Too-thin porkchops

[liuzhou]

Pork sashimi.

[gfweb]

7 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Pork sashimi.

 

Perhaps after a good freeze to kill the Trichinella

[liuzhou]

1 minute ago, gfweb said:

 

Perhaps after a good freeze to kill the Trichinella

 

Pretty much all sashimi meats, including fish are frozen first to kill visitors. In many places it is a legal requirement.

[kayb]

Dredge in seasoned flour. Dip in egg/milk wash. Dredge in panko breadcrumbs. Fry over medium-high/high heat just until golden brown. Serve with a lemon-garlic aioli or mayo flavored healthily with Worcestershire and hot sauce.

 

Also quite excellent, if they're boneless, on a good bun with lettuce and tomato.

 

Where I came from, they referred to those as "breakfast pork chops."

 

 

Edited March 13, 2017 by kayb
to fix typo (log)

[Okanagancook]

'Briefly' is the key.  And, don't multi-task like I did.

Here is the before and after shot.

 

[Dave W]

12 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

Perhaps after a good freeze to kill the Trichinella

I understand there is almost zero incidence of trichinae in the US commercial pork supply. 

 

To OP, with such thin chops I would slice, velvet then cook in a stir fry. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

38 minutes ago, Dave W said:

I understand there is almost zero incidence of trichinae in the US commercial pork supply. 

 

To OP, with such thin chops I would slice, velvet then cook in a stir fry. 

 

And then there was a pig from Jersey...

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1950/11/18/a-pig-from-jersey

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Those of us who grew up when trichinosis from pork was a threat sometimes never grow out of the habit of eating it well done. I am such a one, although the extremely rare state I prefer in beef is off putting to some.

 

I bought a package of center cut pork chops a while back and have a few left in the freezer. They look like miniatures of what is called a T-Bone in a beef cut and are only a little over a quarter inch thick. I don't know how they manage to cut them so thin, and you need to clean up the bone chips before cooking, because cutting them this thin seems to make the bones prone to that. I just salt and pepper them with maybe some rosemary or cumin or whatever depending on my mood and broil them a few minutes a side. Many modern ovens don't get as hot as my 1970' electric GE model and it takes a very hot oven to do justice to these. I like the fat rendered, brown and crispy. They are not juicy med well, but well done. They're not hard or dry, though, and I like them this way. The thin cut also allows me to eat a whole chop for dinner with no leftovers.

 

My oven is broken again, so I am appreciating the tips on frying them on the stove top here.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I grew up with Roueche's Eleven Blue Men and always feared trichinosis was the second worst way to die, right after Homer's arrow to the bladder.*

 

Though to the best of my knowledge the US food supply is still not tested for trichinosis.

 

 

*And as an adult having needed bladder surgery I'll take trichinosis any day.

[paulraphael]

According to the CDC, trichinosis infections have been dwindling close to zero in the U.S. Between 2008 and 2012, there was a median of 15 cases per year in the country. 10 of these were related to commercial pork. This means one case per 3 million people. Bear meat and venison seem to be more worrisome.

 

Compare with annual deaths by lightning: you're almost 4 times as likely to DIE from a lightning strike as you are to be infected by trichinosis from commercial pork.

 

Which still isn't a zero. If you're worried about it, you have the option to completely kill trichina without completely killing your pork chop. The easiest way is sous-vide. According to research done by Modernist Cuisine, holding pork at 130°F / 54.4°C for 112 minutes (very pink!) will do it. So will holding it at 140° / 60°C for 12 minutes (respectably medium). This is a rare case where the research points to times that are even more conservative than government regulations—the USDA says hold at 130°F for 60 minutes, 140°F for one minute. 

 

As far as killing the usual pathogens, pork is no different from beef. The whole idea that it has to be well-done is just old mythology. 

[Paul Fink]

11 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

USDA says hold at 130°F for 60 minutes, 140°F for one minute. 

 

 

I cook pork to 140°F and let rest. That's generally somewhat pink.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Paul Fink (log)

[Anna N]

Aeons ago when you could buy pork that was not raised to be the other white meat, it was possible to make good with a thin pork chop.  It had enough fat content to survive. I'm sure you can still do well if you get your hands on some heritage pork. But I have nothing but admiration for anyone who can make thin supermarket pork chops even remotely palatable.  I'm not saying it can't be done. I am saying I have never managed it.  

[Beebs]

So I've got some regular thickness pork chops, but I think I will on-purpose thin them.  Maybe Hong Kong pork chop rice.

 

 

Edited March 14, 2017 by Beebs
Oops! Posted similar comment already. I really like schnitzel & tonkatsu! (log)

[Okanagancook]

I 'nailed' it last night.  One minute total time in a medium-high hot pan.  It was pink.  The picture is not so 'nailed'.  Chop was about 3/8inch.

[paulraphael]

On 3/14/2017 at 2:00 PM, Anna N said:

Aeons ago when you could buy pork that was not raised to be the other white meat, it was possible to make good with a thin pork chop.  It had enough fat content to survive. I'm sure you can still do well if you get your hands on some heritage pork. But I have nothing but admiration for anyone who can make thin supermarket pork chops even remotely palatable.  I'm not saying it can't be done. I am saying I have never managed it.  

 

If you really wanted to make a pet project of it, you could,

1) sous-vide it medium or medium-rare

2) freeze it solid

3) sear it 

 

This technique has the rather sci-fi name 'cryosearing,' but is just a basic way to exploit the physics when you want to sear something thin without cooking it through. The results should be perfect. Whether or not it's worth anyone's time is another question ...

