If you precook apples and then cook them in a pork tenderloin will they get too mushy?

I'm doing an experimental recipe. I'm cooking a pork tenderloin stuffed with apples, ginger, cloves, and allspice. My main concern is I want to cook the apples a little first with the ginger, cloves, and allspice to get a good flavor and make a slight sauce to put on top of the tenderloin. If I cook the apples with the other spices in a pan with butter and water, then again in the tenderloin will the apples get too soft and "mushy"?

Ria
  • Posted by: Ria
  • October 27, 2017
  • 2549 views
  • 4 Comments

4 Comments

amysarah
amysarah October 28, 2017
Wondering if maybe you mean a pork loin, rather than tenderloin? A loin is much bigger (in diameter) and in my experience more commonly stuffed and roasted. As mentioned, a tenderloin is narrower and cooks quickly - I guess you could stuff it, though it seems a bit harder to do. Either way, maybe just do two batches of apples - some cut very small for your sauce, and some larger for the stuffing, to avoid being mushy after roasting.
 
702551
702551 October 28, 2017
Pork tenderloin is a quick cooking and slender cut, so precooking the filling seems logical.

Contrary to official USDA advice, my goal in cooking nice pork cuts like tenderloin is to not exceed 140 degrees internal temperature, when it starts to dry out.

However, this internal temperature is not enough to cook the filling, so it would really need to be precooked.

Good luck with your experiment.
 
702551
702551 October 28, 2017
Oh, I should add that different apple varieties exhibit different behaviors in terms of retaining structure after cooking.

Read Kenji's article at Serious Eats:

http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2011/10/the-food-lab-what-are-the-best-apples-for-apple-pies-how-to-make-pie.html

Despite his focus on apple pie, his analysis provides insight into the cooking behavior of about ten apple varieties available in USA supermarkets. There are over 7500 known cultivars of apples and no one has tried cooking with all of them.

Some apples do hold their structural integrity after cooking more than other varieties, so choose wisely.
 
BerryBaby
BerryBaby October 28, 2017
Yes, it will be mushy and maybe totally breakdown. Make a separate sauce to go over the pork.
 
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