baking a tender roast

[lizgirl]

Thank you so much for the reassurance! It finally came out and broke into pieces! Not dry at all. Yummy!

[Mama Mangia]

Congratualtions!

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Everyone offers really good info here! I'd like to add a couple of very quick rule-of-thumb pointers:
1.) Generally, the pricier the roast the more tender is turns out when cooked to just memduim-rare, or so.
2.) By the same token, the cheaper the cut, to get better results it t ends to turn out more tender when it's slow-cooked as long as possible.
3.) For meat that falls apart & is fork-tender for making say, pulled pork barbecue, buy the cheapest cut you can find and just put it in the crock pot all day long. Makes delicious BBQ or Mexican Pork w/ Green Chiles...

[The Ironic Chef]

Reading this thread is one of the reasons I am so glad that I signed on as a member of this site. This is what a cooking site should be all about.

[cookingwithliz]

The FDA has a great website with tons of information on meat cooking temperatures.

My favorite pork roast recipe:

1 boneless pork tenderloin
Marinade:
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon tyme leaves or a couple sprigs stripped of fresh tyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/3 cup soy sauce

Marinate 12-18 hours in the fridge.

Pour off marinade. Put roast in a roasting pan or 9 x 13 size pan. Insert meat thermometer in center of roast. Roast uncovered at 325F until meat thermometer registers 160-170F

[lesley]

Everyone offers really good info here! I'd like to add a couple of very quick rule-of-thumb pointers:
1.) Generally, the pricier the roast the more tender is turns out when cooked to just memduim-rare, or so.
2.) By the same token, the cheaper the cut, to get better results it t ends to turn out more tender when it's slow-cooked as long as possible.
3.) For meat that falls apart & is fork-tender for making say, pulled pork barbecue, buy the cheapest cut you can find and just put it in the crock pot all day long. Makes delicious BBQ or Mexican Pork w/ Green Chiles...

I totally agree with you, I cooked a hand of pork last week, (cost under £5)whacked up the oven to full, put the joint in for about 40 mins...then turned heat down to low and roasted for 5 hours...you could pull the meat out with a pair of tweezers it was so tender it melted as you ate it.

[jakester]

I also agree with all of the comments BUT I also think the quality of the pork makes a big difference on flavour. I think the flavour does also depend on what the pig has been fed. We bred saddleback pigs on mum's farm and they eat fresh fruit veg etc and very little processed pig nuts. They run around and lead a free range/ organic lifestyle. The flavour is superb and the meat is very tender. I would always recommend slow roasting of pork, not only does it taste good, it makes the kitchen smell lovely.....

[lesley]

Yes...I agree, we used to buy our 1/2 pig from a friend who had a smallholding & it was far superior to shop bought. beautifully flavoured & tender.

But this joint was free range & although bought from a local market we didn't know what it had been fed on..we thought we'd give it a go...again still better than shop bought...would most definately do this again, ended up with enough meat for 3 days...had enough by then LOL

[Keziah]

As practised in the kitchen of Queen Anne.

Put some sage into the belly of the pig, sew it up, roast and baste it with butter, and sprinkle it with salt. When fine and crisp serve it with sauce made of chopped sage and currants, well boiled in vinegar ansd water, with the brains and gravy of the pig, some grated bread, barberries, and sugar, thoroughly mixed, and heated over the fire. Or, fill the belly with a pudding made fo grated bread, a little minced beef-suet, the yolks of two or three raw eggs, three or four spoonsful of cream, and a little salt. Sew it up, lay the pig before the fire, and baste it with the yokls of the eggs beaten thin. A few minutes before your take it up, squeese over the juice of a lemon and strew threron breadcrumbs, pepper, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Make a sauce with vinegar, butter and the yolks of hard eggs minced and boiled together, with the gravy of the pig.

I don't even understand this recipe. I hope Queen Anne like it, it sounds very complicated to me.

[chubbyalaskagriz]

really neat, Keziah! I enjoy these old-time recipes! Really offers a lot of insight into how they ate back then- and why they fought tooth-and-nail, so darned much! Ha!