HOW TO COOK IBERICO PORK
Cooking Iberico pork is a new experience for many U.S. consumers. Fortunately, as Iberico has recently become increasingly available in the U.S. market, there is more information about how to best cook Iberico pork. Google, “How to Cook Iberico Pork” or “Cooking Iberico Pork,” and you will see some good advice, though everyone doesn’t always agree. Below are some of our suggestions for cooking Iberico pork.
First, here are some rules for cooking Iberico pork that most experts agree on:
Keep seasoning minimal, usually just salt and pepper, for most cuts. Don’t smother the great natural flavor of the meat with lots of seasoning or rubs.
Do not trim and discard the fat. It helps keep the meat juicy during cooking. Plus, it tastes good! It traps the molecules that contribute to flavor. Most meat scientists will tell you, “Fat is where the flavor is!” If some of the fat renders out during cooking, save it for seasoning and cooking other dishes.
DO NOT OVERCOOK! This is especially true of the lion cuts which should be cooked medium, then rested before eating. For many thin cuts of about ½”, all you need is a quick sear in a very hot skillet.
Identify which cuts contain collagen (connective tissue) and which ones don’t. Generally, the loin cuts have little connective tissue and can be cooked quickly to lower temperatures. Most other cuts have great taste but varying degrees of connective tissue that can contribute to toughness if not addressed by (1) mechanical tenderizing (like grinding or cubing) or (2) by slow, low-heat cooking to high internal meat temperatures (195-205 degrees) that breakdown collagen—like ribs, boston butt roast, pork cheeks, coppa, and osso buco.
By using these rules, Iberico pork can be successfully cooked using multiple techniques: skillet or griddle, oven, grill, bar-b-que, sous vide, etc. Our personal choices are the skillet and oven. So, that’s what we have emphasized in our cooking suggestions.
Where appropriate, we have brined a few of our cuts for you. Brining enhances flavor and juiciness and helps protect against overcooking. (Plus, Iberico pork and salt go together.)
HOW IS IBERICO PORK DIFFERENT?
The taste. Sometimes called the “Wagyu of Pork,” Iberico looks and tastes more like beef than pork. It has a dark red color like beef. If you offer someone a properly cooked Iberico chop without telling them what they are eating, they will usually identify it as good beef. It has a beefy taste and texture. It’s very flavorful. So, when cooking Iberico pork, keep seasoning minimal—just salt and pepper in most cases.
The fat. Iberico fat is white, creamy, and tasty with a very pleasing texture. It has lots of healthy high-oleic fat, like olive oil. Its long-chain fatty acids melt at a lower temperature than other pork, an important point to remember when cooking it. It is well-marbled, though much of the marbling is micro-marbling not conspicuous to the naked eye—but you can taste it and see it in the juiciness of the meat! So, don’t trim off and throw away the fat. It helps keep the meat juicy during cooking—and it eats good, too! Also, if you can find or make it, there’s no better oil or shortening for cooking than Iberico lard.
It cooks differently. Old habits die hard, and many U.S. consumers, including some chefs, tend to overcook Iberico pork when they first encounter it. Cook most Iberico pork like you would cook good beef. Loin cuts, for example, are best cooked medium or slightly to the rare side of medium.
It’s a “Slow Food.” Compared to a commercial pig, which is ready for harvest in 7-8 months, Iberico pigs take about twice that long to reach harvest weight. They have much smaller litters, grow slower, and convert feed less efficiently. Furthermore, the natural outdoor environments where Iberico pigs thrive are much more expensive to operate than the large confinement facilities where commodity pigs spend their lives in crates and small crowded pens with concrete floors flushed into a huge lagoon. Growing an Iberico pig in an outdoor setting costs 2-3 times more than growing a commodity pig in confinement. So, expect to pay more for Iberico pork.
COOKING SUGGESTIONS FOR GLENDOWER IBERICO CUTS
Thick chops. (About 1.25”, brined.) We like cooking these STILL FROZEN. Unwrap the frozen chop, rinse it briefly with warm water, and pat dry with a cloth towel (paper will stick) so that it accepts a little salt and pepper. Then carefully place the dried, seasoned chop into a VERY HOT skillet with about 1/8 inch of almost-smoking (about 390 degrees) olive oil to sear for about 2 minutes per side. When it is well seared, move it to an oven set at 275-325 degrees and bake it until the internal temperature reaches about 128 degrees, then rest for about 8 minutes. Except for the outer 1/8 inch, the chop should be uniformly pink and very juicy. We love this cooking method.
