Making a Roast Pork Loin

[lordkenmore]

> Trichinosis isn't the problem it was back in the day, so I've adjusted to cooking it to around 145-150 degrees and letting it rest for 10-15 minutes.

And even "back in the day" the temperatures MIGHT have been too high. I seem to recall James Beard suggesting that in one 1980s cookbook. IIRC he suggested "new research", and one supposes that one thing that might have been a consideration in past years was a "better safe than sorry" approach.

A bit off topic, but my high school biology teacher absolutely refused to touch pork due to trichinosis. You could probably roast a roast until it was a pile of smoking ashes, and he'd still refuse.

 

[lordkenmore]

I may have misquoted Beard. It's possible he said something in one of his later books. It's also possible that my scrambled eggs for brains got things mixed up.

But here's a quote from Beard's HOW TO EAT BETTER FOR LESS MONEY (1970, P. 85), which I was too lazy to check a couple of minutes ago, even though it's a few feet from the computer.

I use the asterisk after numbers for a crude "degree" sign.

The quote:

"Also, as it has been proved that there is no danger of trichinosis after the meat reaches an internal temperatures of 160*, pork is now roasted for a shorter time than formerly, when it was believed that the internal temperature had to be 180* to 185*. The American Meat Institute has recommended a 170* temperature..."

So it was (at least for some) 170 in 1970, which is higher than some people cite using, but lower than what some people once used.

Of course, back in the 185 degree days, there was probably more fat, and less chance of the roast drying out.

 

[midcentnurse]

I just found one of those pork roasts at Krogers too. It had a teriyaki sauce it was marinating in in the bag. 30 min in a hot oven then 10 min wrapped in the foil on the counter. Excellent! Ate the last piece I had frozen tonight

 

[sudsmaster]

It's a different cut, entirely, but typically for pork butt, cushion, or shoulder, I slow cook it for hours to a final temp of 170-180 using a Hamilton Beach slow cooker with temp probe. It takes the higher temp to soften all the cartilage. Lower temps work but the final result is more chewy. The broth and rendered fat make for a fine gravy.

 

From what I've read, there is one strain of trichinosis that is killed by freezing. But I wouldn't count on it. 145F is probably high enough to kill off the others, but a little margin probably is not a bad idea.

 

Off topic even further, how many people know that one should never eat raw cod or similar species? It can carry a nasty parasite, and needs to be cooked to at least 145. Again, some such parasites are killed off by freezing, and suchi/sashimi chefs routinely freeze their fish before thawing, slicing and serving. At least that's what I've read...

 

 

 

[supersuds]

Always trust content form kevein 313

I tried this today and it was delicious. I cooked it to 165 and it was anything but dried out.

Cook the pork however you want, but do try the rub. (That sounds vaguely dirty, hmm.)