Recently made pork tenderloins using a simple brine of salt, garlic powder, and water. Let the pork tenderloins sit in the brine for about 5 hours. After pulling them from the brine, I thoroughly dried the surface and then applied a mix of clarified butter and oil along with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and fresh parsley. Next, it was off to the searing station to get a nice brown crust. Then they were slow-roasted at a temperature between 190 and 210°F (I adjusted the temperature based on how fast the internal temperature of the meat was rising). Once the internal temperature hit 140°F, out they came. One of the benefits of a long-slow cook is that the meat cooks very evenly, so the odds of a cool spot is small, especially on a relatively small cut of meat such as pork tenderloin. However, out of an overabundance of caution, I double-checked the temperature in a few places using a Thermapen to make sure there were no cool spots -there weren't any. The brine resulted in a noticeably juicier and even more tender finished product vs. unbrined pork tenderloin cooked under similar methods.
When you cut into pork tenderloins cooked to this temperature, be aware that the interior will be pink which may be off-putting to some as most are not accustomed to seeing any tinge of pink in meat other than beef steaks, filets, prime rib, etc. However, the end result is worth it from a flavor, tenderness, and texture perspective. Over the years, I've had a few guests fooled into thinking they were eating
beef tenderloin. Plus, the meat is perfectly safe cooked to this temperature since meat pasteurization is a function of
time ,
temperature, and the
cooking method, not just temperature alone. For example, Trichinella spiralis (the parasite that causes trichinosis) is killed in less than a minute at 140°F. You can achieve the same kill factor at 131°F by holding the meat at that temperature for 6 minutes, or at 126°F by holding the meat at that temperature for 47 minutes
1. Also keep in mind that as the meat is warming during the cook, you are killing off other pathogens in addition to trichinella spiralis as you go. For example, during the pork tenderloin cook, the amount of time between reaching 131°F and hitting my pull temp of 140°F was considerably longer than 6 minutes. Therefore, I could have removed the pork tenderloin from the oven earlier if I wanted to, but I stuck with my usual pull temp of 140°F. Cooking to these precise temps requires very accurate temperature devices with true thermocouple instant-read probes (don't try this with a supermarket analog thermometer) and a heat source capable of maintaining relatively constant temperatures such as an oven or grill. Not that most of us would do this, but
never use a microwave to cook raw meat of any kind since microwave ovens do not heat food evenly! Experiments done by the USDA have shown that heating meat up to 180° F was not completely effective in obtaining pasteurization when cooking was performed using microwaves
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Trichinae Fact Sheet
