Every time my wife cooks pork tenderloin, I always know it’s going to be tough. It will be dry and also stringy. What’s up with that? And how can I stop it?
First of all, pork tenderloin is one of the leanest cuts of meat we can have; some people call it the boneless skinless chicken breast…but the other white meat. You know what I want to say.
When you go to the store, they are usually packed two to a pack. Now that’s a good thing because if it’s just you and your wife, you can always wrap one up and freeze it for another day. But if you have kids or visitors, you’ll probably have to arrange for both.
You can enhance the flavor of cooking pork tenderloin by marinating it overnight in the refrigerator. Even a few hours will help if that’s all the time you have.
Just to be brief here and not get into DIY marinades, try a good Italian dressing and marinate your pork tenderloin overnight. When you take it out the next day, dry it. Add a touch of salt and pepper. Now you are ready to go. Heat your oven up to 350 degrees F.
Get out your pancake pan, a frying pan, anything that pork fits nicely in. Turn up the heat high, high.
No, that was not a misprint. You want the heat to be quite high because you are going to sear all sides of the pork tenderloin on the stove top.
Okay, you’re browning and turning and browning all sides of the pork tenderloin. Remember, just brown, you are not going to cook this baby completely on top of the stove.
What you are looking for when you cook pork tenderloin temperature is about 157 degrees F. and then you can take it out of the oven. If you like it a little more medium rare, turn it out to 150. Cover loosely with foil for about 15 minutes. and then you are ready to eat it after that.
Here are some misc. data and advice on how to cook pork loin, etc.
There are five main cuts of pork:
* Leg (ham, chops, boneless roast)
* Accompaniment (ribs, bacon)
* Tenderloin (Rib Roast, Sirloin Steak, Rib Chop, Tenderloin Chop, Country Ribs, Tenderloin and Canadian Bacon)
* Shoulder (grilled roast, ground pork, chorizo)
* Picnic shoulder (smoked hocks, picnic roast)
Here are some tips for using pork:
* Wash hands thoroughly after toughening raw pork. This will prevent contamination.
* pig is like chicken; it must be cooked thoroughly before serving.
Simply not overcooking it will keep it juicy and packed with lots of flavor, especially if you’ve marinated it overnight.