How to Cook Pork Cuts: 17 Tips and Secrets for the Perfect Recipes!

In Italy, there's a famous saying about this animal, stating that it is a champion of anti-waste, and that's true: in fact, nothing from the pig gets thrown away and practically everything can be cooked, from the snout to the tail, including everything inbetween. These are cuts that are easily available, cheaper than beef cuts, and tasty, as they are often fatty. In this guide we're going to explore the various parts of the pig that can be used in the kitchen, indicating what their main characteristics are and how to best exploit them in traditional and creative preparations and recipes. An advice? When you cook meat, equip yourself with a food thermometer or follow our tricks to understand when it is ready, to always have satisying dishes, avoiding any type of disappointment when tasting them.

1. Pork Fillet

Lean, delicate and soft: pork fillet meat has all the characteristics to be the protagonist of refined dishes without spending dizzying sums of money, as it is an economical cut compared to the more prized beef fillet. It is a piece that varies from 500 to 800 grams in weight, with an elongated shape and is usually cooked whole, removing the excess fat present on the external part.

The fillet suffers with a prolonged cooking, because it tends to dry out and therefore becomes stringy. A great classic is the roasted fillet, in a Sunday roast style: an excellent way to keep the meat moist is to wrap it in slices of bacon and then in baking paper, cooking it in foil. The taste of pork is enhanced by sweet and sour combinations: combine the fillet, for example, with apples and onions, after having browned it in a pan in a little butter and finished cooking in the oven, or, present it in a gourmet style cut into medallions and covered with a tasty honey and mustard sauce.

2. Pork Loin

Pork loin, or loin, is one of the cuts from the upper part of the animal and thanks to the presence of the bones it is particularly tender and tasty, due to a good percentage of fat. It is cooked whole, for festive occasions or Sunday lunch: it has to be roasted, ensuring the right humidity with broth and flavored with sage, thyme and rosemary or barbecued, brushing the meat with butter.

Pork chops or steaks are also made from the loin: a very simple recipe is to marinate them for 30 minutes in extra virgin olive oil, salt, garlic and aromatic herbs, then cook them in a very hot pan, blending with white wine. Alternatively, they are excellent for air frying, breaded and air fried in vegetable oil, paired with different vegetables.

3. Pork Sirloin

Lonza is one of the best known and most used cuts of pork: also called loin or sirloin, it is obtained from the rear part of the pig, right above the fillet, and corresponds to the boneless pork loin. These are meats with not excessive fat infiltrations: it can be cooked whole or in slices, and you must take care to keep it soft to fully enjoy its qualities.

The best techniques are: short cooking, like that of scallops, beating them with a meat mallet to tenderize them and basting them with a liquid, such as wine or broth; or a more prolonged cooking, as in the traditional sirloin with milk, where the latter will entirely cover the meat, flavoring it and maintaining its delicacy.

4. Pork Ribs

Chops, spare ribs or ribs: many names for a part of the pork that is much appreciated for its deliciousness and versatility. They are a poor cut, rich in connective tissue, which can be used in different ways: in this case it is also important to maintain the juiciness of the meat.

Before cooking them in the oven or stewing them, it is better to blanch them in a pan for 2-3 minutes, so as to degrease them, while if they are prepared on the grill it is recommended to marinate them in oil and herbs, or treat them the American way, brushing them with BBQ sauce, mustard and sauces.

5. Pork Cheeks

From the fat of the pig's cheek comes one of the most prized made in Italy cured meats, the guanciale: a gastronomic icon that is used above all as a flavoring. We find it in symbolic dishes of Lazio's cuisine such as carbonara and amatriciana, but it can also be used to give a boost of flavor to legume and vegetable soups or stews, by adding it to the sauté.

The cheek can also be eaten fresh: it holds up well in long cooking, and is especially cooked as braised or stewed, with the fat melting in the heat and keeping the meat soft.

