The official, government-approved, crystal-clear answer is 145°F (63°C). That’s it. That’s the whole secret. The USDA updated this back in 2011, and some folks still haven’t gotten the memo.
Think of 145°F as the Goldilocks zone of pork. It's not the dry, sawdust zone of 170°F, and it's not the scary, raw zone of 110°F. It’s the sweet spot where safety meets a succulent, juicy reality.
After you pull it from the heat at that temp, you must rest it. Let the poor piggy catch its breath for three minutes. During that rest, the temperature will climb another 5 to 10 degrees, reaching a perfect final doneness.
Why Your Dad’s “Well-Done” Rule is Ruining Dinner
I once watched my uncle cook a pork chop until it could be used as a hockey puck. He proudly proclaimed, “Better safe than sorry!” Meanwhile, we were all using steak knives to saw through it, chasing it with a gallon of water.
That’s the tragedy of bad pork cooking. You’re not being safe; you’re just being cruel to a perfectly good cut of meat. Pork loin, chops, and tenderloin are lean. They have no fat to save them from your fear.
Pork | PDF
Cooking them to 145°F leaves them with a faint, blushing pink in the center. This isn't raw meat; it's just the natural color of properly cooked pork. It’s like the difference between a pink sunset and a red alert alarm.
