Cooking Pork Tenderloin
Cooking pork tenderloin is not as difficult as some people may imagine. The great thing about cooking pork tenderloin is that it is suitable cooking it for a fancy occasion, for family and friends or just for an easy diner. There are many restaurants that have pork tenderloin recipes on their menus. Pork tenderloins are pretty small and are usually only around one or two pounds.
There are loads of different ways of cooking pork tenderloin which is great, because you can cook it often and never get bored of it. Some of the most common ways of cooking pork tenderloin are to have them grilled, stuffed, marinated or whole roasted.
Just like cooking any type of pork, one of the most important things that you need to remember when cooking pork tenderloin, is not to overcook the pork as this will get rid of all the lovely juices, resulting in the pork becoming tough and chewy. Below I have listed an overview of the more common ways of cooking pork tenderloin.
Storing And Cooking Pork Tenderloin
When you are buying prepacked, fresh pork tenderloin, you need to make sure that you store it in the fridge and use it within 3 days of buying it. If it is raw meet and you do not plan to use it immediately, then you should make sure that you store it in a freezer in freezer bags.
Best Ways Of Cooking Pork Tenderloin
Grilled Pork Tenderloin
1) One of the best ways of cooking pork tenderloin is grilling it. There are a few important factors that you need to remember when cooking it. When you are grilling the tenderloin, make sure that you always cook it over indirect heat. The time for cooking pork tenderloin usually takes 20 – 30 minutes over medium high heat. Cooking time will also depend on the size and thickness of the cut.
2) When you are cooking it you need to keep a close eye on it and flip the pork tenderloin every 4 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of between 135ºF to 140ºF.
Once it has been cooked, leave it to cool slightly before serving it.
Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
1) The first thing that you need to do here is to butterfly the tenderloin. In order to do this you should use a thin knife to take off the silver skin.
2) In the next stage you need to horizontally cut almost, but not all the way through the tenderloin and then unfold it out.
3) After this you should use a mallet to give the meat a light pounding.
4) You can then put on your choice of sauce If you are unsure of what kind to use then try using a herb sauce, or you could use a breadcrumb or cheese stuffing to fill it. When you do this make sure you leave a 2 inch border around 1 edge.
5) Take the side of the tenderloin that is covered, start to roll it over to the other-side and then use kitchen twine or toothpicks to secure it.
6) Once this has been done, use a medium high heat to sear the pork on a skillet. You should do this on the non-seam sides until it is brown.
7) The last stage for cooking pork tenderloin this is to then place the tenderloin on its seam side on the skillet and put it into an oven that has been pre-heated to 475ºF. Once it is in the oven, it should be roasted for 10 – 20 minutes until the internal temperature of the tenderloin is 140ºF to 145ºF.
I hope that this article has given you some help for cooking pork tenderloin!