[JoNorvelleWalker]

23 hours ago, paulraphael said:

Whether or not it's worth anyone's time is another question ...

 

I bagged the remaining five chops and anovaed them an hour at 58 deg C.  They are now in the freezer.  Based on the fact that seven of these dreadful chops were less than $2.00 I think I should have pitched them and the NY Times and bought some decent Berkshire pork.

 

What some of us will do for science.

 

[paulraphael]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

What some of us will do for science.

 

For a followup experiment maybe you can glue 3 thin pork chops into a single fat one with activa ...

[FeChef]

29 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

 

For a followup experiment maybe you can glue 3 thin pork chops into a single fat one with activa ...

I would pound them flat and wrap them in sliced pears, and apples and braise them in a white wine sauce.

Edited March 17, 2017 by FeChef (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

33 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

 

For a followup experiment maybe you can glue 3 thin pork chops into a single fat one with activa ...

 

I thought of that.

 

[Paul Fink]

On 3/15/2017 at 9:53 PM, paulraphael said:

If you really wanted to make a pet project of it, you could,

1) sous-vide it medium or medium-rare

2) freeze it solid

3) sear it 

Why not just sear them? No SV. No  cryosearing.

If they are thin they should be done after a few minutes of  sear

[paulraphael]

1 hour ago, Paul Fink said:

Why not just sear them? No SV. No  cryosearing.

If they are thin they should be done after a few minutes of  sear

With thin meat it's very difficult to get a good sear without overcooking the inside. Even if you have a commercial range and a million BTUs, the timing is difficult because retained heat can cook the meat through within just a couple of minutes of removing from the pan. It can be done, but the timing has to be maddeningly precise.

[Paul Fink]

2 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

With thin meat it's very difficult to get a good sear without overcooking the inside. Even if you have a commercial range and a million BTUs, the timing is difficult because retained heat can cook the meat through within just a couple of minutes of removing from the pan. It can be done, but the timing has to be maddeningly precise.

 

Don't get PO'ed but the way I read this is it takes skill to cook the chops. 

[paulraphael]

5 hours ago, Paul Fink said:

 

Don't get PO'ed but the way I read this is it takes skill to cook the chops. 

 

I think in real life it would take trial and error using the same range and pan and similarly cut chops. A line cook who has to do dozens of these would have a few sacrificial ones at the beginning in order to nail the timing. But if you've only got 2 or three 1/4" thick pork chops, and want them perfectly cooked inside and out, it's going to take a dose of luck in addition to skill. 

[Ashen]

On 14/03/2017 at 1:01 PM, paulraphael said:

According to the CDC, trichinosis infections have been dwindling close to zero in the U.S. Between 2008 and 2012, there was a median of 15 cases per year in the country. 10 of these were related to commercial pork. This means one case per 3 million people. Bear meat and venison seem to be more worrisome.

 

Compare with annual deaths by lightning: you're almost 4 times as likely to DIE from a lightning strike as you are to be infected by trichinosis from commercial pork.

 

Which still isn't a zero. If you're worried about it, you have the option to completely kill trichina without completely killing your pork chop. The easiest way is sous-vide. According to research done by Modernist Cuisine, holding pork at 130°F / 54.4°C for 112 minutes (very pink!) will do it. So will holding it at 140° / 60°C for 12 minutes (respectably medium). This is a rare case where the research points to times that are even more conservative than government regulations—the USDA says hold at 130°F for 60 minutes, 140°F for one minute. 

 

As far as killing the usual pathogens, pork is no different from beef. The whole idea that it has to be well-done is just old mythology. 

 

One example where organic more problematic than standard commercial

 

. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6401a1.htm

 

"The number of swine reared in organic livestock operations certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased from 482 in 1997 to 12,373 in 2011 (25). Swine reared by these methods are likely exposed to sylvatic (i.e., occurring in or affecting wild animals) and synanthropic (i.e., ecologically associated with humans) hosts of Trichinella and are therefore more likely to be infected with Trichinella than commercial pork raised in confinement buildings under biosecure condition"

 

If you read through the rest of that page , venison is much less of a risk than even standard commercial pork .

 

Generally omnivores and carnivores are the main concern. 

 

It is a pet peeve of mine when I see these celebrity chefs recommending organic or free range pork and then recommending lower finish temps based on pork being safer these days. 

 

They need to explain that if you are using organic pork you need to be very accurate with finish temps and resting if you are going for the low end of recommended finish temp. 

 

 

 

[paulraphael]

On 3/18/2017 at 3:51 PM, Ashen said:

 

One example where organic more problematic than standard commercial ...

 

 

That was some really big typography. But I don't see how those authors came to that conclusion based on the source they cited.

 

While the original study (based on 21 pig farms in Argentina) found that "...pigs raised outdoors were more likely to be infected than pigs raised in total or partial confinement," the real correlation with trichinosis was if they were fed waste products that included meat. Organic pork just means that the pigs were fed a diet that meets the organic rules. The final conclusion: "All pigs raised under good hygienic and sanitary conditions were negative for Trichinella infection by both artificial digestion and ELISA"

 

The takeaway is to buy from good farms. There are good and bad organic farms, good and bad conventional ones. 

Edited March 19, 2017 by paulraphael (log)