Know your pork cuts.
A practical guide to where each cut of pork comes from, what it's best for, and a few recipe ideas to get you started. Tap any cut label on the diagram below to jump straight to it.
A general guide. Your butcher may use slightly different names for some cuts.
The roasting and quick-cooking cuts.
The loin, fillet and leg are the leaner cuts, and the shoulder is the marbled one that rewards slow cooking. Between them they make most of the roasts, chops and steaks in a half or whole pig.
Loin
Chops, roasts and back baconThe loin runs along the back and gives you the classic pork chop. Left whole it makes a roast with a strip of crackling along the top, either on the bone like a rack or boned and rolled. Cured, the round eye of the loin becomes middle or paleo bacon. It is fairly lean, so take it off the heat while it is still juicy and let it rest.
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Fillet
The tenderloin, small and very tenderThe pork fillet is a long, slim muscle that sits under the loin. It does almost no work, so it is the most tender cut on the pig and very lean. It cooks in minutes: sear it whole and finish in the oven, or slice it into medallions. On the cut sheet you can keep it as a fillet or leave it on the loin.
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Leg or ham
Big roasts, schnitzel or a smoked hamThe leg is the biggest single piece on the pig. Roast it whole on the bone with the skin scored for crackling, or have it boned and rolled so it carves easily. It can also be cured and smoked into a ham, cooked or uncooked, or sliced thin into leg steaks and schnitzel. Lean meat, so roasts like a lower heat and a good rest.
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Shoulder
The slow-cook favourite, and where mince comes fromThe shoulder works hard, so it has more marbling and more flavour than the loin or leg. Cooked low and slow it falls apart into pulled pork, and roasted with the skin on it gives great crackling. It also makes marbled shoulder steaks, diced pork for casseroles and curries, and most of the pork mince and sausage meat.
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The rich, crackling cuts.
The underside of the pig is where the fat is, and the fat is where the flavour is. This is where crackling, ribs and most of the bacon come from.
Belly and bacon
Layered fat and meat, made for cracklingPork belly is layers of meat and fat under a sheet of skin. Roasted slowly and finished hot it gives the best crackling of any cut. Cured and smoked it becomes bacon: a whole slab, or sliced into streaky rashers. It can also be cut into thick strips for the oven or the barbecue.
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Spare ribs
Sticky, slow-cooked ribsSpare ribs come off the belly side of the rib cage. They need time: cook them low and slow until the meat pulls away from the bone, then glaze and finish hot on the barbecue or under the grill.
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The specials worth asking your butcher about.
Cuts you rarely see in a supermarket, but that come with every half or whole pig if you want them.
Cheeks
Small, rich and worth asking forEach pig only has two cheeks, so they are a small treat. They are a hard-working muscle, so braise them slowly and they turn rich and soft enough to cut with a spoon.
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Hock
The joint for stock, soup and slow cookingThe hock is mostly skin, sinew and bone, with some well-flavoured meat. It is the base of a good pea and ham soup when smoked, and fresh it braises down into rich, sticky meat.
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Head
For the adventurous cookNot for everyone, but nothing goes to waste on a whole pig. The head can be slow cooked for brawn or terrine. If you want it, ask on the cut sheet under bones, fat and offal.
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Back fat
Render it for lardHeritage pigs carry a good layer of back fat. Rendered slowly it becomes lard, great for roasting potatoes and making pastry. You can ask for it on the cut sheet under bones, fat and offal.
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