Huli-Huli Pork?

[DaveP]

My wife and I had guests for dinner on Sunday. I had everything to make Huli-Huli Chicken. I made the marinade from MH recipe on this site. However my wife said once of the guests (a 93 year old lady) eats a lot of chicken and that she wanted pork. So I quickly ran to the store and picked up some one inch thick pork loin chops because I have substituted them for chicken breasts many times in recipes. They also usually cook very evenly.

I marinated the chops for 16 hours. I grilled them on my Traeger pellet grill at 225 F until an internal temperature of 140 F. I quickly seared them on a gas grill and when I pulled them, the internal temp was 143 F. They rested a bit while I got the rest of the meal together (grilled sesame green beans, grilled fresh pineapple rings glazed lightly with the Huli-Huli sauce, sautéed rainbow peppers and jasmine rice) but the final temperature was 146 F.

Everything tasted great except ... the meat was a bit tough and dry. I have rechecked everything and still can’t figure what I should have done differently.

I am looking for suggestions because the Huli-Huli mixture tasted really great with pork. I am thinking a tenderloin may be better.

Any ideas?

Many thanks

[MBMorgan]

Did you brine the pork?

[DaveP]

No I did not brine it as the marinade has salty ingredients including soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup. I cannot eat soy sauce because it has wheat in it but I used Japanese tamari which also has salt. The swapping of tamari for soy sauce has not been issue in other recipes. With a long marinade, I didn’t think a brine was necessary and I didn’t have time for it either. I rarely wet brine anything and instead have moved onto dry brining when needed.

[jecucolo]

Pork is so lean it dries out. I have gone to wet brine and then Sous Vide for a few hours and sear them. Seems to stay moist this way. fzxdoc has a great recipe using cocoa powder that really takes them to another level.

[fzxdoc]

Pork is a tricky beast. I learned here that wet brining and taking it to 135 (I use sous vide) before searing lightly generally makes for a good result, bringing the meat in at about 140ish. I agree, that marinade probably worked as a good wet brine with the soy sauce in it. If you don't have a sous vide, you can reverse sear to 135 and then sear lightly and quickly.

Could have been the pork too. Some of it, with no marbling at all, is pretty unforgiving.

Kathryn

[IowaGirl]

"...when I pulled them, the internal temp was 143 F...."

I think that was your problem. Treat these cuts pretty much the same as steak. 143 F is medium heading toward medium well done if you include a few more degrees of carryover cookng.

I cook loin and tenderloin to no more than 140 F finished temperature and preferably a few degrees less. Anything higher than 140 for these lean cuts will result in dry, tough meat.

I dry brine or wet brine loin and tenderloin with good results -- not too sure I see a great difference between the two. (edit: Although this new article -- https://amazingribs.com/wet-brining-vs-dry-brining -- suggests I need to re-evaluate my opinion.) Cooking on indirect heat to about 125-130 F and then doing a reverse sear works nicely.

A tiny sprinkle of sugar on the surfaces will help with browning, so you don't have to overdo the sear time to get the color you want. The sugar doesn't have to be applied separately -- it can be sugars in your marinade or sugar in a dry rub (Memphis dust, for example).

[DaveP]

Thanks everyone. These are great suggestions. I have not tried sous vide yet.

However, I now think it was the pigs. I say pigs because no one else complained and knowing my guests, they always tell it like it is. I think my wife and I got tougher pieces.

I rewarmed the leftovers in a microwave, something sure to dry and toughen the pork loin. The leftovers were tender, moist and delicious.

I bought the chops at the grocery. They were slightly different size but I thought it was the narrowing of the loin. Now I think it was different pigs. I am just glad the guests got the good ones on the first try.

Thanks again for the great advice. I am learning so much from this group!!

[Spinaker]

Another thing to consider is your finishing temp. I usually cook pork to about 140 F. It comes out much more tender and juicy. The USDA states that 145 F is a safe temp to consume pork steaks, chops, tenderloins etc. (Ground pork is still 165 F)

I think if you shoot for a lower finishing temp, you will probably see better results.

[Strat50]

To get that "real" Huli Huli flavor, use a cut of pork that resists longer cooks, or requires longer cooks. Instead of pork loin(chops, or just loin), and try shoulder, sirloin(if in a hurry), steaks(part of the shoulder, usually), etc. Huli Huli means to turn, which indicates a medium to long cook, for chicken as well as pork. The longer it cooks, the better the flavor. Pork loin is like chicken breast in that it does better with a shorter cook or drying out is a problem, as the meat has little fat.
My two cents...