pork | Definition, Cuts, & Preparation

pork, flesh of hogs, usually slaughtered between the ages of six months and one year. The most desirable pork is grayish pink in colour, firm and fine-grained, well-marbled, and covered with an outer layer of firm white fat. About 30 percent of the meat is consumed as cooked fresh meat; the remainder is cured or smoked for bacon and ham, used in sausage, and rendered to produce lard. Because pigs may be infected by the parasitic disease trichinosis, pork must be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 °F (71 °C) in order to destroy the disease-causing organism.

Pork carcasses are graded according to the amount of edible meat they will yield. In the United States, where individual cuts are not graded, a U.S. Number 1 carcass is one having the most satisfactory ratio of fat to lean; Number 2, Number 3, and Number 4 have a higher proportion of fat, reducing the amount of lean. Utility-grade pork, which is usually from mature animals, has too little fat and is less firm. The main cuts of pork are hams, spareribs, loin roasts and chops, bellies, picnic shoulders, and shoulder butts.

Pork is one of the most versatile of meats and is consumed around the world. Because it is proscribed by the dietary laws of Judaism and Islām, however, pork is virtually unknown in the cuisines of the Middle East and those of some local populations in Asia and Africa. The chief pork-consuming countries (on a per capita basis) are Germany, Denmark, Poland, and Austria.

In Western cooking fresh pork is commonly roasted, choice cuts being the loin, leg, and rib sections known as spareribs. Chops from the loin and ribs are usually grilled or pan-fried. A spit-roasted whole young piglet, or suckling pig, is a delicacy in central and eastern Europe; wild pigs have traditionally been cooked in a similar manner throughout the Pacific. Less desirable parts—ears, tail, hocks, feet, brains—and the fatty portions of the back of the carcass (fatback), may be cooked with various greens, especially in the southern United States; although originating in economic necessity, this distinctive style of pork cookery has an important place in American regional cuisine.

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In China and Southeast Asia pork is commonly shredded or cubed and stir-fried with vegetables and spices. Pork-and-vegetable mixtures are also used to stuff a variety of small rolls, buns, and dumplings.