6. Pork Neck

Cuts with a good balance between fat and lean parts are obtained from the pig's neck, such as coppa and capocollo, usually used to produce the famous cold cuts and cured meats. Both, however, can also be used fresh in the kitchen. The coppa, in taste and consistency, resembles the loin: it can be replaced by making roasts with the whole piece, sprinkling it with wine or broth to maintain the softness, given that cooking often takes 3-4 hours depending on its size; or it can be used in slices, to prepare Japanese recipes.

Season the slices of meat with salt and pepper, coat them into panko and then fry them in hot oil. The result is mini cutlets that are fragrant on the outside and very soft on the inside. Capocollo lends itself very well to being cut thinly to make a great classic of Italian Apulian cuisine, bombette, the typical cheese-filled rolls: if the meat is particularly fatty, just remove the excess external part with a knife.

7. Pork Belly

The pork belly is the fattiest cut, from which the famous bacon is obtained, a cured meat that often appears in various recipes because it is capable of flavoring many dishes, in sweet and smoked versions. When bacon is cooked in a pan, there is no need to add additional fats (such as oil or butter), as it already has plenty of it. Try it to enrich pasta dishes, like the baked rigatoni with bacon and, broccoli and scamorza cheese, and side dishes, including the easier braised peas and bacon, where the bacon gives an extra edge to the sautéed onion.

The belly, however, is also used fresh, cooked in the oven. To be succulent it must have a crunchy crust on the surface and a meltable interior: make diamond-shaped incisions on the rind and then brown in a pan with the rind part on the bottom, add white wine and water, cover and leave for an hour over low heat. Complete the cooking by baking at 356°F/180°C for another 90 minutes.

8. Pork Shoulder and Thigh

We combine these parts of the pig because they have two uses in common: from both, in fact, cold cuts are obtained, commonly called ham, even if ham comes from the thigh, while the cooked shoulder gives rise to another type of cold cut, always pink in color and sweet in taste. From the noblest part of the thigh, the internal rear, comes a highly prized cured meat, culatello, which sees its excellence in the Zibello variety.

These are ideal products to serve on platters or, in the case of ham, also as a filling for savory pies and as a condiment for a quick and tasty main courses. Another use is that of being the most suitable choice to become the classic minced meat, to prepare meatballs, sausages and sauces with pork mince. Remember that pork is best eaten well cooked and not rare, due to the possible presence of trichinella, a parasite that can cause damage to your health.

9. Pork Shin

The shin is a part found in the pig's leg, between the leg and the shoulder (in the front legs) and between the leg and the thigh (in the hind legs). This is a very economical cut that is generally prepared whole and cooked in the oven. A simple recipe is that of baked pork shin, which involves an initial marinade in oil, salt, pepper, aromatic herbs, garlic and salt and pepper in order to dilute the more pungent flavor of the pork and give greater tenderness.

Or a specialty that is mainly enjoyed during the Oktoberfest is that of beer shank, where the shank is first marinated in beer with herbs and then cooked slowly in a saucepan in a mix of beer and broth.

10. Pork Rind

The rind is a very caloric part of the pig: also called cotica, it is the skin of the pig, which, once cleaned and boiled, is used in various traditional Italian recipes from North to South: from cassoeula with cabbage, ribs and sausages to ham, to the Neapolitan minestra maritata, very similar to the previous one which includes the same parts of the pig among the ingredients with the addition of pieces of chicken, cabbage, chard and chicory.

They are both tasty and substantial soups that have a mix of meat and vegetables at the base. Another very famous recipe of peasant heritage is that of beans with pork rinds, cooked in a pan with borlotti peans and tomato puree.

11. Pork Lard

Lard is a very aromatic cold cut which is produced by the layer of fat of the same name present on the back of the animal, just under the rind: Colonnata IGP is particularly prized. It can be used as a flavoring or to enrich cutting boards, and is found as a garnish on bruschetta and crostini, especially in Tuscany and central Italy. A creative and refined combination is with shellfish, especially prawns or scallops which are stripped of their shell and casing and the tail wrapped in slices of lard. Cook them in a pan for a few minutes on both sides and then add the brandy. Once the alcohol has evaporated they are ready to be served with a little salt, pepper and orange zest.

