Lovin' the loin cuts

The four primal cuts of pork are shoulder, belly, loin and leg, or ham. Today we will concentrate on one of those cuts, the loin.

Loin of pork, a cut to love

Up until World War II, pigs were raised for not only their meat, but also for their fat content. During this time a pig with 60 lbs of lard was normal. But after the invention of vegetable sources of fat, pigs were no longer needed for their fat content. Because of this, producers have leaned up their pigs to less than 8 lbs of lard. Unfortunately this successful genetic engineering has resulted in the loss of the pigs marbling, which gives pork its flavor. This loss is most seen in the loin. You just can’t trust a skinny pig.

The loin is the area that extends from the back of the shoulder down to the hip. Chops, tenderloin and crown roast (oh my!) come from this area. The biggest problem we face with this cut is that it tends to come out tough, chewy and dry. So what is a cook to do? First learn how to choose your pork.

When it comes to pork chops, look for a chop that is solidly pink rather than something that is streaked in white. You might think that this white is fat and you hit the jackpot, then come back here to prove me wrong, however those pretty white streaks are not fat, they are connective tissue. Connective tissue is mainly elastin and doesn’t break down when cooked.

There are 5 types of chops to choose from. The center-cut chops are going to be your best choice. There are two types of these center-cuts that you should be on the look out for, the center rib chop and the center loin chop. I wouldn’t even glance at the end chops unless I was on a very tight budget. These chops are called the sirloin end chop, which will contain a piece of the hip bone, and the rib end blade chop. The only one I would consider is the rib-end pork chop. This will be a darker less uniformed shaped meat, which is also smaller, courser and fattier, but preferable to the other end chops.

When it comes to cooking the chop, you are gong to have to go against most of your food safety experts, and not cook them to their recommended 160°F. The perfect pork chop is cooked to an internal temperature of 145°F-150°F. Trichinosis will not survive temperatures of 137°F, which is a medium rare. If you are scared of salmonella, than you had better go ahead and cook your chops to the recommended 160°F, but you will end up with that tough, chewy meat.

The next thing to do, to prevent that all too familiar texture, is to pick the best cooking method, with pork chops, sautéing is the answer. Personally I find that a sautéed pork chop with a white wine sauce is the only way to go.

Now we can move on to another one of the loin cuts, the pork tenderloin. Your tenderloin only weights 12 to 24 oz, this makes it cook very quickly. The tenderloin is a small, boneless, torpedo shaped muscle that rest up next to the rib cage in the loin. This cute lacks marbling, but has ribbons of intramuscular fat. This is wonderful in the terms of fat intake, but it proves to be a problem when cooking. A tenderloin should be tender, and this means another cut that needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 150°F. The meat will be medium rare, if this bothers you, go ahead and cook it to the 160°F so that it is gray and white through and through. This will cause the meat to lose all of its tenderness. Sautéing is also the best way to cook your tenderloin.

When sautéing your tenderloin, cut the meat into medallions. First you need to remove the pearlescent membrane. Now that is an appetizing word for the silver skin on your tenderloin. Slip a paring knife between the silver skin and the muscle tissue. Turn your knife slightly upward then use a sawing (back and forth) motion to remove it. If you leave this skin on, the meat will bow in the pan, cooking the meat unevenly. Now you need to cut the meat into 1 inch slices and pound the meat using a flat item, not a meat tenderizer, to three quarters of an inch thick. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive a oil in a pan and sauté for 1 minute on each side. You can use the dripping to make a wonderful sauce of cream, apple and sage.

Your pork roast will take a whole heck of a lot longer to cook then the other loin cuts we just discussed. The crown roast consists of two center cut pork loins trussed together to for a ring. Unfortunately this fancy way of doing this causes it to be a boring meal, and a little too watery for many palates. Instead of a crown roast, pick up a rack of pork. You can make this look like a French ribs cross crown roast by roasting two pork loins separately, then fashioning them together in that style, and you will have a lot of the flavor that the crown roast is missing.

But what about grilling the loin cuts? That’s why you are really here, isn’t it? I don’t recommend grilling any of your loin cuts because of many of the statement above, they will come out dry. But I am here to help you combat that, and give you a few tricks when it comes to grilling pork loin cuts.

With your pork chops you will need either a spiced dry rub or a herb dry rub to start, and 4 center loin chops that are 1 inch thick and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Build a two level fire in your grill, place on the rack and cover your grill. You need to allow your fire to heat the rack for 5 minutes, while you rub the chops with your olive oil, then massage in your dry rub. Grill over a medium-hot fire turning them only once at 3 minutes. Don’t cook longer than 6 minutes. Slide your chops over to the cooler side of your grill and cover with a disposable roasting pan. Grill over a medium-low fire for 10 minutes, only turning once.

Grilling you tenderloin will also require a dry rub, and you will need to serve it with a salsa, either a pineapple or peach to make the meat “seem” moist. You will need two tenderloins to feed up to 6 people, make sure you remove that silver skin before grilling, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and your choice of the dry rubs. Unlike the chops, you will only need a single level fire, like the chops, cover the grill and allow the rack to heat for 5 minutes. While that is happening, rub the olive oil all over the tenderloin, then the dry rub. Grill over a medium-hot fire, turning several times to insure that all 4 sides are browning. Cook for 4 minutes on each side. Now cover with a disposable roasting pan, and cook for another 7 minutes, turning the tenderloin once during that time. Once you remove it from the heat, allow it to rest for five minutes before slicing crosswise in 1 inch thick slices and serving with a salsa.

After following these techniques, you should no longer have that nasty, tough, and chewy cut of loin.