Protein Basics Session Four

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Protein BasicsSession Four

• Understanding Meats-
• PORK

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Ingredient and Materials Knowledge Goal

• Identify the primal and sub primal cuts of pork.
• Perform basic butchering and fabrication
  procedures
• Cook pork with dry and moist heat methods.
• Evaluate for industry quality standards meats
  cooked by dry and moist heat methods.
• Practice knife skills to include meat
  fabrication, dice, paysanne, brunoise.
• Prepare one secondary sauce to accompany pork.

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PORK

• Pork is the meat of hogs, usually butchered
  before they are one year old. Pork ranks only
  behind beef in consumption in the U.S. market.
  Pork has a substantial share of the market with
  more than two thirds of it sold as cured
  products. Lamb has a relatively small but
  important share as alternatives to beef and pork.

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Primal and Sub-primal cuts of pork

• Shoulder
• The primal shoulder, known as the picnic ham is
  the lower portions of the hogs front leg or
  foreleg. It accounts for 20 of the total percent
  of the carcass weight. Because it comes from a
  highly worked part of the body, it is somewhat
  tough.
• Whole pork shoulders is the preferred cut by most
  BBQ pitmasters. Shoulder hocks are quite popular
  for stews and soups with smaller pieces for
  sautéing or stewing.

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Primal and Sub-primal cuts of pork

• Boston Butt
• The cut just above the primal pork shoulder. It
  accounts for 7 of the carcass. This piece is
  very meaty and tender with a good percentage of
  fat to lean meat. A good choice for a solid
  meaty piece for roasting or cut into steaks and
  chops.

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Primal and Sub-primal cuts of pork

• Belly
• This cut contains the spareribs which are
  separated from the rest of the belly. The rest
  of the belly is usually turned into bacon by
  curing and smoking.

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Primal and Sub-primal cuts of pork

• Loin
• This cut comes from directly behind the Boston
  Butt and includes the entire rib section as well
  as the loin and a portion of the sirloin area.
  This primal cut accounts for 20 of the carcass
  weight. This section is the only primal cut that
  is not cured.
• It is a very tender eye type of muscle. This cut
  is excellent choice for moist heat method of
  cooking such as braising and dry heat cooking
  method such as roasting and sautéing. The
  tenderloin also comes from this primal

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Primal and Sub-primal cuts of pork

• Fresh Ham
• This cut contains the whole hind leg of the pork.
  This cut is very meaty, and is most commonly
  cured either by a wet pumped in brine solution,
  or by dry curing with salt. Ham is also smoked.
  Ham meat is usually very tender in relations to
  the fact that this part of the pig is exercised
  frequently. It remains tender however. Dried
  cured hams are soaked and cooked, or sliced paper
  thin.
• Fresh ham steaks are good broiled or fried, and a
  whole fresh roast ham is very tasty.

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Pork doneness and the factors that affect it

• Has it reached temperature?
• Pork has to reach a minimum of 137 degrees to
  kill any possible parasite such as trichinosis,
  but to be safe, pork should be cooked at least to
  145 deg.
• Try to avoid over cooking pork as it has a
  tendency to dry out. Modern pork producers have
  successfully bred the fat out of pork.
• Modern pork processors trim the pork of all
  excessive fat, leaving a nice lean product. The
  down side is a loss of moisture and flavor.

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Pork doneness and the factors that affect it

• Has it reached tenderness?
• Young pork is tender due to lack of muscle
  development.
• large pieces, slow and cooler temps.
• thin, small pieces, fast and hot

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Goals and tips for pork

• Pork is called the other white meat due to its
  lack of dark red color when raw, and a pale pink
  to grey when cooked. Modern pork is lean and
  because of this, sauces are used with most pork.
• Pork does not age well, and can go bad much
  faster than beef or lamb. For this reason, do not
  plan on storing pork for more than 3 days in the
  refrigerator. Pork freezes well for up to 4
  months at which time it is more prone to
  rancidity.
• Store pork in the freezer at 0 degree, well
  wrapped.

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Dry Heat Cooking Methods for pork

• Roast
• Excellent for roasting due to the fat content.
  Roast at 325 degrees till internal temp is at 145
  degrees. Carry over cooking will bring temp up to
  150, ideal for pork. Porks natural sweetness
  makes it a popular item for roasting.
• Broil
• Excellent method for chops, ribs, steaks and
  k-bobs.

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Dry Heat Cooking Methods for pork

• Saute/Stir Fry
• small tender pieces work best. Used in Asian,
  South American, Spanish and Italian dishes.
• Panfry
• Pork chops with mushroom gravy- all American
  favorite.
• Bake
• hundreds of ways to bake pork. Chops, ribs, ham,
  Roast pork loin.
• Deep Fry
• Fried pork cutlets, pork strips, country fried
  pork steaks.

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Moist Heat Cooking Methods for pork

• Stew/Braise
• Chinese style, char sui, ribs, ham, red eye gravy
  and ham steaks.
• Steam
• method of cooking pork after the smoking process
  to help avoid contamination.

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Miscellaneous Preparation Methods for cooking
pork

• Smoking
• Curing and smoking are the main methods for
  handling most pork products. First the pork is
  wet or dry cured, then smoked and steamed.
• Pickling
• Brining pork in a salt, nitrate and water
  solution along with an acid such as wine or
  cider.
• Corning
• Brining in a salt and sugar water mixture with
  pickling spices, garlic and spirits.

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Miscellaneous Preparation Methods for cooking
pork

• Salting
• Most common form of preservation with pork. Salt
  is rubbed into the meat. This dries out the pork
  and preserves it. Proscuitto and parma ham are
  two examples of this method.
• Blanching
• Deep fry small coated pieces of pork such as pork
  tenderloin for further cooking. Products can be
  frozen after this initial freezeing.

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Ways to improve the cooking qualities of pork

• MARINATE
• To macerate, or macerer or mariner is to place
  food in liquid so that it absorbs flavor, give
  off flavor or become more tender. Macerate is the
  term usually reserved for fruits, such as
  cherries macerated in sugar and alcohol. Marinate
  is used for meats example is beef marinated in
  red wine. A marinate is a pickle, brine, or
  souse, or a mixture of wine or vinegar, oil, and
  condiments.

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Marinating/Curing/BriningPork Marinades

• Fresh pork, whether it is a large piece for
  roasting or a thin piece for sautéing will be
  tender and have a more interesting flavor if it
  receives marination before cooking. This is not
  essential, but you will find it most effective.
  You may use a simple dry mixture of salt, herbs
  and spices or a liquid marinade of ether lemon
  juice, citrus juice, acidic fruit juice or wine
  and vinegar with herbs and aromatic vegetables.
  Always marinate the meats in a non-corrosive
  container such as stainless steel, glass or
  lexan. The time required is usually a minimum of
  two hours for chops and steaks with six to twelve
  hours even better. Larger pieces can go twenty
  four hours on up to several days for maximum
  penetration.
• Fresh hams and picnic shoulders take a minimum of
  two days up to six days.

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SALT MARINADE WITH HERBS AND SPICES

• Per pound of pork
• Ingredient
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
• ¼ teaspoon thyme
• 1 pinch allspice
• ½ clove mashed garlic
• Procedure
• Mix all the ingredients together and rub them
  into the surface of the pork. Place in a covered
  bowl. Turn the meat two to three times if the
  marinade is a short time. Several times a day if
  it is of long duration.
• Before cooking, scrape off the marinade and dry
  the meat.