Pork: The other pink meat?
My sister took a parasitology class in college that led to the ruin of any steak that would cross her plate for the rest of her life. Seriously, those pictures in her textbook are to blame for the horse saddles that she calls well-done steaks.
I can also remember her being icked out by trichinosis, a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork. And who could blame her? I certainly do not want trichinosis. For years, the United States Department of Agriculture has recommended that pork be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit in order to kill the bug.
Until now! The big news in food safety circles this week is that the USDA has lowered the recommended cooking temperature for pork to 145 degrees with a 3-minute resting period, which puts it in line with the recommended temps for beef, lamb and veal. You know if the USDA has decided to make this change, they have probably studied the issue ad nauseum.
Here are a few important points to remember:
* As part of the new guidelines, pork should be cooked to 145 degrees, tested with an accurate meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the cut, and then allowed to rest for three minutes. The rest time is important because the temperature either holds or rises during that time, ensuring the destruction of evil bugs.
* Beef, veal and lamb also should be allowed to rest for three minutes after they reach 145 degrees.
* The USDA still recommends that you cook any GROUND pork, beef, lamb, veal or a mixture of those meats to 160 degrees.
* The USDA still recommends that poultry be cooked to 165 degrees to ensure safety.
* The new cooking temperature recommendation means that your pork may still be a bit pink inside even if it is safe to eat. So the old idea that pink pork means undercooked pork is not necessarily true. The only way to know for sure is to invest in a good meat thermometer (I recommend digital) and use it.
I’m not sure this new recommendation is going to change everyone’s behavior. For one thing, some people already felt that 160 degree pork was overcooked, so they took the risk in order to have juicier, more tender pork. Second, some people are never going to feel comfortable eating pink pork no matter what the USDA says.
Do you fall into one of those groups? Will this change the way you cook pork?
May 25, 2011 - 6:26 AM
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I’ve always cooked pork a little “south of proper,” but only when I had procured that pork from a source which I trusted.
While I like my red meat still red, Pittsburgh rare is optimum, I wouldn’t eat rare pork. Not because I’m afraid of it, but because I don’t think the flavor benefits with that much less cooking. Pork, to me, tastes best medium to medium rare. And in 30 years of eating it this way, I’ve never once had an issue with it.
Since we don’t cook pork anyway, it won’t change how we prepare it. I’ve seen hog farm operations, and smelled them, living in South Hampton Roads…and quit eating pork once I saw that. I miss really crispy bacon and a good country ham biscuit from time to time, but not enough to eat that.
Seeing chicken houses and CAFO’s was almost enough for me to swear off all meat, except that I really like beef and chicken too much. So thankfully, I’ve found some local (albeit expensive) options for both.
And with everything we cook, we make sure it’s well-done only. Meats can be well-done without being shoe leather too, it takes skill and careful attention to cooking though…but the meats can be tender and juicy without being half-cooked. The problem with most restaurants is that they set it to the ‘hockey puck’ setting and walk away, and come back when it’s on fire.
I started cooking my pork not exactly rare but not the same shoe-like quality my mother did years ago. And now that we get our pork from the fabulous Angie Lenoir, I have little to no concerns about its quality.
I grew up hating pork chops, and when I had my own kitchen I realized it was because my mother’s manner of cooking them was to put them into the oven until they were dried out beyond recognition, then dump cream-of-mushroom soup on them. Ugh.
As for my red meat, I’m the butt of many jokes in my house because I eat it as close to raw as possible. I bend a little on burger, but will frequently get the urge to grind up a bunch of some good steak for tartare. As far as I know, I’ve not had any encounters with parasites. As with all food, if you know where it’s coming from and trust who’s been raising it, you feel more comfortable.
I have always ignored the USDA guidelines. If you adhere to their guidelines, your meat comes out cooked at least medium well to well done. That reduces the juiciness and flavor of the meat. The only exception is if you cook ‘low & slow’ for hours on end.
