The Best Way To Avoid Overcooking Your Pork Is Also The Simplest

Pork products are one of the first proteins we reach for when it's time to put together a meal. They're always delicious and filling, and they're pretty simple to cook. However, if you don't keep an eye on them, they can quickly go from well done to overcooked. It's easy to cross that line, but we spoke to an expert for the best method on preventing your pork from being overcooked.

Not only is pork a mild-tasting meat, but a lot of the cuts — like pork tenderloin — are pretty lean. If you're running around the kitchen trying to get other things prepared, the delicate meat could dry out. Rather than trying to keep an attentive eye on things, Chris Stark, director of culinary operations at Hill Country Barbecue Market and a City Harvest BID event participant, prefers to let technology take the lead. "A remote probe digital thermometer is your best friend," Stark says. "There are countless options, but I prefer a hardwired probe connected to a wifi-connected base."

Without a meat thermometer, there's no way of fully knowing that your meat is cooked. The standard analog thermometer works well, but Starks' recommendation is high-tech. Ones like the Govee Wireless Meat Thermometer use wifi to send alerts to your phone, letting you know when the meat has reached your temperature threshold. Even if you're outside in the yard, as long as you have a connection, you'll get updates on the internal temperature of your meat.

The best part about wireless wifi-connected thermometers is that you can set a temperature alarm on it. This comes in handy if you want to check on the pork at a certain time, even before it's technically done. In order to be considered safe to eat, pork must reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. However, you don't have to set the thermometer to this precise degree.

While items like ground pork or the animal's internal organs must be cooked to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, other pork products like the loin or pork chops have some leeway. Since the animal is lean, you can get away with removing it from the oven at around 145 degrees Fahrenheit. It may be a little pink in the center if you cut it open immediately, but the heat from the oven is still carrying over, so the meat will continue cooking away from the heat source. Anywhere from the 145-160 degree Fahrenheit range will produce juicy meat.

If you do end up drying out your pork, just follow Bobby Flay's simple method for rescuing overcooked meat: Once it's cooled, chop it up and massage it with olive oil and an acidic ingredient like lemon juice to soften things up.