Which cut of pork do I need?

Modern pork is much leaner than it once was, which has made the loin end of the animal considerably less forgiving and the shoulder end better value than ever. UK pork labelling also uses several old regional names, so knowing where each cut sits is genuinely useful at a counter.

Step by step

1. Shoulder: the slow-cooking cut, under several names.Sold as shoulder, hand and spring, blade, or collar and spare rib joint. Marbled, full of collagen, cheap. It is the correct cut for pulled pork, for slow roasting, for stews and for making sausages. Nothing else substitutes for it.
2. Loin: fast, lean, and easy to ruin.From the back. Sold as a joint, as chops with the bone in, or as boneless loin steaks. Very little intramuscular fat, so it dries the moment it goes past done. Buy it thick, brine or salt it in advance, and use a probe.
3. Belly: fat, collagen and crackling in layers.The underside, striped with fat. Slow-roasted for hours the fat renders and the meat becomes soft, and a final blast of heat gives crackling. Also sliced into strips for grilling, and cured into streaky bacon.
4. Leg: roasting, and everything cured.Large and lean. Roasted whole it is a big, slightly dry joint that needs care. Cured, it becomes gammon and then ham. Diced leg is often sold as pork for stewing, and it is leaner and drier than shoulder for that job.
5. Tenderloin or pork fillet: the smallest and quickest.A slim muscle under the spine, extremely lean and extremely tender. It cooks in minutes and there is no fat to protect it. Sear it and finish it briefly in the oven; it is done long before you expect.
6. Hock, trotter and cheek: the cheap collagen cuts.Hock — the lower leg, cured or fresh — braises for hours into something superb and makes exceptional stock. Cheeks are small, cheap and cook to spoon-tender in two hours. Trotters are almost pure gelatine and are used to give body to stocks and terrines.
7. Ribs: two different cuts with two different jobs.Loin or back ribs come from along the spine and are meatier and quicker. Spare ribs come from the belly and are fattier, cheaper and better after a long slow cook. UK labelling for these is inconsistent, so look at the shape rather than the name.

Tips

• Skin on or off is a decision you have to make at the counter. If crackling matters, buy skin-on and ask for it scored — you cannot add it later.
• Rare-breed pork carries much more fat than commodity pork and behaves like pork did decades ago. It is far more forgiving on the loin.
• Anything labelled 'pork steaks' is usually shoulder or leg cut into slices. Shoulder steaks are much better grilled than leg ones.

Common mistakes

• Using leg or loin for pulled pork — Neither has enough fat or collagen. They go stringy and dry rather than pulling apart. Shoulder is not a preference here, it is the requirement.
• Cooking pork tenderloin like a pork joint — It is a fraction of the thickness and has no fat cover. Treat it more like a thick beef fillet steak than like a roast.

Questions people ask