i made a Stuffed Pork Loin last night and it was the quot;Bomb!quot;it wasn't too drybut i would love to have it a little more tender next timeit was sooooo gooood!.i washed it and browned it and seasoned it with spices and herbscut a hole in the center and stuffed it with chopped garlic, onions, bells, seasoned dressing, mushrooms and olives.i wrapped it in aluminum foil and let it bakeit was served with gravy, mixed veggie medley and macaroni/cheese and sour dough garlic bread.for deserti made a decadent carrot cake.for my next meal i could use some helpful hints on how to make this much more tender.does anyone have a favorite recipe and tenderizing tips to share?thanksMOO! ;-D
Pork loin dries out very easily because it's so low in fatGood for your diet; bad for your palateFat is really what gives things that unctuous mouth feel we call juicyWhat you really want are some old-fashioned breeds with extra fat, but those are hard to come byYou can fake it with lardoons, bits of fat pork stuffed into slits cut in the porkTasty, but a lot of workOne thing you can do is brine itThat helps it retain water as it cooksIt doesn't add fat, but it helps protect the meat from contracting and getting tough, much as fat doesIn a recipe like this you'd have to brine it before you stuff itPersonally, I'm not crazy about brining pork; I think it gives it a spongy textureToo much moistureAnother thing that will help is to cook it lessThe USDA tells you to basically incinerate pork by cooking it to 160The pig farmers tried to get them to lower it at the same time they lowered it for chicken, but it didn't happenBut cooks will tell you that it's perfectly safe to cook it to 145 rather than 160, and those extra 15 degrees will make a LOT of difference in the finished productUnfortunately, that's a bit harder with stuffingThe stuffing keeps the inside cooler longer, subjecting the outside to more cookingYou can try what they recommend for people who insist on stuffing turkeys: nuke the stuffing until it's pretty hot before stuffingThat way you don't have to heat the stuffing as well as the meatBe sure to let it rest before carving itThat lets the juices soak back into the meatCarve it immediately and all of the juice on the carving board is juice that's not in the meatGive it a good 10 or 15 minutes, tented with aluminum foil, to let it redistribute the juices.
