Pork A Guide ^^ In Family for Consur "^IJ^^ Meals {9 ,^\ UNITED STATES HOME AND PREPARED BY KLAJj) DEPARTMENT OF GARDEN BULLETIN HUMAN NUTRITION ^•&^ AGRICULTURE NUMBER 160 INFORMATION SERVICE CONTENTS Page Page Buying pork 3 Cooking temperatures 10 Identification of cuts 3 Degree of doneness 10 Cured pork 4 Cooking time 11 Sausages and luncheon Cooking frozen meat 11 meats 4 Basic cooking methods 12 Variety meats 5 Roasting 12 Signs of good quality 5 Rôtisserie cooking 13 Pnces 6 Broiling 14 Amount to buy 6 Panbroiling 15 Storage 8 Panfrying 15 Fresh pork 8 Braising 15 Frozen pork 8 Simmering 16 Processed meats and meat Cooking variety meats— 17 products 8 Cooked pork 9 Making gravy 20 General principles of Recipes 21 cookery 10 Index to recipes 33 Acknowledgment is made to the National Live Stock and Meat Board for supplying photographs of the retail meat cuts. Revised December 1982 PORK IN FAMILY MEALS: A Guide for Consumers Roast pork, flavorful and juicy Even calorie watchers may in- . crisp bacon, filling the air with clude pork in their meals. A 3- tempting aroma . and tantaliz- ounce serving of roast fresh Boston ing baked ham exemplify some of butt with the fat trimmed off con- the good eating provided by pork. tains approximately 205 calories; a Many other pork cuts, both fresh 3-ounce serving of cured ham, fat and cured, also appear on the table trimmed off, contains about 160 the year around. calories. Pork is high in nutritive value. This bulletin will help you iden- An especially rich source of thiamin tify fresh and cured pork cuts in (vitamin Bi), pork also supplies retail markets. It will give tips on other B vitamins and iron. It's a how to select good-quality pork, good source of protein, too. Variety how to estimate quantity to buy, meats, such as liver and kidneys, and how to store it properly. Direc- are rich in these nutrients. In addi- tions and timetables for cooking tion, liver is an especially good pork and recipes featuring pork are source of vitamin A. also included. BUYING PORK Pork is meat from hogs, usually their appearance. Names often in- under 1 year of age. It is sold fresh, dicate the section of the carcass cured, or cured and smoked. Canned from which the meat was cut. Study and frozen pork products, sausages, the illustrations on pages 18 to 19. and luncheon meats are also With a little practice you will learn available. to recognize the different cuts. The part of the carcass from which the Identification of Cuts meat was cut is a good guide to the Learn to identify pork cuts by best cooking methods. Other pork cuts (not illustrated) available in some areas, are heavily are identified as follows : salted and may require soaking • Crown roast is usually made before cooking. from the rib sections of two pork After treatment with the cur- loins. The ribs are "frenched" by ing ingredients, the meat may be removing meat from the end of smoked with a nonresinous wood each rib bone. Then the rib sections for added flavor. Hickory is one are shaped into a crown and of the most popular woods used fastened. for smoking meats. • Butterfly chops are boneless Almost all cured and smoked double chops, split most of the hams are labeled either "fully way through the center and opened cooked" or "cook-before-eating." to form a butterfly shape. Other forms of cured pork avail- • Back ribs, or country ribs, able include picnic shoulder, are made by splitting the loin shoulder butt, Canadian bacon, lengthwise through the rib section bacon, and smoked loin chops. near the backbone. • Side pork is trimmed to a rec- Sausages and Luncheon tangular shape. It has alternating Meats layers of lean and fat. • Canadian bacon, cut from bone- These products can be divided into two categories: fresh and less pork loin, is cured and smoked. smoked sausages to be cooked be- It is usually quite lean. fore eating; and ready-to-serve • A pork cushion is a square, sausages and luncheon meats. flat piece made by removing the Fresh pork sausage is made bones from the shoulder. This pro- from ground pork mixed with vides a pocket for stuffing. spices and other seasonings. It is • Pigs' feet are mostly bones sold in bulk or stuffed into casings and tendons and contain little or cloth bags. Link sausages may lean meat. They are sold either be fresh or smoked, in casings or pickled or fresh. skinless. Fresh pork sausage must be cooked before eating. Uncooked smoked sausage, such as Polish Cured Pork sausage, must also be cooked before eating. Many pork cuts are cured to Ready-to-serve sausages, such as add distinctive flavor and vari- frankfurters and luncheon meats, ety. Before adequate refrigera- are fully cooked and can be served tion