[Newfieluve]

Can a pork tenderloin be pink in the middle and be safe to eat, or should it be cooked all the way through?

Thanks for your advice.
Sharon

[Pete]

It all depends on who you ask!! I have been told that pork has become one of the safest meats out there in recent years. I am not sure if this is true or not, but I know that it is a whole lot safer than it was years ago. The days of cooking pork until it is gray and dry are over. I personally like my pork medium, and I found that, at least in major cities, people are opting for it this way also. Up in Wisconsin, where I am now, people still believe that any pork cooked under the point of being shoe leather is gross and unhealthful, so here I cook it well done, but then again this is the same clientele that wants me to cook salmon well done also!

[Suzanne]

The New York City Department of Health requires that pork be cooked to an internal temperature of 155 degrees F for a minimum of 15 seconds. So if your pink tenderloin has met that, it should be all right. Yes, pinkish pork can take some getting used to -- old taboos die hard -- but it can be just fine.

With all this ultra-lean pork nowadays, I cook it a little as possible to retain what little moisture it has. (Brining also helps a lot.) As a point of reference, my 1971 Joy of Cooking says to cook pork loin to 170 degrees. If I did that with today's supermarket pork, it would be shoe leather.

[phatch]

Alton Brown's cookbook says 170 too.

Trichinae dies at 137. Which is not to say there aren't other baddies that need killing. I shoot for 145 usually in big pork cuts like a roast or the tenderloin. That's still pink in the center, but not very, more like a blush. About 150 in a chop, 165 in a ground pork product, like sausage or such. Remember, I'm cooking for me and my family so I don't have to follow legal requirements for a restaurant or public food service.

Phil

[Pete]

Just remember that these are the same guidelines that say beef needs to be cooked to 150 minimum. That means no Rare, MR or Medium steaks, if you follow these rules.

[markface]

where i work we offer our chops from medium to well . i have been eating pork cooked medium for many years and have never had any problems . most people are afraid to eat pork if its not just about burnt , but personally i think thats a waste of good meat . most of the dangerous bacteria , and germs die off by 150 degrees so dont let a little pink in the pork worry you .

[cajunjoe]

At work, we always sear to rare, when we open fresh cryovacs tenderloins for our scooby snacks.
I do get many a request for mid-rare, though. Several restaurants are serving mid-rare, here in Chicago.
Then again, we are a meat & potatoes driven town.

[miahoyhoy]

Trecinea is nearly non-exictent in the US today. As long as you are aquiring your pork from a reputible source it is safe. I cook my tenderloins to medium rare-medium. the pork industry, many years ago, in response to the treconecia scares cleaned up their act. Now pork from out of country or from a private farm that I don't know personaly I'd be more careful with.
I can't blame people for being scared of it because it is a nasty thing to suffer from and perhaps die! But so would be being stuck by lightning or attacked by a shark. Of which you have a better chance of happening than tric.

Alton Brown seems to get alot of his measurements and temps from cooking "bibles" that may be slightly or grossly out dated.
Not that I don't like his show, it is lots of fun.

Pete, i thought the beef temp guideline was for ground beef. Ecoli can only sit on the surface of the meat, It doesn't penetrate unless cut or ground which is why no one makes beef tare tare and many places require burgers cooked til dead or that they have legal disclamers about temps.

lates,
Jon

[Pete]

I believe that most states require ground beef to be cooked to 160 while whole cuts are 150.

[Chefkell]

The reason we used to cook the **** out of pork was Trichinosis.

Trichinosis is a parasite that thrives on rotting, decomposing food. When Hog farmers "slopped" the hogs I.E. fed them whatever was leftover or whatever they could get, spoiled, rotten or otherwise, this was a legitimate concern.

You had to cook pork till 160 or you'd get worms. Litereally.

With the technological advances in the farming industry and pigs being fed on a diet of pre-composed kibble (I think Purina makes "Pig Chow")the issue of the parasite has about vanished.

I have served and eaten Pork Tartare on several occasions and found it to be quite nice.

Bears have taken over as the largest host for the parasites now as urban sprawl makes dumpsites a favorite for them.


As an aside, E.coli is found in the intestine of cattle only. If you use a grinder for any part that has come into contact everything from that point on is a candidate for contamination. Any other cut of meat, if free from contact of the intestine is of no risk.I still serve Steak Tartar sometimes, but I know my butcher very well and his attention to these matters is paramount.

[Pete]

The problem with e. coli, in beef, comes from shoddy butchering practices at slaughterhouses. If the people in charge of gutting the cows, accidentally cut too deep they can puncture the digestive track of the cattle, exposing all the flesh to possible e. coli contamination.

[Peachcreek]

I still cook my ground beef medium at home but at work it is the 160F rule. I don't serve burgers so thats easy.
Heres one- I had a duck breast served to me medium rare and loved it. I served a slightly undercooked piece of chicken breast and about had a riot on my hands, the same kinda goes for pork around here, if its pink- its raw..old ways die hard. " Its not dry, thats' what the gravys for..."

[Pete]

I still cook chicken until it is no longer pink. Chicken, in this country, is so full of Salamella that I just don't trust it!!! As for duck, it is pretty safe so I cook breasts to MR to Med. or at least I used to. Up here people only want their duck roasted, with nice crispy skin, so it gets fully cooked for the masses in Wisconsin.

[Suzanne]

An extreme at the low end of the temperature scale: When I tested a few recipes from a cookbook I was reviewing, one was Roast Chicken. The author stated that one should take the chicken out of the oven when it reaches 140ºF where the breast and leg meet; carryover would raise it 5º during resting. So I did. GAH!!!!!!! The breast was still fairly pink, but edible. The dark meat, however, was raw to my taste (and I eat almost every other meat rare, or at most MR). I only use really good chickens, so I'm not that concerned with salmonella. But undercooked chicken just doesn't have any flavor, and feels slimy.

We're really talking aoubt two different things here: 1) what's safe, and 2) what people will eat. With advances in how animals are raised, safe can be a lot lower temperature than it used to be; however, the cookbooks have not kept up with science (not even Alton Brown ). On the other hand, people don't necessarily know the science, so they go by "this is how we've always had it," and continue to torture themselves with unchewable, flavorless meat.

[Pete]

I don't think it is the cookbooks that are behind the times, I think it is the government. The government (ie health department) has temp. standards that I think are too high. I think cookbook, authors and publishers follow or exceed these guidelines to "cover their butts". I have heard many chefs, at demos, do the same thing saying that they like their meat at 135 but the government recommends it cooked to 160. That way they can't get sued!!