The National Pork Board has announced its goal to increase the fat content in pork products by a few percent in the coming years, due to criticism of now widely-used practices of "enhancing" pork by basically brining the product to add moisture and customers trending towards more natural and organic food choices.
The Reuters article continues:
"Some people think we've gone too far in taking all the fat out," said David Meisinger, assistant vice president of educational services at the National Pork Board."When consumers buy pork, they don't want to see any fat in there. But when they eat it, they like the flavor and juiciness that a little bit of fat gives it."
Meisinger emphasized that this new pork will not be the high-fat, high-cholesterol variety that the industry abandoned two decades ago when it began likening itself to chicken with its well-known "Pork: The Other White Meat" ad campaign.
The goal is to keep pork healthy and lean while improving taste and texture by adding more marbling, Meisinger said, referring to the intramuscular fat that makes meat more juicy and tasty.
With more marbling, cuts may go from 99 percent lean to 97 or 98 percent lean, he said.
What a concept. Developing a product that actually tastes good instead of injecting crap with space-age polymers.
I like a fattier cut myself, like a shoulder or the pork butt pictured above, rubbed with Survival Spice™, and cooked low and slow in a smoker, in an oven or a combination of both. Always cook your meat cut fatty side up so as the fat renders during cooking it flows through the meat, adding flavor.
If you're cooking a chop or tenderloin, don't cook it until it's as hard as a brick, either. When in doubt, use a meat thermometer and pull it from the heat at around 145º. Carry-over cooking will take it to 150º. People are a bit overly concerned about trychnosis, which is just about unheard of these days and is killed at 138º anyway.
Fat Side up, say it over and over.
Ya know, sometimes the "butchers" in local grocery stores cut OFF that plate of fat, both with pork & beef. I bought a brisket a few weeks ago that was like that. What's one to do? For those long slow cooking methods you need that plate of fat to help with moistness & flavor (fat=flavor).
Here's what you do, lay strips of bacon over the top of your roast. You don't necessarily have to cover the poor thing, but make sure you have enough on there to moisten the meat below.
After you're done, pull the bacon off and mince it up and use as a garnish over salads, beans or whatever.
Helpful Hints from Biggles
Ah, barding. Amen, brother.
The bacon method sounds great. I've been wrapping it around chicken to keep it moist, but somehow never thought about laying some over my pork shoulder for extra "meltability" And of course, I make my own BBQ sauce. I could also hang on to that bacon for my fried rice...
Hey Chris,
Try sticking that bacon under the skin, over the breast portion. And make darned sure you truss the legs. This'll help greatly, plus the pan gravy you get is second to none (that means it's really good).
Another trick is to flip the chicken upside down (use a trivet in the roaster) for an hour at 350, then breast side up for the last 25 to 30 minutes.
You want guranteed juicy love?
Wash, pat thoroughly dry inside and out. Rub with kosher salt inside and out. Truss legs (opens up thigh and leg meat to heat and secures breast meat so it isn't quite as exposed). Toss in to a cast iron skillet (with a trivet) in to a preheated 450 degree oven for exactly 1 hour.
The last method is fool proof, I should know.
Biggles
I actually like to cook turkeys on their sides, splitting the time evenly, then right-side up for the 20 minutes or so to make sure the presentation side of the bird is browned evenly.
Smaller birds do well upside down, as Biggles suggested. Just be sure your bird doesn't stick while inverted so the skin tears off or the bird looks funny.
Point well taken on the trivet. Nearly two years ago at Meathenge I addressed The Trivet. I found it odd that I received a handful of emails and people didn't even know what it was, let alone what it was for. Sometimes you do want your meat skittering around on the bottom of your roaster, but usually you don't want your meat boiled. So, use the trivet to get your meat up and out of the fat/moisture so that heat can get to all the parts far easier. For upside down chicken, I use my Lodge Cast Iron trivet, unlike the wire racks it won't leave funny marks on your breast meat. Sometimes round buttons, but nothing unsightly. Plus it's cast iron, it's cool.
http://www.cyberbilly.com/meathenge/archives/000168.html
Biggles
OH here, click on the image to see!
http://www.cyberbilly.com/meathenge/archives/000193.html
Man that was a long time ago, long long time.