I have always cooked my pork the same way, so that – after it sits for 10-15 minutes – you can cut into it and see just a hint of ‘pork pink’. With chicken, I take it to where it is just done all the way through. With beef, I take it to where it ends up being medium. The exception is ground beef, where I take it to medium well. I never use a meat thermometer. After practice, you don’t need them. You can tell by the time and the heat of your cooking surface.
I’ll add this – pork is the most challenging meat to cook. It goes from being ‘just right’ to being shoe leather in the blink of an eye if you don’t give it your full attention.
Pork will always be cooked until it is completely done in my home. I had a friend who got trichinosis from undercooked pork and there is no way I would willingly risk having to deal with it. My friend didn’t realize that he didn’t have “just a cold,” as he termed it, until the parasites were throughout his body, including several vital organs. Once the worms are firmly ensconced, treatment doesn’t do very much to get rid of them. He suffered for years from the infestation. Just the thought of having them terrifies me. My pork will continue to be well done, regardless of the new standards set out by the USDA.
To get well done without tough requires lowering the temperature and cooking slowly, which for most restaurants (and customers) is usually not an option. I’ve always cooked pork to just a little pink and then let it sit for 5 minutes.
OJ, well-done steak’s “shoe leather” reputation isn’t just from the cooking itself. The other problem with ordering well-done is that in many restaurants they’ll give you inferior cuts of meat. The chefs don’t like to ruin a good cut of meat by overcooking it, so they’ll often pick out the least desirable piece they can find.
My mom used to insist on well-done, too, until she realized that what she was getting was so inferior to what dad got. Even going to med-well improves your chances of getting a decent piece of beef dramatically.
I started cooking it to 145 a few years ago, when I read an article by some chef recommending that temp. They said trichinosis is killed at 138 degrees.
My dad was like your sister when it came to meat. He wanted it cooked to death. I bought a beautiful roast for Christmas one year and made the mistake of letting my mom cook it. That roast was so overcooked I wanted to cry.
Mark, I had heard that before as well. We’ve generally had good luck at places like O’Charley’s, Outback, and Texas Steakhouse with ordering well done and having it not be inedible. Then again at one point we went there regularly enough that the servers knew our drink preferences and would bring them as soon as we got seated.
The one exception was when we were doing a mystery shop of the Texas Steakhouse in Martinsville. We ordered well done and they brought out a charred steak that was still red in the middle, they took it back and it still wasn’t well done. A 3rd time back and by then it was done, but hard as a 2×4.
We called for a manager and got a brand new steak, cooked properly by the manager herself, but by then we had been there well over an hour and just took it home. The entire experience was comped. Needless to say, the mystery shop score was pretty low that day for the kitchen staff.
I’ve not personally noticed a difference in getting cruddier cuts from when I used to order medium to now where I get well done. I just don’t like the ‘bloody’ taste that beef cooked less than medium-well tends to have, mainly because I never use steak sauce or anything else on them…I feel it’s an abomination and an insult to the beef and the chef to do so. A little bit of seasoning (or a decent marinade for tough cuts) and a touch of wood smoke are more than sufficient to flavor a chunk of meat.
And the key thing I do when cooking our meats well-done is low heat. With my gas grill, I’ll use 1 of the burners on low and cook it that way to avoid over-doing the outside and under-doing the inside, or excessive flare-ups. On charcoal/wood I use more indirect heat to cook, and keep the fire temps a tad lower too. When done that way, a well done chunk of meat retains almost as much flavor and tenderness as if I cooked it over high heat to a medium-rare doneness.
I couldn’t care less about what the govt. recommends about cooking times or temp.I still eat MedRare burgers and steak ,and will still cook my pork Well Done.
I will never, ever cook my steaks over little better than the bottom end of medium rare and I’ve never cooked pork to 165 degrees unless I’m smoking it for 16 hours. It’s a travestity and an insult to the animal to cook it well done. Then again, all our meat is locally raised, pastured and slaughtered…