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As almost every ones knows pork comes from pigs. Pigs have been raised as livestock for thousands of years dating back as far as 5000 BC. There is an old phase that goes something like “we use everything but the squeal.” Well this is very true everything on the pigs is used but what is important to us is the meat or pork as it is commonly known.

Over the last few decades pork have undergone many changes. In the past pork was considered a fatty animal and that it was not very healthy. Well through breeding, proper diets and genetics pork has slowly been changed to have less fat and more protein. Pork is a white meat like chicken and turkey and 1987 was crowned the “the other white meat” by the US National Pork Board a phrase that is still used to market pork to this day.
Another change that has been happening with pork is the how much it has to be cooked. Yes it is a product that does have to be cooked it does not mean that it has to be super well done. The reason pork must be cooked is trichinae (which causes trichinosis) but this is killed at 137 degrees. With that being said I would still recommend cooking pork to at least 150 degrees which leaves it a little pink and has the best flavor. This is your choice though if you don’t feel comfortable with this or you just prefer your meat a little more done cook it to 160 degrees which is well done.

Common Cuts:

When you go to the store you will see many different cuts of pork. Which can be put into couple of main categories:

Shoulder:
The Shoulder has two main cuts the Picnic shoulder and the Boston butt. You can get both cuts with or without bones/shoulder blades in them. They both are fatty cuts of meat and do very well slow roasted, braised, or slow smoked.

Belly:

The belly has to main cuts that come from the first is a cut called the pork belly which is normally either salted to make salt pork or salt and cured to make bacon. The other cut that comes from the belly is pork spareribs.

Ham:
This is the rear legs, and is almost always cured and sold as ham. If you come across a fresh ham (that has not been cured) you can cook it the same way as you would a shoulder.

Loin:

The loin has many cuts that come from it the area. The first is the very lean tenderloin which I find is best grilled or broiled. Then there is the pork loin itself communally this will be broken down into three types of roast or chops; the rib-end, center lion and rump-end. The rib-end is where is prefer to get chops from if I plan on breading and frying. With center lion I like to use this as a marinated roast or sliced to go into stir fry dishes. The rump-end is a little leaner so I tend to get chops form this end that I plan to marinate and grill. The center loin is also used to make Canadian bacon. There are two styles of ribs that come from this area as well the baby back ribs and country style ribs.

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