THE ULTIMATE SOUS VIDE PORK TENDERLOIN GUIDE

Inleiding

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin Basics

It may seem obvious to say, but pork tenderloin is like the beef tenderloin of the pork world, and it comes along with all of the same features, both good and bad. On the good side, it’s extremely tender — the tenderest cut of meat on the hog. On the bad side? Well, as a muscle that is rarely used during the pig’s lifetime, it is extremely mildly flavored, to the point of nearly being bland. It is also very lean, which makes it difficult to cook evenly — lean meat conducts heat faster than fatty meat, which leads to a higher chance of overcooking. Moreover, because of its leanness, overcooked tenderloin is particularly unforgiving: dry, chalky, and tough to swallow.

Cooking sous vide — whether in a water bath or an Anova Precision™ Oven — solves both of these problems. Flavor-wise, it’s easy to add aromatics or spices to the sous vide bag along with the pork, building that flavor right into the meat (You can reinforce the flavor with more aromatics when you subsequently sear the roast). As for texture, with sous vide cooking, overcooked meat is a thing of the past. Sous vide cooking allows for perfectly even edge-to-center cooking with complete control, whether you like your pork pink or gray.

Traditional sous vide pork tenderloin consists of an easy, two-phase cooking process:

1. Afdichting the pork tenderloin in a plastic bag using either a vacuum sealer or the water displacement method and koken tot de gewenste eindtemperatuur in een waterbad met temperatuurregeling.
   1. The temperature of the sous vide bath during the initial cooking phase is what determines the final texture of your pork tenderloin.
2. Searing the tenderloin to develop color, flavor, and textural contrast.

If you’d prefer to introduce new sous vide techniques into your arsenal, you can also use the Anova Precision™ Oven to prepare sous vide pork tenderloin. Because of the way we’ve designed the temperature sensors and humidity control, the oven will precisely maintain the cooking temperature you set.

You can choose to bag and cook your tenderloin in the Precision™ Oven just as you would with a Precision® Cooker, or you can use the oven’s food probe to tell you exactly when the core of your tenderloin has hit your desired temp.

Just like traditional sous vide, using Sous Vide Mode in the Anova Precision™ Oven typically is a two-stage cooking process: First, bring the pork tenderloin to your desired internal temperature, then sear or broil in the oven to create a flavorful crust.

While eating any meat cooked to a rare doneness poses health risks, particularly for the elderly, pregnant, or very young, these days pork is just about as safe to eat rare as it is to eat beef. That is, so long as you are working with properly-stored, cleanly cut meat and are searing the exterior before serving, the risk of illness from consuming rare pork is very minimal.

With sous vide cooking, you have another advantage: pasteurization. At 130°F (54°C), bacteria are being actively destroyed on the surface of that pork. Every moment that it is in the cooker, it is becoming safer to eat. At higher temperatures, the rate of destruction is even faster. Because of this, sous vide is a great introduction to the wonderfully juicy world of rare pork. (The United States Department of Agriculture recommends cooking pork to 145°F with a three-minute rest.)

Temperatuur en timing

When cooking quick-cooking meats like steaks, pork chops, or pork tenderloin, the texture and juiciness of the finished product is directly related to the temperature to which it is cooked. Pork starts to firm up and expel moisture around 120°F (49ºC) or so, with its firmness and dryness increasing as the temperature goes up. With sous vide cooking, you have complete control over exactly how cooked your pork ends up, so pick a desired temperature, and go!

With traditional high-heat cooking methods, it’s necessary to cook at the exact right temperature for the exact right amount of time to achieve the doneness you’re after. With sous vide cooking, the timing is much more forgiving. Temperature is by far the overriding factor. By adjusting the temperature of your Precision Cooker or Precision Oven, you can cook your pork tenderloin anywhere from a pink, juicy medium-rare (130°F / 54°C) to a firm but still moist well-done (160°F / 71°C).

