaster. Figure low and slow roast is pretty idiot proof.
 
slackerinabox said:
Thank you for the fantastic post! I think I'm dealing with a mix of wrong cut and wrong tool (crock pot and the loin I usually get = flavorless mashed meat). I will def. try your instant pot technique with some shoulder. I also realized I like low and slow but I don't like the liquid flavorlessless of crock potting, so I picked up an electric roaster. Figure low and slow roast is pretty idiot proof.
Click to expand...
No regular oven in the house? It doesn't get any easier than using regular stove oven. Place the pork butt in a roasting pan and just cook it at 300 F for like 6-7 hours until the bone pulls straight out. Electric roaster is unnecessary.

If you want to get all fancy, you can recreate Momofuku's Bo Ssam at home.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12197-momofukus-bo-ssam
 
ponyo said:
No regular oven in the house? It doesn't get any easier than using regular stove oven. Place the pork butt in a roasting pan and just cook it at 300 F for like 6-7 hours until the bone pulls straight out. Electric roaster is unnecessary.

If you want to get all fancy, you can recreate Momofuku's Bo Ssam at home.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12197-momofukus-bo-ssam
Click to expand...

Actually got the electric roaster for brisket, something about leaving the oven on for 12+ hours with kids running around worries me... But, sure, I'll try it for a pork roast. Momofuku's pork looks amazing and actually seems pretty doable, thanks!
 
slackerinabox said:
Actually got the electric roaster for brisket, something about leaving the oven on for 12+ hours with kids running around worries me... But, sure, I'll try it for a pork roast. Momofuku's pork looks amazing and actually seems pretty doable, thanks!
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Totally unnecessary. Brisket cooks faster than pork shoulder. I've cooked lot of briskets and pork butt. You can cook 12-14 lb brisket in 4 hours in the oven at 300 F.

https://www.snakeriverfarms.com/hot-fast-brisket

Replace the smoker with oven in the above link. Smoker is basically outdoor oven.

If you want electric roaster, great. But your oven is a workhorse. Learn how to use it. You can pretty much cook anything using the stove and oven.
 
WelshBloke said:
Fry pork chops for 4 minutes on one side. Turn them over and add a boat load of sliced garlic, tin of anchovies, dried chilli, and rosemary.
Fry for another 4 minutes.
Deglaze the pan with some cider (proper cider not apple juice!) and reduce down and serve over the chops.

View attachment 21022
Click to expand...

Nice work...if I were still catering I'd hire you 😀

Little tip I picked up over the years- crush the garlic and leave it in the skin. The skin will prevent it from burning and you can leave it in longer to add a stronger garlic flavor (unless you're going for pieces of garlic for serving...which is fine).

Also- Costco had rosemary bushes for $15 over the weekend. Bought 2. They look great, they supposedly keep mosquito away, and I have instant access to herbs!
 
ponyo said:
Totally unnecessary. Brisket cooks faster than pork shoulder. I've cooked lot of briskets and pork butt. You can cook 12-14 lb brisket in 4 hours in the oven at 300 F.

https://www.snakeriverfarms.com/hot-fast-brisket

Replace the smoker with oven in the above link. Smoker is basically outdoor oven.

If you want electric roaster, great. But your oven is a workhorse. Learn how to use it. You can pretty much cook anything using the stove and oven.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I agree with this....brisket is thinner than pork shoulder, but it's a much denser meat with a lot more collegen. I typically do brisket on a wood smoker for 18 hours, where pork shoulder takes around 12-14 at 225-250F.
 
slackerinabox said:
Thank you for the fantastic post! I think I'm dealing with a mix of wrong cut and wrong tool (crock pot and the loin I usually get = flavorless mashed meat). I will def. try your instant pot technique with some shoulder. I also realized I like low and slow but I don't like the liquid flavorlessless of crock potting, so I picked up an electric roaster. Figure low and slow roast is pretty idiot proof.
Click to expand...

Yeah, rule of thumb- sear lean meats and "melt" fatty meats. Also, be sure to return fat to lean meats by basting. A always have a pan of brown butter next to me when cooking steaks/pork loins.
 
Fritzo said:
I'm not sure I agree with this....brisket is thinner than pork shoulder, but it's a much denser meat with a lot more collegen. I typically do brisket on a wood smoker for 18 hours, where pork shoulder takes around 12-14 at 225-250F.
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I smoked lot of briskets and pork shoulders. Never had a brisket that took longer than pork shoulder. Average cook time for brisket for me. 4-6 hours is typical. Fastest was about 3 hours 30 minutes or so for 10 pound brisket. Pork shoulder usually average about 6-8 hours. Never had one close to done in 4 hours. But I've cooked plenty of brisket in 4 hours.
 
Fritzo said:
Nice work...if I were still catering I'd hire you 😀
Click to expand...
Thank you very much! 🙂
Although TBH I'd be terrible at catering. Its easy to cook for a few people, it's a different thing to scale that up and juggle getting 5 or 6 different dishes all ready at the same time I'd imagine !

Fritzo said:
Little tip I picked up over the years- crush the garlic and leave it in the skin. The skin will prevent it from burning and you can leave it in longer to add a stronger garlic flavor (unless you're going for pieces of garlic for serving...which is fine).
Click to expand...
I do that when I'm baking potato wedges or anything that takes some time in the oven, if you're lucky you can get some lovely squishy garlic that tastes amazing at the end. In this though you aren't cooking it for long and theres a lot of garlic in it so it's nice to fry off some of the pungency but still get lots of the flavour.

Fritzo said:
Also- Costco had rosemary bushes for $15 over the weekend. Bought 2. They look great, they supposedly keep mosquito away, and I have instant access to herbs!
Click to expand...

My rosemary died in a hard frost a couple of years ago. I have to send my kids to the community orchard to pick herbs now.
 
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