Pork Loin

(KM) #1

Well once again I have been duped by a crockpot recipe that claimed my “white meat” pork loin would be just awesome cooked this way, and I’m on the way to having four pounds of rock solid dry as a bone pork dust floating in a nice broth. Any way to save this? I seared what fat cap there was, and it’s been crocking on high for about three hours, so I could probably take it out and do something else with it if recommended.

(Harriet) #2

Not as a roast, nope. I’ve been cooking with slow cookers for almost 40 years, I’ve yet to find a recipe that makes it possible to use one to cook extremely lean meat well. I’ve surrendered, my go to for lean meats is to roast with a leave in probe thermometer.

If you like to experiment you could turn your dust roast into a soup or stew, basically cook it moist even further and it might break it down. You could run it through a food processor and make it the base of a chili like dish. I might be tempted to process it then build a cheesy white sauce with chicken broth. Think simmered and added fat to give it pseudo moisture.

(KM) #3

Ok, thank you, you’re actually making me hungry for my pork brick! Cheese sauce, here I come.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

A crock pot really requires a recipe with liquid. It can’t roast the way an oven can. But if you ever do try that recipe again, set the pot on low, not high. You might get edible meat that way, especially if you use a fattier cut.

(Doug) #5

Yeah - something like a chuck roast does awesomely in a crock pot, even with no water at all as with 'Mississippi Pot Roast." But lean meat… Pork loin - I’d have it underwater or under broth, or close to it.

–Doug (porkloin@aol.com since 1996)

This is where, in my opinion, sous vide really shines - with pork and poultry. Whereas in the past overcooking and potentially drying-out were big factors, due to the emphasis on ‘not undercooking’ it, sous vide takes that risk away, and with no moisture escaping to the atmosphere, it often comes out surprisingly moist. Amazingly so, at first - when one is used to more conventional cooking.

Chicken - it was so darn moist that it blew my wife and me away… Next time we cooked it to a higher temperature just to get it more towards what we were used to. :smile:

(KM) #6

Oh, it was under water, in a very tasty briny broth which is now even tastier. The meat is dry as toast. I’m a huge fan of crockpot cooking but my experience matches Hari’s. I just got lured into doing this from someone raving about tender pork loin. Which was more likely a pork butt, which goes so nicely into a Crock-Pot and shreds beautifully. However, I did use Paul’s cheese sauce recipe to make a rather delightful plate of cheese soup with some bits of boiled pork brick floating in it. I forgotten how insanely easy it is to make great sauce if you have heavy cream on hand.

(Harriet) #7

Let us know what you do and how it comes out, for better or worse. I do hope you get something tasty.

(KM) #8

I did, thank you for the inspiration! (See the post right above yours, we must have cross-posted.)

(Kinnessa ) #9

Sorry to hear about the culinary mishap. To salvage the pork, maybe try slicing it thinly, then soak it briefly in a flavorful broth or sauce to add moisture. Alternatively, shred it and mix with a BBQ or teriyaki sauce. It might rescue the texture and taste. Also u can check some cool healthy recipes here. Wish it helped

#10

I didn’t write before as I can’t save such a thing and have no idea about crockpots. I just cook pork all the time.

Oh a fatty cut makes things so easy… My fatty pork is nice any way (I don’t put too fatty meat into my soups though as I like my soups leanish).
Leaner meat is trickier but very lean meat is best in wet dishes like curry… Even chicken breast becomes edible and I really dislike chicken breast, it’s not only lean but it has a bad texture… But being soft and moist and flavorful from the curry, not so bad. Our curry is very far from carnivore (I mean, it’s full with vegs as my SO cooks it) but I don’t cook very lean meat ever. Except frying fish but that’s trivial. Lean pork is only good in soups for me or if it’s a bit fattier, I lightly cook it, I mean, not frying into oblivion as something fattier… I usually try to get my green ham a bit fatty so it is okay when I fry it - but I shouldn’t overdo it, it dries out easier than fatty pork. It’s impossible to fail with fatty pork if we just use our eyes and stop before charcoal… But it doesn’t dry out, it just becomes some meaty scratchings :wink: I don’t go that far except with almost pure fat.

Sauce is my last and always successful attempt to make my too lean and sometimes dry meat edible. Or if it’s tiny, I put it into my scrambled eggs. I can ground it and mix with things too but that’s too much work…

(Doug) #11

Holy crow - then I am at a loss as to what happened. One guess would be that the temperature can make a difference, but that’s not been my experience, either - lower temps require more cooking time but either way the results are good.

In any case, for pork and poultry that’s not dried-out, sous vide is a sure thing.