Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin - 20 minute recipe! - A Gouda Life (2024)

FAQs

How do you cook pork tenderloin so it's not tough? ›

Unlike tough, marbled cuts like pork butt that need to cook for long periods to be tender (see: Slow Cooker Pulled Pork), pork tenderloin is lean, so it cooks quickly and stays tender. A quick sear followed by 10 minutes in the oven, it's one of the fastest among my 30-minute meals. Versatile.

Sear + Roast

This cooking method is a surefire way to make moist and juicy pork tenderloin without much fuss. Searing the meat first gives it that golden-brown crust before a quick roast in the oven finishes it off. It's an easy, crowd-pleasing meal for any night of the week.

It has a distinct lack of connective tissue throughout the muscle and also has very little fat marbling. The lack of connective tissue makes it easy and fast to cook, as you don't need to let it cook for a long time to allow the collagen that inhabits so many other cuts to dissolve.

Brush the grill with vegetable oil. Remove the tenderloin from the bag and place in the center of grate. Discard bag with marinade. Cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, turning every 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until the tenderloin reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees F.

Does pork tenderloin get more tender the longer you cook it? Quite the opposite, actually! Pork tenderloin should be cooked quickly and then left to rest to ensure it stays tender.

You can slow cook it in a slow cooker or oven at a low temperature for several hours until it's fully cooked and tender. This will help break down the tough connective tissues and collagen in the meat, resulting in a succulent and tender pork belly. Braising: Braising is another method that works well for pork belly.

Washing beef, pork, lamb, or veal before cooking it is not recommended. Bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensils, and surfaces. We call this cross-contamination.

Should you sear beef tenderloin before cooking it? If roasting a tenderloin in the oven, you'll definitely want to sear it to get a golden brown crust. It doesn't take very long, and is so worth the effort.

However, you do NOT need to add other seasonings before searing. You're going to be cooking the exterior of your meat at very high temperatures, and the other seasonings will simply burn on the surface.

Instead of cooking pork tenderloin straight from the fridge, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before you get started. Giving the meat a chance to warm up will ensure more even cooking.

Why is pork tenderloin so expensive? ›

Pork loin is typically less expensive than pork tenderloin, but pricier than marbled cuts like pork shoulder. Its friendly price point is part of its appeal. Pork tenderloin is more expensive than the loin because it's smaller and very easy to cook.

With a pork tenderloin: Season the meat, sear all sides in a very hot pan, and then finish in the oven at 350°F (175°C) degrees until the internal temp. hits 145°F (63°C).

You could eat it at a lower temperature, but the magic number is between 200 and 205 degrees. This is the best temperature for pulling the pork apart. Take it out of the oven and let the pork rest. Just like when you cook a steak, you should let any meat rest so you don't lose the juices by cutting into it too early.

Tenderloin cooked to this or beyond would be dried out and tasteless. As far as the appearance, it should be white, with just a touch of pink and with the juices flowing out of it freely. Blanch white with no juices is quite overdone and the ruination of a fine cut of pork.

If you're not confident in your cooking skills, there is one foolproof way to guarantee your pork ends up on the tender side, even if you cook it too long: Soak it in a brine or a marinade. According to Hazel, these kinds of preparations always produce the most tender outcomes.

Overcooking it.

Tenderloin is lean and one of the most tender cuts around, but the lack of fat means that overcooking it will result in dry, tough meat. Follow this tip: Tenderloin is best served rare or medium-rare, so use a thermometer to make sure it doesn't get cooked past 140°F in the center.

It's not possible to cook tenderloin well-done without being leathery. Above an internal temp of 150 degrees, there's a muscle filament called actin that starts to denature. It's this process that causes the muscle fibers to get firm, shorten, and dry out.

CG: Roasting is the most natural way to cook a pork loin, and it's the easiest and the quickest to get into the oven. I like to sear the outside and then roast it, or you can just roast it as is. The indirect method of cooking preserves pork loin's inherent juiciness and tenderness.