11.5 Pork: cuts, butchering and cooking

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Pork is the meat of hogs. It comes from young animals, about 6 to 7 months old. A large part of every hog becomes ham, bacon or sausage by curing; meat that is not cured is called fresh pork. Pork gives protein and B vitamins, but it is high in fat, much of it saturated, though breeding and feeding have lowered it. The tenderloin and boneless loin chops count as lean meats. Bacon, ham and sausage are high in sodium.

The primal cuts

A hog carcass weighs about 120 to 210 pounds and is split down the backbone into two sides. Each side is cut into five primals: the shoulder, the Boston butt, the loin, the belly and the fresh ham. Hogs are bred for long loins, the best and dearest meat. Unlike beef, veal and lamb, the ribs and loin of a hog form a single primal. Shop labels in the United States group pork into four larger retail cuts instead: shoulder, loin, side and leg.

Shoulder. The primal shoulder, called the picnic shoulder, is the lower part of the foreleg. It has the arm and shank bones and a lot of bone for its meat. Every hog is young, so even the shoulder is tender enough for any method, though it is one of the tougher pork cuts. It is cheap, and sold fresh or smoked. Bought fresh, it may be sliced into shoulder butt steaks, or boned and diced for sautéing or stewing. Barbecue pit masters across the American South prefer a whole shoulder. The front shank, the shoulder hock, is usually smoked and simmered for a long time in soups, stews and braises to add flavor.

Boston butt. This square cut sits just above the shoulder. It is meaty and tender, with a good amount of fat, and has only a small piece of the blade bone, so it is the cut to use when a recipe wants a solid piece of pork. It can be cut into steaks or chops to broil or sauté. Smoked and boned, it is called a cottage ham.

Belly. The belly lies below the loin. It is mostly fat, streaked with lean. The spareribs always come off before cooking. They are usually sold fresh. They are simmered first, then finished on the grill or in the oven, basted with spicy barbecue sauce. The rest of the belly is almost always cured and smoked into bacon.

Loin. The loin runs from behind the Boston butt and takes in the whole rib section, the loin and part of the sirloin. It is the only pork primal not usually cured or smoked. Most of it is one tender eye muscle. Lean as it is, it has enough fat to braise well, and it can also be roasted or sautéed. The tenderloin, inside the ribs at the sirloin end, is the most tender cut of pork. Trim it and cut it into medallions to sauté, or roast or braise it whole. The most popular loin cut is the chop. The best are center-cut chops, taken after the blade and sirloin ends are removed. A boneless loin is smoked to make Canadian bacon, and the rib bones trimmed off the loin are barbecued as back ribs. Fatback, the thick layer of fat between the skin and the eye muscle, can be more than an inch (2.5 cm) thick and is used in charcuterie.

Fresh ham. The fresh ham is the hind leg, with large muscles and little connective tissue. Fresh, it makes a fine roast and can be cooked almost any way. Most hams are cured and smoked, and come bone-in, shankless or boneless, partly or fully cooked, or canned. The shank end, the ham hock, is used like the shoulder hock.

Very young, small whole pigs, called suckling pigs, are roasted or barbecued whole. Apart from them, kitchens rarely buy pork in pieces larger than the primals.

Butchering pork

To bone a pork loin:

• Start at the sirloin end. Take out the tenderloin in one piece, with smooth cuts along the inside of the rib bones, pulling it gently as you go.
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• Turn the loin over and work the knife between the eye meat and the ribs, following the shape of the bones, until the meat comes free.
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• Cut around the blade bone at the shoulder end and remove it.

A boned loin is tied into a roast with a single string, looped around the meat at even spaces about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart and pulled snug along its length. The strings should hold the shape without cutting into the meat.

A center-cut chop can be cut from a bone-in loin without a saw.

• Trim the outside fat, leaving a ¼-inch (6 mm) layer to protect the meat as it cooks.
• Cut through the meat with a boning knife.
• Chop through the chine bone (the backbone) with a heavy cleaver.
• For a neater chop, clean the meat off the end of the rib bone and cut the chine away.

Grades, buying and safety

USDA inspection of pork is required; grading is voluntary and has only two levels. Acceptable is the only grade of fresh pork sold in shops; Utility goes into processed products. When buying, look for a small amount of outside fat, firm grayish-pink meat, and a little marbling for flavor and tenderness.

Pork must be cooked through to destroy parasites and bacteria. Eating undercooked pork can cause trichinosis, a disease from a parasite, though cases have dropped a great deal since 1950. Medium-well pork reaches between 65°C and 69°C (150°F and 158°F) inside and well-done pork 71°C (160°F), and ground meat must reach 70°C (158°F). Organ meats are cooked to 160°F. Pork cooked to a safe temperature can still be pink in the center.

Individual cuts of meat are used within two days, best on the day they are cut. Liver and other variety meats are used within 1 to 2 days. Frozen roasts, steaks and chops keep their best quality for 4 to 6 months. Marinate pork covered, in the refrigerator. Boil a used marinade before brushing it on cooked meat, and throw away any that is left uncooked.

Some starting times for roasting pork, with the oven at 350°F unless noted:

• Loin roast, 2 to 5 pounds: about 20 minutes a pound.
• Boston butt: about 45 minutes a pound.
• Tenderloin: hotter, at 425°F to 450°F, for 20 to 27 minutes in total.
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• Ribs: 1½ to 2 hours, or until fork-tender.

Always check with a thermometer. Dry heat, braising and stewing are taught earlier. see chapter 8: What roasting is see chapter 10: Slow and low: braise, stew, sous vide