Lots of exciting things have been cooking this summer in the world of pork!  We discovered that pork can now be cooked to a lower temperature of 145⁰ F, followed by a three minute rest (for the pork, not the chef, or maybe both).  Cooking to the new lower temperature will ensure your pork is tender, flavorful and juicy. Yes, pork cooked to 145 will be slightly pink in color, but the USDA deemed pork be cooked to the new lower temperature as perfectly safe, following extensive studies conducted across the nation.

Doesn’t that mean that the pork will be raw and too pink?  Nope… Pork is actually supposed to be a little pink in the center.  If it’s white all the way through, then the meat will be dry and overcooked!  Check out the pictures below to see the difference between perfectly cooking pork to 145, opposed to the previously recommended 160.



An Overcooked Roast... Cooking to 160 Degrees is Too Long

This Roast still looks great, but take a close look at the color of the pork.  Pork that is cooked to this white looking color is actually overcooked and dry!  Find this recipe using the right juicy temperature by clicking HERE!

The Pink Color Means It Was Perfectly Cooked To A Temperature of 145 Degrees with a 3 Minute Rest

The pinkish color of this roast will make it juicy and tender to the taste!  Click HERE for the delicious details!

Hey Pork Lovers! It’s here in a flash and gone just as quick, that’s right, the Ohio State Fair is all wrapped up!  As sad as it is, most of us only get the opportunity to enjoy some of the most awesome culinary treats, such as pig wings and pork parfaits, during the 12 day stint of the fair, well not anymore!

Below are the recipes for two of the coolest pork dishes available, so be sure to thank us when you are enjoying some state fair excitement in your kitchen….in December!

Pig Wings:

Pig wings include the tender meat around the bone of the ham.  During the Ohio State Fair, we go through a lot of pig wings! Pig wings are available at some specialty grocery stores; we get ours at Gordon Food Service. We like to smoke the wings at the Ohio State Fair.  The wings come precooked from Gordon Food Service, so how you cook them is your preference (grilled, smoked, baked, or deep-fried).  Add some D. B. Yummers Barbecue Sauce to the finished pig wings and you have the perfect meal!

The Famous Pork Parfait

Pork Parfait:

The pork parfait is a perfectly ‘porky’ desert.  It includes two alternating layers of pulled pork and mashed potatoes, and then is topped off with BBQ sauce, shredded cheese and a cherry tomato.  If you need a mouthwatering pulled pork recipe to use for your pork parfait, then check out the Heimerl family’s pulled pork recipe.

Make sure you check out our last post for your opportunity to get a free cookbook full of original pork recipes!

The Bacon Turtle Sausage Burger on the Grill

HERE IT IS!!!
It’s the Bacon Turtle Sausage Burger! If you read our last post (It’s a pig! It’s a turtle! No, it’s a Pig-Nosed Turtle!), then I’m sure you’ve been anxiously waiting for these juicy pork details!

Bacon Turtle Sausage Burger

Ready to go in the oven

Prep Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

8 ounces ground sausage, shaped into a patty
4 slices bacon
3 hot dogs
2 slices American cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon virgin olive oil

Directions:
1) Add Garlic salt, black pepper, worchestire and oil to the sausage burger.
2) Cut hot dogs in half, and then make 4 slits in the ends of 4 of them for feet. Use the other two
hotdog halves for the head and the tail.
3) Weave the bacon slices in a criss cross fashion (1 under, 1 over – 1 over, 1 under, etc).
4) Place sausage burger patty over bacon.
5) Press hot dogs into burger at proper places for legs, head and tail.
6) Place slices of American cheese on top.
7) Stretch bacon strips over the burger and around the hot dogs to secure it in place.
8 ) Bake in oven on cookie pan for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
9) Finish it on the grill or frying pan until bacon is crispy.
10) Serve on a bun with your favorite condiments or by itself

(NOTE: You may need to use toothpicks to hold the bacon and hotdogs in place)

Let us know what you think of it!

Now that we’ve reached the middle of the summer, some people seem to be enjoying the hot days on vacation and others are relaxing next to the pool.  On the other hand, I’ve been busy trying to keep up with the all of the daytime activities of summer.  Coming from a large family, I often find myself being pulled between helping my younger siblings with 4-H projects, trying to catch up with friends and surviving the necessary chores that come along with wedding season.  I’m sure most of you can relate to this hectic lifestyle, which makes cooking seem like a challenge for all of us pork lovers.  I was beginning to forget what it was like to sit down for a nice juicy piece of pork, so enough was enough; this weekend I discarded some of my more cumbersome tasks and took a little “me time” to enjoy a delicious meal…starring pork!

