At 140 the meat should not look med/rare, should be more pink. Therm could be off, probe may have been off center or on an angle or a little variation in meat thickness. No big deal, next time go higher, 140+ and let it rest until less Pink. Yes the juices will be quite red but that is no issue at all. My family eats Pork Tenderloin, comes 2 to a pack, that I smoke, grill or broil at least once a week and twice if leftovers. been doing this for years now. 15 years ago my Wife lost her Spleen when the Dr. nicked it during another operation and could not repair it. The Spleen contributes to the Immune system and with out one, she has to be careful about contact with sick people and Foodborne Illness is a Major concern. Dr. described it as, what will give me gas, can put her in the hospital...Needless to say I am VERY careful about what passes her lips! So if Pink Pork, IT of 135° with a rest, was not safe...I would not serve it to my family...
Here is the scoop on Pork and 100 years of " Cook it to death of DIE! " mentality. Prior to the 1940's pork was raised commercially but most of Rural America ate the Hogs they raised on the Farm, in a small pen in the backyard and so on. My Grandparents included. It was well known that Pork could be and often was infected with Trichinae (Trichinella Spirallis), a parasitic worm that invaded the muscle of pork. Eating undercooked pork could transfer this worm to humans and cause the illness Trichinosis. So for generations everyone was taught that Rare Beef was fine but Pink Pork was never to be eaten or else. In the 30's researchers found that Trichinae was infecting hogs because of what they were fed. Anything and everything was fed to hogs as they are Omnivores. Vegetable, raw meat scraps, leftover table scraps, and commercially, anything the operator could get cheap, Garbage and spoiled product from grocery stores, food processors and the dairy industry, restaurants, outdated and rotten whatever. In the late 30's the FED steps in with regulation over what Commercial Pork Producers could feed Hogs and since 1945, very few cases of Trichinosis could be traced to American Commercial Pork, and any infection was traced to producers that had Rodent control issues (Rats and Mice can be carriers and Hogs will eat any they catch) and shady operations still trying to save a buck on feed.. Now we are still talking the 40's and getting the word out, especially to small farms and homesteaders has takes decades, not to mention Baby Boomer's still ate Mom's shoe leather cooked Pork Chops and were taught that is how it has to be and many still fear Pink Pork...
Extensive research has shown that Trichinella Spirallis is killed at 125.6°F when held there for 6 minutes and is killed in <1 minute at 131°F...An IT of 125 is Red Rare and 131-135 is Med/Rare...
It is only in the last 20 years that the Internet and computers have become as common as a TV and the word on Pink Pork being safe is speading. My kids, in their 20's, have eaten Pink Pork Loin and Tenders, all their lives and will have it no other way. Two of my three girls are Pro Chefs now and you should hear the verbal bashing I have to put up with if I over cook the Pork! I have said before, even my Mom, 87, took some convincing but finally trusted I was right and Juicey Pink Pork is delicious.
Rare Beef and Pork are Safe because of the way they are raised and are Slaughtered by Hand in USDA Inspected operations that wash the carcasses in multiple steps to keep digestive tract bacteria off the meat and jump through hoops to keep the facilities and workers sanitary and as bacteria free as possible...Most of the Bacteria issues we preach about on SMF is contamination in Grocery Butchers Shops through further cutting and repackaging and in the Home from crosscontamination in the Refer, and bacteria on hands and work surfaces.
I taught Meat Processing and Fabrication for several years and would take great pleasure FREAKING out my students when, while demonstrating trimming and cutting a Beef Tenderloin, straight out of Commecial Cryo-vac, would pick up a 6oz fresh cut Filet Mignon, pull a Salt Shaker from my pocket and eat the entire piece RAW!
In any given Class, I could only convince less than half to try the Raw Beef and they were usually the youngest of the group.
NOW...Chicken and Turkey are a whole different story. All poultry other than small producer Duck, Goose and Game Bird operations, are slaughtered Mechanically! Machines eviserate hundreds or thousands of birds with gastric juices and fecal matter, where all the Bacteria comes from, contacting the equipment, the operators and each bird going down the line. Even with the birds coming from farm B that are Salmomella free, comin in, they become infected from being processed on the same equipment as the infected birds from farm A that were run ahead of them. Additionally, much if not all the Poultry you get in the Grocery Store has been Enhanced (INJECTED) with a salt, broth and other stuff, solution to keep the meat juicy when cooked and artificially increase the weight for higher profit. This injected solution is added on the Processing Line, and they are not breaking out a Sterile Needle for each bird! The Birds are injected one after another and dripping broth, spray runoff from the equipment and floor is recycled and pumped, with all that bacteria, into every bird on the line. So...No, not even if you washed your Chicken or Turkey in Clorox, could you eat it Raw, Rare or Medium. Breasts need to be Cooked to an IT of 165 and Leg/Thighs to 170-175°F because we measure Thigh IT in the meat and at the lower safe IT of 165, the meat closest to the Bone will still be undercooked. Flipside is, how you get to an IT of 165+ is up to you...Just like anything you cook, Carryover, food continuing to cook as it rests, happens in Poultry too. I will take Chicken Breast off the heat at an IT of 160°F and let it finish to 165 during the Rest...
Please NOTE: Degree of Carryover is a factor of the Meats Weight and the Temp cooked at, A Chicken Breast Smoked at 225 will carryover 3-5 degrees. A Chicken Breast Grilled at 600°F will easily go 10°F+ as it rests. Same with Pork and Beef. Chops and Steaks will carryover less smoked and/or Reverse Seared and more if cooked at higher temps. The larger the meat and the higher the cooking temp, the more carryover you can expect. The last Pork tenders I made, I roasted at 425. The two were 1.5 pounds each and 3" at the thickest end. I fold and tie the tail for even doneness. I pulled them at an IT of 125 and 15 minutes on the counter they hit 142 and were a perfect Pink... I hope this helps...JJ
