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One of the most common misconception I often hear or read about is the required internal temperature of pork meat.
A lot of people believe that a minimum internal temperature of 160F is required.
Talking to my parents and grand parents it seems that for a few long decades it was ingrained in people mind that any pork cut at to be cooked well-done, to an internal temperature of 160 F.
The slightness hint of a juicy pink in a pork dish was a cause for concern and a sign to send the dish back to the kitchen!
If you’ve learned how to cook from mommie or grandma, you probably know what I’m talking about. Their pork was served in only one way, totally overcooked. This leads to a dry, tough to chew piece of cardboard that is mostly flavorless. Luckily, you don’t need to cook it that way anymore!
A very small culprit
It all began in the 1930’s when a small worm was discovered: Trichinella.
It’s a small parasitic worm that was prevalent in several animals, namely pork. The real issue is that this parasitic worm is the cause of a disease called Trichinosis, a very unpleasant and potentially fatal one. The solution governments used to fight this disease was to urge their citizens to cook pork meat to an internal temperature of 160 F which would destroy the worm and thus prevent people from getting this dangerous disease. It turns out that this was a total overkill.
Subsequent research showed that the parasitic worm was killed when the temperature reached 137 F. As such, generations of people have simply overcooked their pork for no reason.
The current state
As time went by, regulations and best practices were tightened on how pork was raised and handled. This help reduce the likelihood of catching a little Trichinella to a point where in the mid 1990’s it has almost been eradicated.
These changes also made the pork leaner.
In this case, a leaner pork also mean a dryer pork when overcooked. Don’t forget that a certain amount of fat is required to keeps your meat moist unless you cook it very rapidly, like a venison loin for example.
Thus, your grand parent and maybe your parents and even the following generation, have learned to cook pork to an extreme internal temperature of 160F even if it was excessive and not required. It did nothing to help that the internal temperature guideline of both Health Canada and the USDA recommended that overkill temperature.
A wind of change
In 2011, the USDA finally updated it’s recommended cooking temperature to 145F for fresh pork meat, which means medium, not well-done anymore. Health Canada soon updated it’s own guideline to reflect the change. There were no reason why pork would need to be cooked differently in both countries.
The target is 145F
So, the targeted internal temperature of a fresh pork meat is 145F.
Nowaday, it’s perfectly fine to see a little pink at the core. In fact, it’s a sign of juiciness and tenderness.
Even if you are tempted try to get some extra juiciness and tenderness by cooking it to 140F or even 137F (to be safe), cooking it to a temperature of 145F will give you a world of difference from a well-done pork.
Warning:
These recommendation and guidelines only apply to whole cut pork meat such as Pork loin, pork chops, pork shoulder and not to ground meat which always should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160F. This is because of the potential contamination due to the contact with the grounding machines.
Tools of the trade
To get the best out of your pork cut, here are some tools that can be used:
- Digital thermometer probe which will let you know precisely at what temperature your meat is (very useful);
- Wireless digital thermometer or Bluethoot digital thermometer will do the same as above, but for our wireless/connected world user;
- BBQ Rotisserie Kit, for a slow roast on the BBQ;
- Slow cooker; and
- Smoker to add some awesomeness to your pork;
Tips:
Take out your pork cut a good 5 degrees before it reaches the final temperature. When you will let your pork rest (you are not forgetting that step right?), the temperature will keep on increasing. This phenomenon is called ” the carry over cooking”. It’s applicable to all protein and the bigger the cut, the greater the effect
Now that you know that the target is 145F,what are you waiting for? Go out! Cook some nice chops or roast a loin!
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