22 replies to this topic

[gumgum]

So I just made pork tenderloin with baby potatoes. I mixed the salt with chopped rosemary as suggested on the website.
After I had let it settle, I noticed how juicy and tender the meat was as I sliced it into sections. But when I finally bit into it, all I could think was that the salty flavour was too overpowering. It didn't do too much to enhance the flavour of the meat and the giant handful of rosemary I had used in the mix was much more subtle than I was expecting.
I found that I got used to the saltiness, but it wasn't the kind of flavour that was worth acquiring. The potatoes however were buttery on the inside and perfectly crisp on the outside. I didn't notice the taste of salt so much in the potato, but I think that had more to do with the fact that I was used to the taste by now. My wife also agreed that the dish tasted almost as if it had been marinaded in saltwater.
I wanted to like this dish, but I stick to more traditional ways of doing pork tenderloin in future - roasting or BBQing.

[Rorschach]

I'm not having much success with the method either beyond baked potatoes. I'm thinking that each of us are doing something incorrectly. I can barbecue a pork loin and season it with my special rub and as long as I get the internal temperature right, it comes out good enough to the point that I can't see how it could be improved.

However, if your food is tasting salty, it means when you started, you had more moisture outside than inside your food. Osmosis only works in one direction. It will only pass the saltiness into the food if there is a higher concentration of water on the outside since the process is going to equalize moisture content. It's supposed to concentrate the flavours of the food by reduction such as in a gravy or sauce.

You likewise may have started with a bad cut of meat -- and this happens regularly. I've done many roasts that appeared to be good cuts but tasted mediocre and other cuts that tasted incredible and you can't tell the difference to look at them.

I also tried this technique in a microwave oven and a baked potato cooking it as normal except for the pile of salt. Tasted the same. The process requires some time. I'll try something low and slow and see if it makes a difference.

True barbecue temperature is 225F. Hard to keep a regular electric oven steady because of the way the thermostat controls temperature -- it overheats shuts down, cools, tuns back on, etc. The off and on nature of the regulator prevents a good constant temperature.

This may not be worth the hassle. I doubt I know what I'm doing.

[gumgum]

After I seared the meat, I gave it a good patting down with paper towel to ensure there was no moisture. It was dry before I seared it as well, so I'm not sure how there was too much moisture on the outside. There are a thin strip of fat running down one side, so maybe that was the problem. It also could have been that I had too much of a ratio of water to salt mix together before the meat was even added. Come to think of it, that would make sense.
I intend to try this again with another kind meat or fish. I'll be more conscious of the water to salt ratio next time. I'll post my results.
Thanks for the for the link, Rorschach. I'm always interested in different cooking methods.