Natural form

A bone-in pork loin chop showing the characteristic pink flesh and white fat cap.

Shows the raw cut most buyers encounter at retail — color, marbling, and bone structure are the key identification cues.

Proteins

Pork

Versatile meat for chops, stews, stir-fries, and roasts

Mild and adaptable, pork takes to almost any treatment — a quick stir-fry, a slow stew, a roasted joint. Buy it pink and firm, keep it cold, and cook within a few days.

Pork is the meat of the pig — one of the most versatile proteins in the kitchen, spanning lean quick-cooking chops and tenderloin, marbled roasting and braising cuts, and rich belly and shoulder. Mild and faintly sweet, it takes assertive seasoning, brines, and glazes beautifully and turns up in cuisines worldwide. Modern pork is bred leaner than it used to be, so today's guidance is to cook chops and roasts to a juicy, slightly-pink medium (63°C plus a rest) rather than the old, dry well-done standard — while ground pork and sausage are still cooked through. The right cut and the right doneness are the two things that make or break it.

Measured in: g
Storage: Refrigerate
Shelf life: 3 days

Find it in

Meat Counter

Types & varieties

Pork chop / loin

Lean, quick-cooking; cook to a juicy medium, don't dry out.

Tenderloin

The leanest, most tender cut; fast roast or sear.

Shoulder (butt)

Marbled and collagen-rich; the king of slow braises and pulled pork.

Belly

Layered fat and meat for crackling and slow cooking; cured into bacon.

Ground pork

Juicy mince for meatballs, dumplings, and sausage.

Pork Jowl (fresh)

Fatty cut from the pig's cheek, richer than belly. Cure it for guanciale or braise/render fresh for deep porky fat. Renders slow; dice for greens or sofrito.

Pork Collar / Coppa (fresh)

Well-marbled cut from the neck and shoulder, prized for tenderness and fat. Grill as steaks, slow-roast, or char-grill (Thai kor moo yang). Stays juicy where loin dries out.

Secreto Ibérico

Hidden, heavily intramuscular-fat shoulder cut from Iberian pork; loose-grained and intensely flavorful, grilled hot and fast to medium and sliced across the grain.

Pork Hock (fresh)

Bony, collagen-rich lower-leg joint that needs long braising or simmering to release gelatin; builds body in stocks, beans, and stews and yields tender shredded meat.

How to choose

Look for firm, pinkish-red meat with white (not yellow) fat and a little marbling; very pale, soft, watery pork (PSE) cooks dry. Match the cut to the method — lean loin and tenderloin for quick cooking, shoulder and belly for low and slow. Heritage breeds and well-marbled pork have more flavor.

How to store / food safety

Refrigerate at or below 4°C and use within a couple of days, or freeze. Cook whole cuts to 63°C with a 3-minute rest (a hint of pink is now considered safe and far juicier) and ground pork to 71°C. Trichinosis is essentially eliminated in commercial pork, but proper temperatures still matter. Handle and separate like all raw meat.

How to cook

For chops and tenderloin, sear hot then finish gently to 63°C and rest — brining first guards against dryness. For shoulder and belly, cook low and slow (braise, roast, or smoke) for hours until the collagen melts and the meat pulls apart or the crackling shatters. Score and dry belly skin and start it hot for crackling. Pork loves sweet-savory glazes, apple, mustard, and fennel.

Common uses

Pan-seared chopsRoast loin and tenderloinPulled pork from shoulderSlow-braised bellyStir-friesDumplings and meatballsSausages and ragùSchnitzel and cutlets