Expert: Chef Glen L. Davis II - 12/22/2008

Question
Chef Davis,

For Christmas I am making a Fennel-Stuffed Pork Loin with Miso-marmalade glaze. My recipe has cooking instructions for a 3lb stuffed pork loin (475 for 20-25min. reduce to 350 for 15-20min. increase temp to 550, glaze, cook 5-8min. rest meat 10-20 min.) However, I will be making a 6lb pork loin. I need some guidance on weather I need to increase my cooking times and by how much. I will not be picking up the pork until Christmas eve. So, I am not sure if adding the extra 3lbs will make the pork thicker or longer. My assumption is that if it is longer and not thicker then I should be able to keep the cooking times the same. Is that correct? Also, I am not sure if this is important or not, but the roast will be rolled with the stuffing not cut in half and stuffed. I appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks, Daniele

Answer
One thing you might try, is splitting the pork loin in half (to make 2 equally sized roasts, cut down the center from fat-cap to bone side). This should make the adjusted times closer to what the recipe states. The Most important thing, which I cannot stress enough, is not to focus on the time that you cook for, rather the temperature you should cook to. I recommend cooking the roast to an internal temperature of 130F (lower than I would normally recommend due to the "glazing" temp and time). The temperature should be taken in the center of the roast (from top to bottom, as explained with the cutting), at the thickest part of the "middle area" (from side to side). This should result in a final temperature around 145-148F, which will give you a roast that is around medium-well. For the time adjustment, I would keep the initial time and adjust the second time by about 10 minutes, keep the glazing time the way it is. The only thing to be careful of, is not to over-cook the roast. I would check the temperature (using a "heat-resistant" instant read thermometer) after the 15-20 min. @ 350F, that the recipe calls for,  and leave the thermometer in the roast. By leaving the thermometer in the roast, you avoid leaving a hole for the juices to run out and it makes it easy to tell the temperature throughout the cooking process. Just be sure to remove the thermometer before "glazing", that high of a temperature may be to much for the thermometer.

I hope this is the information you were after. If there is anything else I can help with, or clarify please let me know!

Sorry I tried to send this response around 3pm today, but the all experts site hates me today!