became common, pork was cold or heated. Luncheon meat is treated with a heavy salt brine to frequently sold sliced, but bologna preserve it. Nowadays less salt is and other sausages may be sold in used because meats are cured pri- sticks (whole rolls) or in chunks. marily for flavor, not for preser- Included in the ready-to-serve vation. "Country style" hams. group are specialty loaf-style meats that contain cheese, pickles, oUves, stamped with a round inspection macaroni, or pimiento. mark (see below, left). This inspec- tion mark indicates that the meat Variety Meats came from a healthy animal and was processed under sanitary con- Pork variety meats include liver, ditions. The colored stamping fluid heart, kidneys, brains, tongue, and is harmless and need not be trimmed chitterlings. from the meat before cooking. Liver is fine-textured meat with Processed meats—frozen meat a distinctive flavor. "Whole liver products, certain cured products should have a moist, smooth sur- such as ham or bacon, and canned face when purchased; sliced liver meats—are marked on the pack- may appear slightly porous. age, can, or label with the circle Heart is firm and smooth tex- shown below at right. This mark tured. It requires long, slow cooking indicates that the label on the to make it tender. processed meat is accurate, that Kidneys are smooth and bean the product was processed under shaped and have a distinctive flavor. Federal supervision, and that all Brains are soft, tender, and ingredients are wholesome. delicate in flavor. Visual inspection does not re- Tongue is firm in texture and is veal the presence of trichinae, one of the less tender variety meats. microscopic organisms that can Pork tongue usually is sold ready- live in pork and be transmitted to-serve. to man. Severe illnesses can re- Chitterlings are the small and sult unless the organism is de- large intestines of hogs, emptied stroyed by cooking or other pro- and thoroughly cleaned. cedure. Although a very small percentage of pork is infected Signs of Good Quality with trichinae, raw pork and pork products, including bacon Inspection marks and fresh sausage, should never be tasted before cooking. All fresh and processed meat In the case of processed pork, products that are shipped . from packing plants operated under one State to another must bear a Federal regulations are required mark of Federal inspection. The to use methods that make certain Federal Meat Inspection Act of no live trichinae are present. 1967 assures consumers that all To kill trichinae, products meat is inspected by either the such as luncheon meats, proc- Federal Government or an adequate State system. Previously, Federal inspection was required only in plants dealing in interstate or for- eign commerce. Each wholesale cut of an in- spected and passed carcass is essed hams, and frankfurters rrices are heated throughout to at least 137° F. Price is not a good guide to Cured hams and sausages are quality, tenderness, or nutritive freed of trichinae by the com- value of pork. Popularity of a bined effects of time, tempera- cut, season of the year, the amount ture, salt, and drying. of handling or processing, and the Some pork items are frozen type of retail store—all influence and held for specified periods of price. time at temperatures between 5° Retail food stores often feature and —20° F to destroy trichinae. certain meat cuts as specials. When the United States inspec- Reading the newspaper ads before tion stamp is on ready-to-eat making a grocery list can help sausages, frankfurters, and other careful shoppers take advantage of processed pork products, the con- these specials. sumer can be sure they are safe to eat without cooking. Amount To Buy For detailed information on cooking fresh pork, see the sections Table 1 (p. 7) shows the number beginning on page 10. of servings from a pound of pork. Buy only the amount of pork that Appearance you can use within the suggested storage periods given in table 2 Appearance of pork serves as (p. 9). Take into consideration an important guide to quality. family size, ages and food prefer- Choose meat, either fresh or cured, ences of family members, intended that has a high proportion of lean use of the meat, and available to fat and bone. The flesh should be storage space. firm and fine textured. Color of the lean in fresh pork may range from You may want to buy a large grayish pink to red. Lean cured pork enough roast for tro or more meals. Plan to use some of the cooked has a typical deep pink color. meat in casseroles, salads, and sand- Packer's brand wiches. For the approximate yield Unlike other meats, pork usually of chopped or diced cooked meat is not federally graded.