Thin chops. (About 5/8”, brined) Thaw to a uniform temperature, pat dry, season to taste. Heat an iron skillet to a surface temperature of about 450 degrees (usually no oil needed). Sear the chop for about 60 seconds per side. Rest 5-8 minutes. The internal temperature should rise to about 135-145 degrees. Another great option is a “Parmesan-crusted pork chop.” (Google the recipe.)
Presa. (Brined) This premium cut can be cooked medium rare. Thaw and pat dry. Season to taste. Sear like a thin chop then move to 300 degree oven like a thick chop. Bake until the internal temperature reaches about 125 degrees, then rest for 8-10 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve. Another option is to filet into a couple of thinner pieces of meat and cook like a thin chop.
Tenderloin. (Brined) We like cooking similar to the presa suggestion.
Standing rib roast. (Brined) Thaw in refrigerator for 2-3 days. Pat dry. (Add optional seasoning crust. Google “Allrecipes Reverse-Sear Prime Rib Roast.”) Place in roasting pan, ribs down, fat cap up. Bake at 200 degrees to internal temperature of 121-125 degrees (doner than beef; probably 3-4 hours). Remove from oven; tent with foil. Turn oven to 500 degrees; rest roast for 20 minutes. Return to oven until well-browned (probably 6-10 minutes). Trim ribs from bottom of roast, slice, and serve.
Cubed steak. One of our leanest cuts; from the whole muscles of the ham or shoulder. Thaw well to avoid having the mechanically tenderized meat tear when you remove it from the package. Pat dry, season to taste, sprinkle with a little flour if you want to add some crustiness. Place in a hot skillet with about 1/4” inch olive oil heated to about 390 degrees. Cook about 60 seconds per side until slightly pink in the middle. This cut also makes a great schnitzel or “Chicken-fried steak.” (Google the recipe.)
Dry-cured bacon. If needed, cut bacon to desired length. Lay on a rack in a shallow pan; place in 300 degree oven. Cook until fat begins to brown. Remove as soon as the bacon reaches an acceptable level of doneness. Do not crisp or overcook. Save the drippings in a dark container for seasoning or cooking other dishes.
St. Louis ribs. Use your favorite rib cooking technique—oven or barbeque grill. Keep seasoning simple—maybe just salt and pepper (okay, maybe a little smoked paprika) with olive oil to baste. Iberico ribs are smaller and not as meaty as commodity pork ribs but the taste is intense. Expect “pull-back” during cooking and lots of juiciness from the fat.
Boston butt roast. Like the ribs, the oven or grill will work. This Iberico Boston butt is the ultimate barbeque cut, though.
Osso buco (shank). A great Italian braising dish with some good online recipes for “Pork Osso buco.” Needs a long, slow simmering period to break down the flavor-enhancing collagen in the meat and bone marrow. But the wait is worth it! We like it served over a bed of polenta or grits.
Coppa. This flavor-filled, marbled cut extends from the front of the loin across the top of the shouldler. It gets lots of exercise and needs long slow cooking to release its flavor. There are multiple ways to cook it. So, research “cooking Iberico coppa” and pick a slow-cook method that looks like it will work for you.
Artisan sausages. Cook like most sausages—oven or skillet. Cook to 150-160 degrees, The natural casings on the link sausage may burst if the skillet is too hot. If you’ve selected the Spanish Chorizo, it’s great cooked in starchy dishes and pastas. Our favorite is a Sausage-Sweet Potato-Apple-Sweet Onion Pan Skillet dish with Spanish Chorizo as the sausage and a little cinnamon in the spices. Make lots, because it gets better every time you reheat it.
Chorizo burger. A mild chorizo-seasoned burger patty. You can even pull it out one-at-a-time frozen and cook it in a skillet on low heat. Toast your bun in the juices, press out the burger while cooking, then rest it on the bun to release more juices when it reaches 150 degrees. No condiments needed! Also makes a great hor d’oeuvres meatball.
Ground pork. A very versatile product that takes any ground meat recipe to the next level—meat loaf, tacos, blended burgers--almost any dish calling for ground beef.
Pork belly. This cut comes from the rear of the belly and has a high fat to lean ration. Find a recipe that is suitable for the high-fat cut. It can also be used for seasoning vegetables.
Jowl secreto. Comes from the cheek area, so this muscle gets a lot of use by the pig, making in much chewier than the famous belly secreto. Prepare accordingly– for example, a long, low and slow cook.