Medium Pork?

[psycho dad]

Hey Guys, 

This has been bugging me for over a year and it just occurred to me to post it here.

 Last year on our Disney World vacation we dined in one of their restaurants.  Although it was a seafood restaurant, I decided to order the pork tenderloin.   The server asked me how I wanted it cooked, it usually comes medium.  MEDIUM???? You cant serve pork medium can you?  Not wanting a dried out piece of meat, I said medium-well instead of well done.  I was very good, but I was still uncomfortable eating what I considered under-cooked pork.

  There was no unpleasantness the next day, no prolonged trips to the restroom so i guess it was okay.

Maybe I'm a little ignorant, maybe they eat pork tartar in France, who knows?  Is there some exception to the cook pork well done rule I don't know about?

 

[raastros2]

pork is leaner than used to be a few years ago but i think you need to get pork to 165 everytime....

 

[raastros2]

a crown roast MIGHT be the only exception but....165 for me everytime

 

[jarjarchef]

Many years ago you would be correct about eating it well done. Because farmers would just feed anything they could to the pigs you had to worry about trichinosis and those nasty side effects you mentioned.

Due to controls put into place with farm raised pigs you are able to consume pork that has been cooked to an IT temp of 145. This will put you at a nice medium. With larger pork loins you will let it rest for at least 30 min before carving to serve and carry over cooking will hide the pink due to carry over cooking. With pork tenderloins you don't get much of a rest, so you see more pink. That is why the Chefs instruct the servers to do the "medium" spiel. You were also wise not to go well done, tenderloin can get very dry.

With that being said. Unless I was to purchase a pig from a USDA inspected farm. I would cook the pork to 165 no matter what. Even more so with wild pigs, never know what they will get into.

BTW what reasturant was it. I know a few of the Chefs out there.

 

[psycho dad]

It was the Coral Reef at Epcot.  The main reason we eat there is for the Jack Daniels & Baileys mousse.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Exaggerated concern about Trichinella has ruined a lot of good pork.

Trichinae is safely killed at the following temperatures and times:

pork temperature.png

• diggingdogfarm
• Oct 19, 2013

Source: USDA Title 9 section 318.10 Table.

Trichinae is now extremely rare here in the united states....but no pork, whether commercial or home grown should be assumed to be free of it.
All pork should be treated the same.

There's always a risk because, among other possible sources of trichinae infection, it's next to impossible ensure that the pigs will not come into contact with rats at any time during their life, rats are definitely carriers and pigs will most certainly munch on a rat if given the chance so there's no way to guarantee that they won't become infected.....again that applies to both commercial and home grown pigs.

According to the almighty USDA whole cuts such as pork chops, roasts and tenderloins can be safely cooked to medium rare at a final internal temperature of 145 F, followed by a three-minute rest.

~Martin

 

[daveomak]

Great info Martin..... Never seen that before.....  Now I'm getting smarter...  not much, but a little...  Dave

 

[eman]

Good info for farm raised pigs . For wild pigs cook to 165!! The dept of wildlife and fisheries here stopped hog hunting on 2 mgmt areas because of disease in the hogs. Said that a couple of hunters had contracted a sickness while cleaning hogs.   I buy from stockyard just to be sure.