Houd er rekening mee dat hoe heter je kookt, hoe meer vocht je uit het varkensvlees perst. Hier is een overzicht van de textuur en sappigheid die je kunt verwachten bij verschillende temperaturen:

Medium-Rare (130°F / 54°C)

Your meat is very soft. Muscle proteins have not started to contract much and will have a slippery, wet texture. The meat will be extremely juicy, but it’ll be hard to break down muscle fibers between your teeth.

Medium (140°F / 60°C)

Muscle proteins have begun to tighten and firm up. You lose a bit of juice due to this tightening, but what you lose in juice you gain in tenderness. This is our favorite temperature for pork tenderloin.

Medium-Well (150°F / 66°C)

De spiervezels blijven harder worden en sappen uitdrijven. Het varkensvlees is nog steeds smaakvol, maar verliest in dit stadium veel van zijn malsheid.

Goed gaar (160°F / 71°C)

The meat is completely well-done with a texture that is chewy and tacky, albeit juicier than if they were cooked via more traditional methods.

Het is waar dat de timing voor sous vide koken veel vergevingsgezinder is dan bij traditionele technieken - je kunt vlees van seconden of minuten tot uren goed gaar krijgen - maar toch is het mogelijk om vlees te veel of te weinig te garen.

Onze algemene vuistregel is om ongeveer 15 minuten bereidingstijd te rekenen per halve centimeter dikte, en daar voor de zekerheid nog een minuut of 10 aan toe te voegen. Dit is genoeg tijd om het vlees in staat te stellen een thermisch evenwicht te bereiken en doorbakken te worden tot dezelfde temperatuur als het waterbad. Na die tijd zal het vlees niet veel sappigheid verliezen, maar uiteindelijk, als de spiereiwitten afbreken, wat papperig worden en eerder versnipperen als je erin bijt dan scheuren.

At four hours the meat has begun to lose some of its resilience and by eight hours it is tender enough to pull apart with your fingers. We limit cook times for pork tenderloin to under four hours.

Zolang je boven de 54ºC kookt, zijn er geen echte gezondheidsrisico's verbonden aan langdurig sous vide koken.

Traditionele sous-vide

Sous vide express

How to Cook Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin, Step by Step

Stap 1

Bevestig een Anova Precision® Cooker op een waterbad en verwarm tot de gewenste gaarheidstemperatuur of verwarm de Precision Oven voor tot de gewenste temperatuur.

Kruid het varkensvlees royaal met zout en peper aan alle kanten. Als je van plan bent om het ongekookte varkensvlees langer dan een paar uur in de zak te laten zitten voordat je het gaat bakken, sla dan de kruidenstap over en kruid het in plaats daarvan vlak voor het aanbraden.

Stap 2

If vacuum sealing, add to a bag with aromatics like thyme or rosemary sprigs if desired. Seal the bag with a vacuum sealer. If using the food probe in the Precision™ Oven, insert the probe into the center of the tenderloin.

Stap 3

Laat de zak in het waterbad vallen of plaats hem in de oven en bevestig de sonde. Kook volgens de gewenste tijd en temperatuur of tot de sonde de gewenste temperatuur heeft bereikt.

Remove the pork tenderloin from the bag or oven and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Pat dry very carefully on all sides. If you did not season before cooking, season generously with salt and pepper.

Stap 1

Turn on your vents and open your windows. Place a heavy cast-iron or stainless steel skillet with 1 tablespoon (15ml) of neutral oil and 1 tablespoon (15g) of butter over high heat until it starts to very lightly smoke.

Stap 2

Lay the tenderloin in the skillet, using your fingers or a set of tongs. Cook, turning occasionally, until browned on most sides, about 2 minutes total.

Stap 3

When pork is mostly browned, you can boost flavor by adding another tablespoon of butter along with some thyme, rosemary, garlic, and/or shallots. Spoon the butter over the tenderloin as it cooks.

Stap 4

Transfer pork to a rack set in a rimmed baking sheet and pour the drippings on top. Allow to rest for 1 to 2 minutes, then slice and serve.

