PORK HELP PLEASE!

[iheartfood1616]

I bought a shoulder blade pork roast, and after reading through 49 or so different post, I thought putting it in the slow cooker would be the best. It is a 5 pound roast. It has been cooking for 5 hours on low and when I checked it the thermometer read about 160. My question is, why did it cook so fast in a slow cooker, and why is the middle of the roast still red/pink? This is my second attemp at a pork roast and I am determined to get this right. The last one was very dry and tough after roasting in the oven. Any info and tips would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks

[blue room]

Water boils at 212F at sea level, simmers at 190F. (In Denver CO, which is a mile above sea level, water boils at 203F.) So you can check your thermometer by holding it in boiling water, but to be *really* accurate you I suppose you'd need to know your elevation.

[applehome]

You probably just tossed a perfectly good thermometer. A blade also called butt (Boston butt) has a lot of connective tissue that must be broken down - it needs to be cooked low and slow - especially for bbq or pulled pork or puerco pibil. For that, the inside has to get to 190 or even higher - hence cooking it for 10 hours. If you want a pork roast for slices, do what everyone else is talking about - cook to 140, slightly pink but juicy, but with a loin roast - not a blade. Unless you are actually bbqing (at 240 or below - with smoldering wood embers), the blade needs to be braised (with liquid), not roasted. If you roast a blade at a high temp, it won't matter if the interior temp is 130 or 140 - it will be tough.

[iheartfood1616]

That makes so much sense now. The roast turned out wonderful because I just kept cooking it slow and low. No one has ever explained it that way to me, I really appreciate it!

[iheartfood1616]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I tossed that thermometer! I just kept it on low and cooked for a total of 10 hours and it turned out so delicious!
Thanks again!

[ronnielee33]

If your roast had a bone in it, and the thermometer was hitting that (or a pocket of fat), that would give an anomalous temp reading. If your thermometer goes high enough, you can always check its accuracy in boiling water.

[Chefalicious]

I never find roasts do very well in the slow cooker. They tend to dry out.

[jaykayen]

Fast? Or slow...? Turn it to to high and check it again in two hours...

Shouldn't be red, either your thermometer is off or the probe is in the wrong place.

[iheartfood1616]

I think the thermo might be off, but I read that it would take 8-10 hours for a roast that big in a slow cooker? I just don't want it to be tough and dry, wich is what happened to the last one.

[jaykayen]

oh, ok, I wasn't sure if you wanted it done in time for today or not.

If you're shooting for 8-10 hrs, I'd still turn it up to high. Reddish pink pork means that it's probably more like 130 degrees.

But that is just me, keep going low/slow if that is what you prefer.

[Yellowshirt]

Agree that it sounds like your thermometer is a bit off

That said the days of overcooked pork should be over! Pork can easily be served at ~160F with no worries, anything higher and you will experience tough dried out meat. Even a bit lower than 160F is OK

As long as the meat is cooked through, that is no "pink" you should be fine...if still red/pink then you need more cooking time (actually a little pink is fine as well. The days of trichinosis are gone

I have slow cooked a roast that size for 6 hours or so at 225 and all was well.

Enjoy

[mcf]

I only cook pork to 145 at most, then let it rest. Otherwise it's too dry at 155, frex. Even heritage pork is, IMO. Trichinosis stopped being a public health concern quite a few years ago.