Fire It Up - Andrew Schloss [59]
Heritage Breeds vs. the Other White Meat
Although there are many pig breeds, only a few are raised commercially for meat. These tend to be fast-growing muscular breeds like Landrace, the pig of Danish bacon fame, and Duroc, an American breed that is used extensively in crossbreeding. Most of the commercially raised pork in North America is a cross between Duroc, Yorkshire, and Hampshire breeds.
In recent years, legendary pig breeds that were considered noncommercial because of their small size and slow growth have come to be valued for the quality of their meat. Berkshire pigs, the oldest continuously bred pigs in the world, are valued for abundant, fine-grained marbling. Their rich firm flesh contrasts sharply with the overtly mild and spartanly lean meat that comes from most commercially raised pigs. Berkshires (called Kurobuta in Japan) are now being marketed as an heirloom breed, grown mostly by small producers and fed sustainably on corn and soy.
Although modern demand for lean meat has changed how all livestock are bred, raised, and fattened, pork has been changed most dramatically. Thirty years ago a full-grown hog typically weighed over 300 pounds. Today the top weight is closer to 240 pounds, which yields a carcass of about 180 pounds and a little more than 100 pounds of edible meat. Today’s mass-market pig has less fat—about 1 inch along the back, compared with several inches in the past—and larger, leaner muscles.
All of these changes have made lean cuts of pork very similar to chicken in overall content of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. But it has also made grilling pork much more difficult.
Grilling Pork
As with all meats, the primary way of deciding how to cook a cut of pork starts with knowing where on the animal the cut came from. The more exercise the muscle got (shoulders and legs), the tougher and more flavorful it will be. Muscles along the back, which move less, produce more tender, milder-tasting meat.
Pork is naturally low in moisture (about 55 percent of its weight, as opposed to chicken, which is closer to 70 percent water). In the past abundant fat deposits dispersed within its lean parts melted into the meat as it grilled and kept it juicy. Now that these fat deposits have been diminished, pork can be unpalatably dry when grilled at too high a heat or for too long. Brining, which can increase the moisture content of lean meat by 10 percent, is particularly effective at raising the perception of juiciness in lean cuts of pork.
Long ago pork commonly harbored trichina, the parasite responsible for trichinosis. The threat of trichinosis compelled older pork recipes to recommend cooking pork to 180°F, a temperature at which all of its moisture disappeared. Now the threat of trichinosis has been all but eradicated from commercially raised pork. There are only a few cases of trichinosis reported each year in the United States, and all of these are traced to homegrown pigs that were not inspected or to hunted animals, like wild boar and bear. Trichinae are killed at 140°F.
The tough, dry pork encountered on many tables is largely due to overcooking. The U.S. National Pork Board advises cooking pork to 154°F, but most chefs recommend cooking lean, tender cuts like chops, loin, and tenderloin closer to 150°F, so that it is still slightly pink in the center, and fattier large cuts, like shoulder and fresh ham, to around 160°F.
Pork chops and steaks can be grilled directly, but larger cuts and tougher cuts of pork need lower heat and more time so they tenderize without becoming dry.
When grilling beef and lamb, it’s easy to sear the outside of a steak or chop and leave the interior perfectly done, because these meats are often served rare or medium-rare. Pork needs to be more thoroughly cooked, which makes it more difficult to retain the meat’s moistness and avoid charring the surface. For this reason, far more cuts of pork are cooked with indirect or lower fires than other meats. Thick pork chops benefit from grilling