USDA reduces doneness temp for pork. Pink is okay!

[Robin Garr]

Yes, pork that's pink in the middle is all right. Really.

Pink Pork Safe to Eat, Government Says
By Julia Moskin
The New York Times

Pink is back. Reversing the food safety dictates of decades, the United States Department of Agriculture has announced it is no longer necessary to cook meat (except ground meat) to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. The new magic number for pork chops and other cuts is a much juicier 145 degrees, plus a three minute resting time. ...

On the long-controversial subject of color, the agency states: “If raw pork is cooked to 145 degrees Fahrenheit and allowed to rest for three minutes, it may still be pink but is safe to eat.”

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/ ... ment-says/

The Times did not mention this, but I'm convinced that the distinction between industrial and pastured pork is even more important. Buy local, buy quality. Industrial hog production has become scandalous, and the difference is obvious on your plate. Pay extra for regionally produced quality meat. It's worth it.

[Robin Garr]

By the way, before you guys bring out the flame throwers I know foodies - and good chefs - have known about pink pork for years. But it's significant that USDA is finally issuing a reduced doneness temperature for general public information.

[Jenise]

I have a friend who lives by those USDA numbers, can't wait to show him this.

But it's significant that USDA is finally issuing a reduced doneness temperature for general public information.

Why? Other than Jenise's friend I've never heard of anyone who's said "I go by the USDA standard".

I think its a giant waste of tax dollars but I'm sure others will disagree.

I don't get anywhere near 145 for a pork tenderloin.

[Robin Garr]

But it's significant that USDA is finally issuing a reduced doneness temperature for general public information.

Why? Other than Jenise's friend I've never heard of anyone who's said "I go by the USDA standard".

I think its a giant waste of tax dollars but I'm sure others will disagree.

I don't get anywhere near 145 for a pork tenderloin.

Tom, that would be because you and me and our friends are foodies and know about stuff like this.

When the USDA standards permit pink pork, the general public will finally become aware, and maybe a lot of restaurants that now overcook pork to keep from grossing those people out will finally be able to do it right.

I don't know how much this costs, but you're sounding a bit like a teabagger there ... just sayin'.

[Jenise]

Why? Other than Jenise's friend I've never heard of anyone who's said "I go by the USDA standard".

My friend loves to cook and is a great cook, but he's also a risk-averse science nerd so the standards we wave off, he slavishly follows. For example: someone got him to grill hot dogs for a neighborhood event and using an instant-read thermometer he clocked the temperature of every single hot dog before he allowed it to go to bun. Yes, he understood that hot dogs are pre-cooked, but there was no talking him down!

I don't know how much this costs, but you're sounding a bit like a teabagger there ... just sayin'.

Robin,

You may characterize it any way you want but I just don't think we need Government to tell us what to do and what not do in the kitchen and in the bedroom.

[Robin Garr]

You may characterize it any way you want but I just don't think we need Government to tell us what to do and what not do in the kitchen and in the bedroom.

Tom, the government isn't telling anybody what to do with this! USDA issues food-safety recommendations in the interest of public health. We're free to pay attention, follow them, or decide not to do so. Now they're bring their pork cooking recommendation closer to current reality, and since many restaurants (and their house lawyers) do slavishly follow them, that's a good thing.

Geez. "Tell us what to do." Rods within rods ...

145°? Good Grief...that is still over cooked, I think Gene does our pork chops to 140°, tenderloins are even less, then we let them rest a few minutes. We tend to think for ourselves and do what we want. For some reason I dislike looking at a rare pork chop, I want all the pink gone, just barely. We buy thick cut chops. Tenderloins are always on the rare side.

[David M. Bueker]

But it's significant that USDA is finally issuing a reduced doneness temperature for general public information.

Why? Other than Jenise's friend I've never heard of anyone who's said "I go by the USDA standard".

You've obviously never met my mother-in-law, my dear friend Jill's mother, and countless other people who cook food until it it way overdone because "that's how I know it's safe." Gee, I wonder where they ever got that idea.

Whenever a waiter asks me how I want my beef, pork, seafood, etc., cooked, I always say that I'll have it the way the chef wants it served. While I'm rarely disappointed, I've always heard my Mom in my head saying "get it well done" especially pork. Well I guess I won't be hearing my Mom on this point any more, which is fine by me.

As far as I'm concerned, the more voices shouting "pink pork!", the better!

I'm so glad that the recommendations are getting closer to the real word. Lou and I oven-bake our Bryan's Fine Foods "porterhouse cut" pork chops to about 130 degrees, with a 3 min rest.................Great!!!!!!!!!!! especially with cinnamon applesauce. A guilty pleasure.

Bettylu Kessler

countless other people who cook food until it it way overdone because "that's how I know it's safe."

My dear departed mother was one of these people. She cooked everything to within an inch of its life ... or, often, beyond it. Vegetables were boiled for 45 minutes. Including greens. Including frozen vegetables, when she started to include these in her cooking as an elderly widow. Pork, beef, lamb, chicken, turkey - all cooked extremely well done. Fish? That got the well done treatment too.

She always boiled milk before she used it. I asked her about why she did this, once. She looked at me as if I came from Mars, and told me sternly it was because the cows might have tuberculosis. I tried to explain that wasn't a big issue these days what with quality control in the dairy industry and all, and that the milk was already pasteurised, but she wouldn't let it go. What we learn young, we learn deep.

(Having said all this about her cooking, I must also say that she was a phenomenal cake and pastry cook, and at those dishes that do well when they are well done!)

My friend loves to cook and is a great cook, but he's also a risk-averse science nerd so the standards we wave off, he slavishly follows. For example: someone got him to grill hot dogs for a neighborhood event and using an instant-read thermometer he clocked the temperature of every single hot dog before he allowed it to go to bun. Yes, he understood that hot dogs are pre-cooked, but there was no talking him down!

His wife would have had a very boring honeymoon if he'd misplaced the approved set of instructions......

Whenever a waiter asks me how I want my beef, pork, seafood, etc., cooked, I always say that I'll have it the way the chef wants it served. While I'm rarely disappointed, I've always heard my Mom in my head saying "get it well done" especially pork. Well I guess I won't be hearing my Mom on this point any more, which is fine by me.

I never tell them to do it the way the chef wants to do it. The chef wants top do it the way he thinks will result in the least returns and that is unlikely to be the way I'd want to eat it. When I ask for meat rare and it comes medium I want to be able to send it back, which you can't do if they tell you medium is the way the chef wants it....

[Jenise]

When I ask for meat rare and it comes medium I want to be able to send it back, which you can't do if they tell you medium is the way the chef wants it....

I always order by color because I often find that the chef's idea of rare is a partially-blue, fashionably European rare, which is underdone to my tastes, and telling the server "bright rosy red--not pink, not blue" eliminates the possibility of arguing about the definition of 'rare'.