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Comment by lief79 | Hacker News Reader

My wife seems to think that pork is always dry. She'll occasionally go for pulled pork (crockpot cooked). Do you have any other suggestions? Especially if they are potentially kid friendly.

She's not a fan of fatty recipes either, while my daughter is basically a bacontarian ... avoiding most other meats.

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Pork chops have a bad reputation because people buy very thin chops and cook them to 165 degrees. They are delicious and juicy if you buy 1" thick chops, and cook them to the USDA-recommended 145 degrees. Treat them like you would a steak, and be vigilant about taking their temperature as they cook, and they won't be dry at all.

My wife grew up eating overcooked pork chops, and not liking them, but a pork chop at 145 feels uncooked to her. Academically she says she knows it is safe, but that still won't allow her to eat it.

Brining for 24 is a huge help keeping the lean cuts juicy.

I smoke almost all pork I make though and that depends on the melted fat to keep it moist. My kids eat it and they would not just eat a chunk of fat like I would.

Not a fan of fatty recipes but doesn't like dry pork? Have you pointed out the paradox yet? :)

In my experience, there is no such thing as lean pork that tastes good. Pork meat is rather gamy, so its only redeeming quality is that the fat makes it delicious. Domesticated pigs were essentially bred for a higher fat content, to make them taste better.

One of our family staples is carnitas. Basically you just grab a cheap hunk of pork shoulder butt (often just labled "pork butt" in the store), cut it up into 2" cubes, and throw it into a slow cooker or cast iron pot. For seasonings, toss in any or all of: LOTS of chili powder (hot or not), a little bit of cumin, salt, pepper, onion powder, maybe a bit of lime juice. Cook covered over medium heat for about 4 hours, stirring at least every 45 minutes. It's done when you can easily shred it with a fork. It's okay to remove some fat from the pot before shredding if there is really too much but if you try to drain it all, you are going to be left with a pile of bland meat. Shred it, serve on tacos, nachos, in a salad, or whatever.

The great thing about this recipe is that it's simple and easy. You can get creative with the seasonings, the only two important ones are the chili and salt. If the shredded pork tastes bland or so-so, you need more of one or the other, and it's generally more than you think.

Get a heritage breed that hasn't had all the fat removed from the gene pool. Check out the Berkshire/Kurabota pork chops they sell at high-end butcher shops like Niku (when the site comes back up, but you can Google Images for some of their stuff, or their Instagram). [1, 2] It's a perfect almost-red meat.

Cast iron skillet on high heat, start with a high smoke point oil, 1 inch thick salt and pepper'd heritage chop, 10 minutes total (3-3-2-2) add butter (and optionally sage, and whole garlic clove - just watch they don't burn†) after the first 6 minutes and baste continuously to finish.

Melts like butter.

† if I see them starting to burn, I place them on top of the chop and pour the fat from the pan over it. Seems to stop the cook while continuing to impart the flavor.

[1] https://www.nikubutchershop.com/

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Faga-DCL8/

Lean cuts of meat dry out much more easily then fatty ones, pork in particular. I often serve correctly made pork to people and they don't believe it's pork since they have only ever had dry, tough, poorly prepared food.

Get a nice lean cut of pork and reverse sear it. You will be shocked how juicy and tender it is.

https://www.seriouseats.com/rack-of-pork-loin-roast-recipe

https://www.seriouseats.com/perfect-pan-seared-pork-chop-rec...

Pork loin (the stuff boneless chops are made from) is really lean and is pretty inexpensive, cooked properly, it can be delicious. But it can really easily dry out.

* Brine your meat before cooking to help it retain moisture

* Cook the minimum amount possible

* Try low and slow methods like

  * Sous vide

  * reverse searing

* Butterfly the roast and make a roulade or bake chops on a bed of seasoned rice or stuffing

* Cut into chops and pound until thin, bread and fry to make scallopini, schnitzel or katsu

* cut into thin strips and use the Chinese "velveting" method to prepare for use in various stir-fry type dishes

Several other folks have chimed in, but wet-brining and not overcooking chops are good solutions. I also like to cut a slit in some thick chops and stuff in a mixture of spinach and cream cheese that I've cooked on the side. Just be careful on how much salt you add.

It can be pretty inconsistent. Pork chops with almost no fat can be easy to overcook (PSA: you can cook pork rare now), to pork belly which leaves half an inch of rendered fat in the pan.

I try and split the difference by keeping the fat and cooking the chops in it. It works OK.

> PSA: you can cook pork rare now.

You can, but be careful. While they don't have trichinosis anymore, they're still prone to all sorts of diseases that can be passed to humans. For instance a lot of industrial pork is contaminated with Hepatitis E and salmonella. [1, 2, 3]

You should only consider eating undercooked pork if you really trust the supply chain. I'm not about to chow down on a rare-cooked Walmart chop is all I'm saying, but from a proper butcher is likely ok.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4214317/

[2] https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2019/10/undercooked-pork-a-fa...

[3] https://www.fsis.usda.gov/news-events/publications/pork-salm...

> Sampling evidence shows that Salmonella prevalence varies substantially across the pork industries. On average, 30.3 percent of comminuted pork samples were Salmonella-positive. For pork cuts samples, an average of 9.3 percent were Salmonella-positive.

Wow. I followed the link assuming you were grossly exaggerating, but it really is rampant.

There are some high-end restaurants that serve rare or even sashimi pork, and personally I'd eat it there because I assume they'd rather not get shut down. At home though I'd want it to at least spend some time in the pan.

Thin cuts (basically thin sliced pork chops), possibly hammered, and cooked very quickly (satay, schnitzel) work pretty well.

I also have a pork butt in a pressure cooker I make from time to time for taco.

Ribs--though I really prefer beef ribs which seem to be harder to find for BBQ.

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