The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

Now that    we’ve   perfected   pan-searing beef,   how hard

could   pork    be? The answer: not very.

Indeed, the only difference between cooking a fat steak and
cooking a fat pork chop lies in how to select it and the final
temperature. In the old days (i.e., before the 1990s), people
in this country believed that all pork had to be cooked to at
least 165°F in order to rid it of pesky worms that could
infect you. These days, our pork is just as safe as our beef,
so you can cook it to medium or even medium-rare with
confidence. I like my pork best when it’s a rosy pink, 135°
to 140°F.
When selecting pork chops, you’re likely to find four
options at the butcher. They’re all cut from the loin of the
pig.

NAME DESCRIPTION

Blade-

End

Chop

Cut from    the front   of  the

loin    near    the shoulder,   it

contains    several muscle

groups, all divided by

swaths  of  fat.    This    is  my

favorite    cut,    because it  is

self-basting.   It’s    very    hard

to  get a   dry blade   chop!