Experiment: pork loin went in today.

carne wrote:

Pork loin went in January 19. I’m going to give it another week. Actually, I’m out of town most of next week, so I’m not going to be processing anything.

A 1/2 brisket went in January 15. And a venison roast went in January 22.

Let me go through your questions one at a time, so I don’t miss any.

Subjectively, I think the pork loin is doing well. It’s only been in for 16 days. poked with a finger, it doesn’t feel as firm as a beef cut would feel at pulling time. So — I’m going to give it another week.

Is it a boneless loin? Yes. And this is kindof a thing for me. This was a boneless loin from Sam’s Club. $1.98 / lb which is very cheap compared to beef. I don’t know what the price would be, but I know that I could buy a bone-in / T-bone / porterhouse pork loin from the local grocery. They have ’em. Sam’s doesn’t. If you have time, take a look at Compart-Duroc — they are selling aged pork chops for — bold — prices. I’m sure they have a great product and I wish them the best success in the world. And I’m looking at their claim that aged pork is superior and I’m kinda trying the same thing. And we’ll see if it makes a significant difference.

Because dry-aging is (at least) two different things. On the one hand, very simply, water is leaving the meat. Which means that the remaining meat has a more concentrated flavor.

The second thing is that, for most meats, there will be a breakdown in fibers and proteins and etc, and the end result will be a more tender meat.

There’s a lot of literature that says both of these things are happening for beef. There’s not as much about pork, but I think the “concentrating” thing will be working and I don’t know about the “breakdown” thing working.

But the people at Compart-Duroc — I’m guessing they are pretty sure, not only that it works, but also that people are willing to pay for it. So I’m willing to give it a whirl, and in a couple of weeks I expect to give you some real-world results.

I would appreciate any pointers you have on the subject of how long pork should be dry-aged. My preference would be to start with the scientific report and adjust for my own preference. I find that this forum is — independent. The conventional wisdom I’ve read calls for 30 days of dry-aging, and yet there are respected members of this forum who prefer DOUBLE that amount.

As for Chuletas ahumadas — I’m not sure of the technique. I can do bone-in. I can “cut it thin” — but I’m not sure I can cut a bone-in thing thinly. I lack the equipment.

And I think this enough for one post. I’ve got so many things happening today. Time to pull the duck prosciutto.

toasty wrote:

I don’t know if anybody is paying attention to the pork loin experiment. The result (so far) is anywhere from “Eh” to “fail”.

I pulled the loin out of the bag this morning (bag bond was STRONG) and cut it into doublewides, as RRP has shown us.

I cooked the pork sous vide at 135 degrees. In retrospect, 130 might have been the better choice, and I’ll try cooking some of the other pieces at 130 and see if that adds a little “wow” to the experience.

The pork was good, but there was nothing that made me think that aging caused a significant improvement. Yes, maybe the flavor was a little more concentrated, but only a little, if that. No significant deepening of the flavor.

In short — I don’t recommend it. I’ll try one of the chops cooked at 130 tomorrow, but at the moment I’m saying “Don’t waste your time and don’t tie up your aging space. Not for this.”

RRP wrote:
[quote]toasty wrote:

No offense intended!

It was a revelation to me when I saw your pictures showing these big slabs of ribeye that were twice as wide as a steak. You cooked them on both sides, then cut them in half so that each person had a steak that was crusted on one side and “prime rib”-ish on the other.

When we did the New Year’s eve dinner we cut slabs of sirloin that had been cooked sous vide – and the chef browned ONE (of six) sides of each slab, then sliced and served. I’d always assumed that every exterior surface on the plate had to be browned / crusted.

So, your pictures showed me something new. And it was with beef. I agree that you never made any suggestions about pork. Apologies for any harm done.

Unless cooking at 130 (sous vide) is a win, I’m going to declare pork loin a total loss for drybagging. I started with a 7-lb cut, and dry aged it down to 5.6 lbs and didn’t see any significant improvement.

It was good, but not so much better.

On the pork loin, I agree – I’ll have maybe one more posting in the next day or two and that will probably be the end of it.

On the Costco top sirloin — good deal! I may have a chance to look at that soon.

On the sous vide — everybody’s different. Many people use electric ranges instead of gas. Some people use kerosene lamps to light their houses instead of electricity, and some use horses instead of tractors on their farms. And I respect them deeply. You need to use what works well for your cooking style.