Hi,
Let’s talk . . . . pork chops!
Do you have a family memory? Or maybe something that comes to mind when I mention them. I have found there seems to be a stigma following this cut of pork. The simple pork chop has a reputation of being flavorless and tough.
The pork chop is the equivalent to a ribeye steak or a porterhouse. It’s too bad that we name beef one way and pork another. We should be calling it a pork ribeye!
So why then does this cut seem to often be tough? I have some thoughts. Hang with me for just a second will ya?
1. You’re over cooking your pork. Plain and simple.
Yes, I know the recommendation for pork by the USDA is 145-160*F but this is where we might consider why, this is the recommendation.
In the United States, trichinosis used to be prevalent in pork. Pork was raised by feeding garbage to pigs in unsanitary conditions. So the industry went full extreme to control the raising environment by closing them in concreted houses. In the 1940s, there were about 400 cases per year reported in the United States. Now the reported cases are 10 or less per year. Most of them occurring from consuming bear meat (bears like to eat garbage too).
2. You’re sourcing isn’t as good as it could be.
The unfortunate part of raising pork on concrete in enclosed structures is that the results in a product with a completely different profile. When pigs are raised on pasture, with full access to what nature has to offer their rooting snout and plenty of sunshine, their meat and fat is richer in micronutrients, particularly fat-soluble vitamins E and D, along with minerals like selenium (Read more) that are lacking in conventional pork.
I may have gone down a rabbit hole there, I can get excited by this stuff.
We encourage people to cook our pork ribeyes or chops to 130° so that they are not completely dried out. Not only is the fear of trichinosis limited. We also freeze our meat below 5° for longer than 20 days to kill any potential of trichinosis. We treat our pork similar to our beef. For the steak portions like the chops, we cook them similar to our beef. For the sausage, we do recommend that they are fully cooked thoroughly but not overdone. To find a local farm closer to you check out this site .
By cooking your pork “steak” /chops to 130*F with a rest period of 15 minutes and having sourced your meat from a pasture raised pork producer I can guarantee you’ll find your meat far more full of flavor and tender. thermometer we like
Ten years ago Mark was the President of a very up and coming ranch doing some very new and fun things in the industry and he came home saying, “cook these up but temp them 130.”
My eyes went wide. “What. I can’t cook pork to only that temperature?”
I did like all strong women do, I questioned him, then, did as he suggested. Ha Ha!
That night my eyes were opened to the mouth watering experience of pastured pork chops and asked, “how do we raise this too because there is something here and others need to know about it?” In my head began to roll, “foster care and pastured pork. Foster care and pastured pork!” I was a real mess and probably tiresome to listen to as we had no idea how God had us getting there. For that story go here.
We are proud of the conditions that we raise our animals. We always strive to better our practices (it’s a slow process one which we are continually building upon) which has been a lifelong journey. We would never want to get anyone sick but we are confident in our product in the way it is raised and processed, and frozen. We don't take any shortcuts.
We encourage everyone to cook it in a way that is enjoyable. Pork chops and even pork in general gets a bad rap because of the way it has been raised for nearly 100 year. You don't need to treat it the way your mom or your grandmother did if you know where your pork is sourced.
Please enjoy our product and give us some feedback. We believe that when cooked properly, it will be some of the best pork you've ever eaten in your life.
As a thank you for lasting this long and letting me rant a bit, how about my recipe for our family favorite pork chops. Scroll down!
Let me know if there’s anything you’d like to add. Maybe you have a great way of cooking these tasty treasures too that you think others might need to know about.
Cheers!
