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Cooking & Baking

Major Nikon

(36,827 posts)

21. Use a meat thermometer

Reply to shireen (Reply #5)

Tue Jan 17, 2012, 04:03 AM

Jan 2012

If you don't have an instant read thermometer, I recommend this one:
http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt600c.html

If you have $90 to spend on a thermopen, get one of those, but the one above will work fine.

Pork cooked to 130 degrees is perfectly safe, but will still be pink in the middle which is a bit unsettling to some people. I prefer to cook mine to 140 degrees when grilling 2" pork chops. After you take them off the grill, the internal temperature will continue to rise to about 145 degrees at which point they are perfect, IMO.

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21 replies

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cooking pork chops [View all] shireen Jan 2012 OP

I start off cooking mine slow, covered Angry Dragon Jan 2012 #1

Pork chops are best browned on one side only. msanthrope Jan 2012 #2

thanks ... shireen Jan 2012 #6

For thick chops, 10 minutes of med/slow simmer after the browning would be fine. msanthrope Jan 2012 #7

Thank you Irishonly Jan 2012 #18

When you cook pork chops, treat them the same as you would a steak Stinky The Clown Jan 2012 #3

When Did The Rules Change On Cooking Pork? Paladin Jan 2012 #4

Yes, it has been. Here's a link to a Food Network article about it. Stinky The Clown Jan 2012 #9

Trich is almost unheard of, now, in American-farmed pork. msanthrope Jan 2012 #11

how do you tell when it's safely cooked? shireen Jan 2012 #5

See my reply to Palladin, right above ^^^ Stinky The Clown Jan 2012 #10

Use a meat thermometer Major Nikon Jan 2012 #21

I'm going to respectfully disagree with you, slightly, Stinky. msanthrope Jan 2012 #8

Well, to make an even finer point of it . . . . . Stinky The Clown Jan 2012 #12

I agree with everything you wrote in this post. If you brine, msanthrope Jan 2012 #14

My method seems to be the opposite of everyone elses.. Viva_La_Revolution Jan 2012 #13

That's a classic braise Stinky The Clown Jan 2012 #15

huh. I'm a chef, and didn't even know it! Viva_La_Revolution Jan 2012 #16

Pork has light and dark meat, sort of like poultry pipoman Jan 2012 #17

thanks, everyone, for your replies shireen Jan 2012 #19

Here's my recipe for pork chops Major Nikon Jan 2012 #20