To what internal temperature should one cook *stuffed* pork tenderloin assuming that the stuffing will be cooked before going into the loin?

I only wanted to look at and read the answer to a question i also had in order to cook my supper! Instead i end up reading a whole bunch of what feels like " i know more about pork than you" type stuff. Maybe if the question also had "what temp should the pork be cooked to before you would you feed your kids or grand kids with it" the answers would be more on point? Thank you usaba because your answer seems to have given me what i needed to know. I will go for the 165 and then check it for color that i would accept. I would not eat pink pork even if ten scientists lined up to tell me it was completely safe but hey that's just me eh! Enjoy your pork because i certainly will!

Thanks to everyone for his/ her input and to usuba dashi for the explanation. I made my stuffed pork tenderloin last night. Cooking it to 165 turned out an over cooked piece of meat as predicted. Not sure if it's worth the trouble to stuff it.

As much as I agree with pierino, in that I would not cook a pork tenderloin over 145, it is not being explained why the UFC states stuffed meats should go to 165. Whole muscle cuts, such as the pork tenderloin is considered sterile on the inside....pathogens will only exist on the surface of the meat. Once you cut into the tenderloin, the knife can carry any pathogens on the surface of the meat into the centre of the meat. You are also introducing stuffing, which could also have pathogens that would now be inside the meat. Cooking to 145 would not create a 6 log reduction (read kill) of pathogens. If I served this in a restaurant, I would not take the chance of food poisoning & would cook to an internal of 165....at home, I would never go above 145.

With all due respect, there is nothing broad about it. The Uniform Food Code is the Uniform Food Code, and it says that stuffed stuff needs to be cooked to 165 degrees. The fact that the stuffing has been pre-cooked, then stuffed into something cold, then baked, shifts it into the category of reheated foods, which also must be heated to 165 degrees. A stuffed pork tenderloin certainly comprises less mass than, say, a Thanksgiving turkey, so naturally it will reach temperature faster.

My point is that "anything stuffed" is too broad a generalization. A pork tenderloin has no skeletal structure. It cooks really quickly. It is a narrow piece of boneless meat and with the stuffing precooked I can't see any reason to ruin it by overcooking.

Thank you, Cynthia. Whole Foods, pierino, and Cynthia, I will give it a go then report back on my findings.

What changes the temperature requirements for your lovely tenderloin is that it's going to be stuffed. Even though your stuffing will be pre-cooked, it will still be going into meat that is not. Stuffed stuff requires an internal temp of 165 degrees.

Thanks to each of you for your input! So, it sounds as if stuffing a pork tenderloin does not change the temperature requirement. I usually cook to 145, so I will give that a try.

I absolutely disagree with "Whole Foods Customer". That was the old days. This is now. Poultry should be cooked to 165F but even the Feds agree that pork doesn't need that. I would recommend 145F measured with an Instant Read. A little pink is okay.

Anything that is stuffed must be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 according to ServSafe.