12. Pork Muzzle and Feet

Nothing about pork is considered waste, not even these parts which at first glance seem more difficult to include in preparations. With the snout of the pig, for example, in Veneto, in the area of Treviso, a variant of cotechino is prepared, which takes the name of musetto, in dialect muset.

In Naples, the strongest versions of the wedding soup involve the use of snout, as well as the per and muss', a sort of cold salad, featuring the pig's foot and the bovine's snout. Usually before being consumed both the muzzle and the feet are boiled, so as to whiten and degrease them. Both can be served stewed, like the rind, while the trotters also have a fried variant: a dish of Piedmontese cuisine is batsoà, which involves breading the trotters in egg and flour before dipping them into boiling oil.

13. Pork Ears

The ears are rich in cartilage and can be prepared fried and stewed, making sure to clean them well before using them, scraping and burning the excess hair. For the versions with sauce, they are boiled for about an hour alone or with aromas such as bay leaves, so as to soften them and refine the flavor.

They can therefore be cooked in a tomato sauce, enriching it with beans, or with cabbage, adding broth, a bit like what is done in pork rinds and beans, calculating another hour and a half of cooking time. While for the crunchy version is better to increase the boiling time, as frying is very fast and there is a risk that the ears will remain hard and with an unpleasant flavor.

14. Pork Tail

The pig's tail is less common in the kitchen: it is also cartilaginous, it holds up to long cooking times and is therefore excellent in stews or as a ragù, to season risottos typical of Mantua and Piacenza's areas, where the pigtails are first boiled to tenderize together with carrots, onions, pepper and herbs, stripped and then cooked in a pan with the sauté and blended with white wine. At this point you can add the peeled tomatoes or not, and continue cooking with the broth until the meat becomes soft, for a red or white version, which will be the seasoning for the risotto.

15. Pork Fat and Suet

Fat is a widespread product in peasant cuisine, as it is economical and caloric: it is obtained by melting the subcutaneous fat of the dorsal part of the pig, filtered and cooled in jars. It was used as a substitute for butter and oil: it is not a coincidence that we find it both as an element for frying and in doughs and leavened products, for example in the Neapolitan casatiello. The part of the fat in the rind that remained solid was preserved and dried, becoming cracklings.

Don't confuse lard and fat: both are fat from the pig, but they come from two different parts. Lard is obtained from the fusion of subcutaneous fat taken from the dorsal area of the pig, while suet comes from the visceral fat of the adrenal area: compared to lard, suet has a slightly more delicate flavor. Worth trying for the preparation of suet and pepper taralli, typical Neapolitan dishes.

16. Pork Offal and Blood

Of pork, as well as with other types of meat, offal is also used in cooking, from liver to coratella. Furthermore, the blood of the pig is also used, which when processed with the innards gives rise to black pudding, a type of sausage that we can find both in Italian and foreign gastronomy, depending on the raw materials chosen.

Yet when we talk about black pudding it is impossible not to mention sweet black pudding, the chocolate cream that was made with the pig's blood leftovers from the slautghter around January 17th, the day of Sant'Antonio Abate, mixing bitter cocoa, dark chocolate, sugar, cooked wine, candied fruit (citron or orange), lard, cinnamon and cloves.

17. Pork Bladder

Necessary mention for the pig's bladder, usually used for the preparation of sausages and salami, acting as a natural casing. Yet, as per millenary tradition, food could be both preserved and cooked inside, as it was large and resistant. One of the most famous contemporary recipes that involves cooking in the bladder is that of the starred chef Riccardo Camanini of the Lido 84 restaurant, who proposes cacio e pepe entirely cooked in the bladder, inspired by a writing by the ancient Roman gastronome Marco Gavio Apicio.

How is it done? The ingredients (short pasta, pecorino romano, black pepper, salt and very little water) are inserted raw into the bladder which, once sealed, is placed in a pan of water at 194°F/90°C where it cookes for approximately 27-30 minutes (approximately double than normal). Before breaking it by cutting it, it is shaken, so as to mix all the elements present, resulting in a creamy pasta that is slightly tougher than the al dente one.