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Newbie braising question

16 years ago

I'm in the process of braising a small pork loin in milk and don't know what I'm doing...normally I don't use milk for braising and normally I use a nice sturdy cast iron thing for braising which is somehow bulletproof (at least as far as texture goes). This time I'm using a less-than-ideal stainless pan.

So how low do I turn this? Do I want a very gentle simmer? Higher? No bubbles? Any recommendations?

Thanks!

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Comments (5)

bubbeskitchen
16 years ago
Fori,

Welcome to the CF!

Oy, being Jewish makes this hard to answer, LOL, but here goes:

I have never braised with milk (won't go into all the reasons), but by definition, braising is a very low heat, moist-cooking technigue that requires just a small amount of liquid. Milk has both sugar and lactic acid. The burning temperature of milk is very low, so I would really be sure just to steep the meat until tender. I would think a heavier bottomed pot would be best.

Good luck.

Bubbe
Fori
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Bubbe!

I know this one is usually left out of Jewish cooking classes... :D

I tried this method because I never have much luck with pork loin--always a bit dry. And it didn't require prepping ahead of time.

So, it turned out OK, but I think I let it go a bit long. And it probably would have been better in a more serious pot. (I'm too short and pregnant to be able to wash my nice cast iron roaster. Bad combo for trying to wash heavy pots because I can barely reach the water. I don't trust the spouse to do it properly--hence the light-weight stainless.)

I think I need to stop buying things I know I can't cook just because it happens to be on sale. On the other hand, the flavor was good, so I might try it again with a fattier chunk of meat...and in a proper pot.

Thanks for the advice. I think I will try again! It was very close.
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jacob_fcs
16 years ago
Fori,

Braising is usually a technique reserved for meats that contain lots of connective tissue (ie, pork buts, short-ribs, beef tongue, etc.). The long, slow cooking of braised meats breaks down this connective tissue which is full of flavor, making the braised meat incredibly tender.

Pork tenderloin, or any other tenderloin for that matter, doesn't contain enough connective tissue to truly braise properly. In your initial post you said that your reason for braising the tenderloin was because you wanted it to be tender. But because it lacks connective tissue, you won't ever really get the result you want by braising it.

However, here are a couple of tricks to help you keep that tenderloin "tender:"

*Try brining it first. When I cook pork tenderloin my favorite way to prepare it is to brine it for 24 hours in a mixture of salt, water, whatever fresh herbs I have laying around and maple syrup (the real stuff, not that aunt so and so stuff). Make sure you bring this all to a boil so everything dissolves, cool it down to room temperature and then soak your tenderloin at least overnight. Before cooking it, (I recommend searing and then finishing it in the oven), make sure you remove the tenderloin from the brine and dry thoroughly with a clean kitchen towel.

*Cook your tenderloin to medium or less. Most people are scared to eat anything except well done pork because of the food born illness Trichinosis caused by the parasite Trichinella Spirella. However, with modern farming practices, this disease is pretty much none existent. Even if you are concerned, Trichinella Spirella dies off at 137.9 degrees farenheit. So cook your tenderloin to an internal temperature of 135 (use a probe thermometer), and let it rest for ten mintues, where the cary over cooking will rise about 5 degrees to an internal temperature of 140.

*Let your meat rest. The number one mistake that people make when cooking meat is that they don't allow it to rest after the cooking process. Letting your tenderloin rest for about ten minutes will allow the juices which have been forced to the middle of the meat by the heat, redistribute throughout the meat, making it nice and tender.

Hope these pointers helped. Happy cooking.

Here is a link that might be useful: Free Culinary School
Fori
Original Author
16 years ago
O no, I wasn't really after TENDER loin--it's usually tender, just dry.

Pork loin isn't something that I would have thought to braise on my own, but I'd seen so many good things about this particular method (and didn't have time to prep it) so I figured why not...?

I normally don't have trouble braising, but on the other hand, I normally braise braisable meat, if you know what I mean. I do think I overdid it, though. Probably should not have treated it like an actual "braising" and more like a...uh...simmer in milk?

Thanks for the tips--the standard methods might be a bit more predictable!
jessyf
16 years ago
A good book Robinkate suggested is 'All About Braising' by Molly Stevens.

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