How to Cook Pork - Tips

How to Cook Pork

Buying Pork

What kind of pork should you buy? Well, that depends how you want to cook it. Smaller and leaner cuts like chops and boneless loins cook quickly, but offer less flavor than a bone-in Boston butt or spareribs. The "primal" cuts indicate which part of the pig the meat came from -- shoulder, loin, side and leg. The retail cuts names indicate the name of the smaller cut from the primal cut, and include rib chops, sirloin roasts, picnic roasts, etc.

Pork is not graded in the same way that beef is. In fact, the only two categories are "acceptable" and "utility," and if it's not "acceptable," you won't find it in your store. Just look for pork with a small amount of fat on the outside, a decent degree of firmness, a greyish-pink color, and, if you're seeking maximum pork flavor, a decent degree of marbling.

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Handling & Storing Pork

Fresh packaged cuts of pork can keep in the fridge for 2-4 days. If you're not going to use it before that, wrap it tightly and keep it in the freezer for up to 6 months. Ground pork is good for 1-2 days in the fridge and 3 months wrapped in the freezer. Ham loses flavor and texture in the freezer, so plan accordingly. Check packaged bacon's freshness date. It can stay frozen for up to a month.

If pork, cooked or uncooked, has been left out at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees for more than 2 hours, toss it. It might look and smell fine, but pathogenic bacteria aren't your pals.

It's not necessary to rinse pork before using it, as any outside bacterial will be killed by cooking -- which entails a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees, or 170 for well-done.

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Ham

Why is ham pink if pork is a white meat? Well, first of all, despite the popular ad campaign, the USDA recognizes pork as a red meat, rather than a white. Certain cuts, such as boneless tenderloin, are as lean as poultry, but the meat still contains the protein myoglobulin, which holds oxygen in muscle. The amount of myoglobulin determines the meat's color, and pork falls on the "red" side. It does, however, lose color during cooking. Ham gets its signature pink tint from the same curing and smoking process that endows it with its luscious flavor.

Ham can be dry (rubbed with spices and often called "country-style") or wet (brined) cured, and are a cut from the back leg, Because the leg gets so much exercise, ham is a relatively lean cut.

Hams can be found either boneless, for easy slicing, or bone-in whole or as a butt or shank half.

Some cultures' cuisines include specific curing techniques to create specialty hams such as Prosciutto, Capicolla, Serrano, Westphalian, Black Forest, Iberico and Bayonne.

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Pork Chops

Pork chops are cut from the loin and are named loin, rib, sirloin, top loin or blade chops depending from which part of the loin they came. They can be bought boneless or bone-in, generally in thicknesses ranging from 1/2 to 2 inches.

Because pork chops are a leaner cut, they can often benefit from brining (read our guide here) to retain maximum moisture.

The 1 1/4 inch top loin chop has been nicknamed "America's Cut."

Base cooking time on the thickness of the chops. They're great grilled, broiled (8-10 minutes for broiling or grilling a 3/4 inch, 12-16 for a thicker one), braised (8-15 minutes up to 1 inch, longer for thicker cuts), or sauteed (7-8 minutes).

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Ribs

Spareribs come from the belly of the hog and impart a luscious pork flavor, due to their fat content, but are less meat-laden than leaner back chops. Either cut is delicious roasted or grilled, and can be seasoned with a dry spice rub, or based with sauce or steeped in a marinade.

In colonial days, wealthy landowners were said to live "high on the hog," as they could afford the topmost, more desirable leaner cuts like the back ribs, while the common folks made do with the lower portions and extremities. If only they'd known the flavor they were missing...

Back ribs are called "baby" because they're smaller than those from the belly.

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Slow Cooked & Pulled Pork

Bone-in cuts like pork shoulder are ideal for slow cooking, as the collagen is given time to soften and make for incredible tender, sumptuous meat. The lower part of the shoulder is often called the "arm picnic" cut (the hock is often smoked and used to provide rich flavor to soups and stews), and the uppermost is the "Boston blade" or "Boston butt." This cut tends to be inexpensive, and is excellent slow-roasted, braised, barbecued, or cut up for stew. It also makes exquisite pulled pork.

Place a whole or half shoulder in your slow cooker with a few slices of onions, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and enough liquid to cover it about 3/4 of the way up. The liquid can be water, but it's extra-yummy with a couple of beers, some wine, stock, or a bit of fruit juice poured in. Set it to cook on "high" for 5-7 hours, lift it out of the liquid, shred the meat with a fork, and season with your favorite sauce.

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Roasted Pork

Various cuts of pork take well to roasting. A pork "roast" simply refers to a larger cut, so for clarity's sake here, we're just talking about the cooking technique.

Bone-in rib roasts, racks and crowns contain fat and bones that allow meat to retain moisture during cooking, and tenderloins and loin roasts, which are leaner cuts, tend to benefit from time in a brining solution. (Read our brining guide here.)

Roast pork cuts uncovered in a shallow pan at 350 degrees, to an internal temperature reading of 160. For loin roasts (bone-in or boneless), crown roasts and legs, estimate 20 of minutes cooking time per pound. Shoulders take 30 minutes per pound. Tenderloins take 425-450 degree heat for 20-30 minutes (whole, not per pound), and ribs take 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Marinate as frequently as desired. Just make sure to discard any unused liquid that's come into contact with the pork at any time.

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Pork Cutlets & Medallions

Pork medallions are simply slices from a tenderloin, and they're excellent braised (cooked over low heat with a small amount of liquid in a covered pan for 8-10 minutes for a 1/2 - 3/4 inch cut) or sauteed (1/4- 1/2 inch cuts take 4-8 minutes at medium heat in liquid in an uncovered pan).

Cutlets are thinly-sliced cuts taken from the sirloin end of the tenderloin, from the leg, or from a cross-section of the tenderloin. Since they're cut so thinly, they cook quickly, and are great grilled (use a brine or marinade), or sauteed for 3-4 minutes.

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Sausage

How do we love sausage? Let us count the ways -- pan-fried, boiled in beer, grilled, stewed, in gumbo and jambalaya, with peppers, on a biscuit, in gravy, as andouille, chorizo, bratwurst, hot and sweet Italian... We could go on, but we'll just note that sausage is seasoned ground pork, often enclosed in a casing, and comes from various cuts, including the shoulder butt and the loin. Sausage can be cured, fresh, or smoked, and making it at home is easier than you might think.

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Pork Tenderloin

So what exactly is this oft-fabled tenderloin? It's a tender, if somewhat less flavorful cut from the full pork loin, and is generally as lean as chicken breast. The cut is from the inner rib bones of the sirloin end, and the whole thing (usually 3/4 - 1 1/2 pounds) can be quickly grilled or roasted (use a marinade or brine to ensure moisture and flavor), or cut up to make kebabs and and medallions. Roast a whole tenderloin for 20-30 minutes at 425 - 450 degrees, broil it 4 inches from the heat source or direct-grill for 15-25 minutes . Keep a close eye so it does"t overcook and dry out.

Parts of the tenderloin are smoked to make Canadian bacon.

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