Not only was I determined to cook myself a good summertime meal, I found a delicious recipe at porkbeinspired.com that took less than an hour to prepare!  When I saw the positive ratings the recipe received from viewers, I decided to grill up a delicious pair of Bacon-Wrapped Pork Chops.  No kidding, this recipe certainly deserved its high reviews!  After cooking it to 145⁰ and adding the Garlic-Mustard Butter for taste, it was like “pork chop heaven!”  This easily falls into my list of all-time favorite ways to enjoy pork chops, plus, it only took me forty minutes to prepare from start to finish!  Considering that I have never been known for being a speedy chef, this was quite a feat for me.  Give it a try, and then let us know what you think of it!

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Chops With Seasoned Butter

My new favorite pork chop recipe

Do you have a favorite summertime recipe?  We’d love to hear about it!

What’s one food that goes great with grilling, camping, tailgating or a late night snack?  The hotdog.  Like baseball and apple pie, the hotdog is enjoyed by many as a classic American tradition.  The hotdog is quick, easy, delicious and works wonderfully as an afternoon lunch or a special campfire snack.  You can make the classic hotdog by adding a bun, ketchup, and just enough mustard, or you go Coney style by adding chili, cheese and onions. The hotdog is a blank canvas – be creative and come up with the next “hot” way to enjoy a hotdog.

What is this appetizing food actually made of?  I have often had people tell me that hotdogs are made of pig snouts, leftover scraps, and things you don’t even want to think about.  I can’t help but chuckle at this age-old myth.  Contrary to common belief, hotdogs are not made from the unwanted pieces of meat. The meat trimmings are carefully selected and cut just like the meat in your grocery coolers.  They are inspected and approved by the United States Department of Agriculture to insure that they are safe for you to eat.

So don’t confuse this family favorite with something that it’ not.  Enjoy a hotdog!  Just make sure that hotdog is made of pork!

(Source)

Just when we thought that trotters have a bad rep, The Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati proves us wrong. They have taken great strides in reducing their marathon’s carbon footprint. The city that used to be Porkopolis has moved by leaps and bounds to reduce, recycle, and reuse.
They were able to have online registration and promotions which reduced a large amount of paper used by the Marathon. Isn’t it great that technology helps us improve the world in which we live.

Want to know more about how The Flying Pig became greener. Here are the deTails:

• Replaced many race-day cups with versions that can be composted
• Created virtual goodie bags for an anticipated 30,000 entrants in the combined events.
• Water bottles, aluminum cans, plastic jugs, cardboard, paper and unused bibs will be recycled.
• Organizations and individuals will reuse the Vinyl banners, Mylar warmers, unused race medals and unused race ribbons will be reused.

(Source)

I’m planning on completing a 5k and a 10k this year and I hopefully see a half marathon in 2012. I love the fact that races are becoming more environmentally friendly and especially races that are pig themed! If you are looking at races, then take a closer look at pork. It’s a great lean protein that helps fuel me through training and race days!

Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato. Probably one of the greatest sandwiches on the planet. The tomato and lettuce make the perfect stage for the salty delicious bacon. The BLT even has the power to help reduce man’s greatest challenge after a great weekend…. the hangover. Of course, it has been recently celebrated at Denny’s with the creation of a BBBLT in their Baconalia event.

If you were impressed by the BBBLT, you haven’t seen anything yet. During the Spring Show this year in Kansas City, the world record for the largest BLT will be attempted. The Associated Wholesale Grocers will be attempting to make a 200 foot sandwich. We wait in anticipation for April 27th as one of our greatest wishes will come true. Well, besides an official Bacon Day Parade on September 5th.

One of my farm memories involved learning to do math.  This wasn’t your ordinary math lesson, but my brothers and I learned how to do math while working with the pigs. 

When we moved the piglets in our barn from their mothers, the sow, we put them in a cart that moved them from one room to another.  We would make sure they were all healthy before moving them from their mothers.  The cart that we moved them in had a scale and dad would always ask us to figure out the individual weights of the pigs based from the total weight and the number of pigs.

This was my first introduction to division and mental math.  Honestly, math has never been my strongest suit but I can still divide to at least 12 thanks those piglets and my father.

            According to Wikipedia, a Baco can be a lunar impact crater, Celtic god of the boar, or an English monk.  But here at Porktastic a Baco is neither hole, god, or man, but in fact our formula is:

            Bacon + Taco = Baco. 

            This may be the most creative use of real bacon since the Bacon Explosion. 

            No, you don’t put the bacon in the taco or make a topping with some measly amount of bacon toppings.  It is so much more involved than that! 

Nope, this isn't it! It is so much more than a simple taco with bacon!

You actually make the taco shell out of bacon.  I didn’t even know if was possible to mould such things out of bacon… I should have known better.

            Turns out making this masterpiece is very simple and the directions can be found here.  Add a little lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and of course a little more bacon.

            Let me know if you give it a try!

 As we welcome 2011, Porktastic also welcomes a new addition to our blog.  A New Game has arrived called Pork Picker!  We didn’t want you to get bored of Pork or Dork, so take a look and try out your skills.  Do you have what it takes to be a master of the new Porktastic game?