I have these 4 cuts frozen and wanted to solicit some advice on cooking them. Two of them, I have a good idea - sear in a hot pan or over hot grill. The other two, a bit unclear.
Secreto - hot pan or grill
Pluma - probably the same?
Presa - braise? Or, is it tender and moist enough to roast/sear?
Solomillo - roast and sear?
I’m thinking that these are considerably different than routine pork we cook here in the US, so I’d love some opinions on how to handle them. Nola out there?
for the loin, i’d reverse sear. internal temp 137 F. if you have a grill, sear it on that. will be stupendous.
Secreto is brisket? I’ve grilled twice and it’s come out tougher than I’d like both times. Curious what other folks do with this…wondering if lower-slower treatment might help.
it’s from the shoulder. fairly high heat (but not ripping) and because of the fat, needs to be cooked longer. also, slice thin across the grain. it’s good, but imo not that great. fun for a few slices at best.
In the past, I’ve heard people rave about this cut so I’m kind of surprised to hear that.
Secreto is a thin cut with fat-marbled surfaces. Simply seasoned with the basics, it is quickly cooked in high heat or could get get tough or rubbery. Make sure to brown-sear the fatty sides and so you’ll want to have a very hot grill-broiler.
Followed this conceptually. Grilled on a very hot Big Green Egg. It was excellent! Thanks! Not like any pork I’ve had before.
Next up will likely be the tenderloin (Solomillo) because I have the lowest expectations for it. I don’t like it much as a beef cut and any traditional pork tenderloins I’ve done have been very underwhelming. I haven’t cooked any for 15+ years because of that. But, I have hopes this will be considerably different.
For pork tenderloin, 550 or max oven, rub with oil and salt liberally. Make sure it’s been out of the fridge at least an hour. Cook to 140 via probe thermo. Rest for 15 minutes. It will be extremely juicy and a good sear. Reduce some balsamic, brown sugar and some fresh garlic into a syrupy glaze to go on top. Nothing underwhelming about that!
Secreto can be a number of different cuts. We had one the other day that was pork cap.
this is curious. who told you this?
Years ago someone, in Spain, told me the “the secret cut” could be a number of different muscles. We had a pork cap last week that was advertised as secreto. So, a 20 something yo with bad English in a Spanish tapas bar?
Followed this and it was a fail for me/us. Still too dry. Glaze was delicious though. I just don’t think pork tenderloin is a cut for us and I’ll freely admit it might be my chef’ing skills. Edible, but not delicious. I appreciate the counseling advice to give it a try though.
Would like a try at oiling it and putting it over a blazing hot fire with constant turning for a couple of minutes. Still not optimistic, but maybe better. Final option would be a braise type cook where the sauce overwhelms any dryness or lack of flavor from the meat.
If you really want med rare, pull it at 130 or even 125. It certainly won’t be dry. 140 is more the med well point. Just experiment to find the temp that works for you. I found 130 to be a bit too gamey for us.
Or pan-sear it and baste it with a ton of butter, herbs, and garlic. It’s also critical that you tie a tenderloin or similar cut to ensure it’s as even in diameter as possible.
A pull temp of 125-130F with carryover should be fine.
I think you have pretty much done what you can without doing over the top prepping with the pork tenderloin. Iberico or not, and even the beef version, the tenderloin just doesn’t carry the same level of flavor as most others cuts.
generally agree that loins (in most animals) can be skipped. but SV at 137F would nail it.