Cooking tender juicy pork without fear!
To what temperature should I cook pork?
Pork is best when cooked to medium doneness or an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) also recommends 160 degrees F. Use a 
meat thermometer to judge doneness, unless you have experience in judging the doneness of pork by other methods. When cooking a roast, remove from the oven when the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F. and allow the roast to stand for 10 minutes before slicing. The roast’s internal temperature will rise about five degrees after removing from the oven.
A hint of pink blush in the center is ideal for tender, juicy pork. If pork is cooked for longer periods of time, it tends to dry out and become tough. The meat also will be less flavorful due to the loss of essential juices when overcooked.
What about trichinosis? Because of modern feeding practices, trichinosis is a no longer a concern. Although trichina is virtually nonexistent in pork, if it were present, it would be killed at 137 degrees F. That’s well below the recommended end cooking temperature for pork, which is 160 degrees F. Many outdated cookbooks, commonly found in the home, were written many years ago, when trichinosis was a concern, and will instruct, even warn that pork must be cooked until there is absolutely no pink in the meat (to an internal temperature of 170 degrees to 185 degrees!); or as one popular cookbook put it, “The meat must be white or grayish throughout, without a trace of pink, even in the very center of a large roast.” This is not at all necessary today. Nor is it good.
The best restaurants cook their pork with a bit of pink in the center, sometimes needing to reassure those guests that are used to the old way that it is perfectly safe and much more appetizing. So if you have been disappointed with pork that you’ve eaten in the past, because it was dry and difficult to chew, you need to try today’s pork cooked the right way. You will be pleased to enjoy a juicy, tender and delicious piece of pork, possibly for the first time in your life!