Stap 1

Pas de oventemperatuur aan voor dichtschroeien: Schakel de sous vide modus uit en stel de oven in op 482°F (250°C) met 0% stoom met behulp van de verwarmingselementen Boven+Omlaag.

Stap 2

While the oven is heating, brush the surface of the tenderloin with neutral oil.

Stap 3

When the oven has reached temperature, return the tenderloin to the middle rack. Roast until the tenderloin is browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on the meat — it can go from perfectly golden to burnt in a short time.

Stap 4

Remove the tenderloin from the oven and serve.

Stap 1

Make sure to have your grill preheated before your tenderloin is finished cooking sous vide. Light one chimney full of charcoal (about 5 quarts). When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate.

Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Alternatively, set half the burners on a gas grill to the highest heat setting, cover, and preheat for 10 minutes. Scrape the grill grates clean with a grill scraper, then oil the grates by holding an oil-dipped kitchen towel or paper towels in a set of tongs and rubbing them over the grates 5 to 6 times.

Stap 2

Place the tenderloin directly over the hot side of the grill and cook, turning every 15 to 30 seconds, until a deep, rich crust has formed, about 1 ½ minutes total.

Stap 3

Transfer the tenderloin to a cutting board or serving platter and serve immediately.

A Closer Look at Seasoning Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin

Do I need to brine sous vide pork tenderloin?

Pekelen - het proces waarbij vlees in een zoutoplossing wordt geweekt zodat het in de toekomst beter vocht vasthoudt - is bij sous vide koken helemaal niet nodig. Je varkensvlees zal nog steeds heel sappig zijn.

When should I season my pork tenderloin?

If we’re putting the tenderloin straight into the cooker or oven, we’ll season it before bagging and cooking it. If, however, we are going to bag it and let it sit in the fridge for a day or two before cooking, we’ll bag it unseasoned. Salt can interact with pork muscle fibers giving it a cured, smooth, almost ham-like texture. This is not entirely undesirable (ham is delicious, after all), but it’s up to you whether you want that texture or prefer a more traditional meaty texture.

Kan ik aromaten toevoegen aan de zak?

Ja! Aroma's toevoegen aan de zak kan het varkensvlees een geweldige smaak geven. Wees je er alleen van bewust dat sous vide koken de neiging heeft om de smaak van specerijen en kruiden te concentreren, dus doe het licht. Verse takjes hele kruiden zoals tijm, rozemarijn of oregano zijn geweldig, net als alliums zoals knoflook en sjalotten of specerijen zoals paprikapoeder, komijn, koriander en zwarte peperkorrels (heel of gemalen). Voel je vrij om te experimenteren.

Maaltijd bereiden en vooruit koken met sous-vide

Een van de grote voordelen van sous vide koken is dat je het voedsel in individuele zakjes portioneert, waardoor het zich goed leent om maaltijden voor te bereiden. Maar er zijn een paar dingen waar je rekening mee moet houden, vooral als je van plan bent om je eten opnieuw op te warmen.

It’s true that given a high enough temperature (130°F / 54.4ºC or higher) and a long enough time period (several hours), the contents of a sealed sous vide bag should be close to sterile, which means that rapid chilling via an ice bath followed by rapid reheating should pose no health risks, though we still strongly recommend against it whenever avoidable: it’s not doing any favors for the quality of your pork. Moreover, it takes just as long to reheat an already-cooked sous vide pork tenderloin to its final serving temperature as it does to cook that same pork tenderloin from scratch so you really aren’t saving any time by doing it.

Waarschuwing: Koel en verwarm nooit voedsel dat is gekookt of bewaard bij een temperatuur lager dan 54,4ºC (130°F). Deze temperaturen zijn niet heet genoeg om gevaarlijke bacteriën te vernietigen.

On the other hand, you can seal seasoned, ready-to-cook pork tenderloin in a sous vide bag and stack it in the freezer. When ready to cook, pop it directly in the water bath or oven and allow an extra hour of cooking time to fully thaw before you begin timing it for doneness.