Science of Cooking: Ask the Inquisitive Cooks! (2024)


" How can I make my pork juicy and not dry? " Dear Anne and Sue, How can I cook pork so it is juicy rather than dry? Thanks a lot. Tandy		Still have more questions? You'll find more answers in our archived monthly feature articles by the Inquisitive Cooks. ( Meet the Inquisitive Cooks )

Hi Tandy, It’s easy to overcook pork - and that’s the most likely reason for it to be dry. There are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, consider that pork is almost 50 % leaner than it used to be - so there’s less fat marbled throughout the meat to help keep it moist.

And secondly, the temperature to which pork should be cooked, has been lowered from well done or 170 (77C) to medium 160 F (70 C). This allows sufficient cooking to ensure the meat is safe to eat (trichina, now virtually nonexistent in pork, is killed at 137 F /58 C). But the old method of cooking pork to the well-done stage, offered an excessive margin of safety. And since overcooking shrinks meat fibers and squeezes our juices, overcooked pork is tough and dry. It’s well worth investing in a meat thermometer or slender multi-use digital thermometer, to take away the guesswork . While the National Pork Producer’s Council & USDA recommend cooking pork to "medium" or an internal temperature of 160 F (70C), they also suggest removing larger cuts of pork such as roasts, from the oven when they reach 155 F ( 68 C). The meat will rise in temperature as it stands before carving, in a phenomenon known as "carryover cooking." You’ll find that once you master the art of cooking pork so it’s tender and juicy, you’ll begin to get raves for your roasts, chops, kebabs and braises. Good Wishes, Anne & Sue