This question originally asked on The Stack Exchange Network.
By: Jake
All content is licensed under CC BY-SA
——————————————–
I recently went to a restaurant here that claims to offer local fair. It was in a super touristy area so I have my doubts, but it plays the part well.
Anyway, what I ordered was the Shogun Farms Wild Boar loin, though I can't remember how it was cooked, but I think it was either on a grill or seared. However, I have always been told that you have to cook pork to well done or you will get parasites and die. And I learned from watching Monsters Inside Me on Animal Planet that you should cook wild game well done or you will get parasites and your life will suck. So basically, I ordered my wild pork game pork well done so I wouldn't get parasites and have my life suck until I die.
Now. The food was excellent. Even the boar loin. However, to paraphrase the famous Canadian food critic Squirrely Dan, it was drier than a fart. So my question is: at what done-ness should/could I have ordered this at such that it would have been juicy and delicious and I wouldn't get eye worms, trichinosis, or that thing where your skin will be itchy forever?
Addendum: I will accept answers that state that loin, due to its low fat, and boar, due to its lower fat, basically has to be cardboard to be safe. I will then at least be able to make an informed decision.
In 2011, the FDA has lowered the minimum recommended cooking temperature for pork. Previously, many folks considered the FDA safe temperature (previously 160°F) to be "overcooked."
According to the FDA, the internal temperature at the center should be 145°F:
Cook beef, pork, veal, and lamb roasts, steaks, and chops to at least 145° F (63° C), with a 3 minute rest time.
145°F generally falls into the colloquial category of ordering a meat cooked to "medium" at a restaurant. However, good safety is always based on temperature. Despite the FDA's prior recommendations being a much higher temperature, 145°F is still a sufficient cooking temperature to kill the parasite that causes trichinosis.
From another article, specifically addressing parasites and wild boar:
According to a Centers for Disease Control study that surveyed incidence of the disease from 2008 to 2012, there were only 84 cases of trichinosis in all of America. Of those, 43 were eating wild game. That’s 43 people in a five-year period, and 30 of those 43 were in one incident, an unfortunate party
...
The actual temperature that kills the trichinella parasite is 137°F, which happens to be medium-rare. But be forewarned: Every iota of meat must hit that temperature to kill the parasite