[Sca-cooks] Re: pork internal temp

[RUTH EARLAND]

<snip and paraphrase>

Why wait until the internal temp reaches 155?

Short answer:
Because people tend to reject pork, chicken, or other poultry with the 
slightest hint of pink. Even if it's chicken thighs and freezing releases 
the heme in the marrow. Just an observation, not supported by any 
statistics, but I've noticed that when meat is returned uneaten, it's 
usually because there was a bit of pink in it. I've had servers return with 
lovely chicken, parboiled and finished in the oven, that was falling off the 
bone, saying that the table was upset and unsettled because the chicken was 
still raw, only to find that it was just the after-effects of freezing. The 
kitchen staff ate it.

When I'm cooking for family and friends, whose tastes I know, I tend to cook 
differently than I would for a feast. I serve quite rare beef and lamb, pork 
with a bit of pink, and medium-rare duck. But I wouldn't do that for a 
feast.

If your experiences recommend a different starting temp, by all means, go 
with it.

Berelinde