Explore all 8 primal cuts of pork on our interactive diagram. Click any section to see the retail cuts, dishes, and recipes that come from that part of the pig.
A hog is broken into eight primal cuts, each with its own fat content, texture, and ideal cooking method — from the collagen-rich shoulder that becomes pulled pork to the lean loin that cooks in minutes.
Upper Front Shoulder, above the front leg
The Boston butt comes from the upper portion of the front shoulder, just above the picnic shoulder. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with the rear of the animal — the name dates back to colonial New England, where shoulder cuts were packed into wooden barrels called 'butts' for shipping. It's a heavily worked, well-marbled muscle group prized for slow cooking. This is the cut behind virtually all pulled pork.
Lower Front Shoulder, above the foreleg
The picnic shoulder sits below the Boston butt, extending down toward the front leg (foreleg). It contains more connective tissue, skin, and bone than the butt, including the shank portion, which makes it slightly less tender but no less flavorful. Often sold with skin on for cracklings, it's a budget-friendly workhorse cut popular for whole-hog style roasting.
Back, between the shoulder and the hip
The loin runs along the back of the pig from the shoulder to the hip and is the source of the most tender, leanest pork cuts, comparable to beef's short loin. It yields the pork chop family, tenderloin, and roasts like the crown roast. Because it's lean, the loin is prone to drying out if overcooked and benefits from brining or careful temperature control.
Underside of the pig, below the loin and ribs
Pork belly is the fatty, boneless cut from the underside of the pig, running from below the loin to the flank. It's the source of bacon after curing and smoking, and is increasingly popular served fresh, braised or roasted until the fat renders and the skin crisps. Its high fat-to-meat ratio makes it exceptionally rich and forgiving to cook.
Belly side of the rib cage, below the loin
Spare ribs come from the belly side of the rib cage, below the loin ribs (baby back ribs), and include more bone, cartilage and fat than their leaner counterpart. They're flatter and longer than baby backs, and when the cartilaginous rib tips are trimmed off, the result is the neatly rectangular St. Louis-style rib. Spare ribs are a barbecue staple prized for their rich, meaty flavor.
Hind Leg
Ham refers to the hind leg of the pig, whether sold fresh (uncured) or, far more commonly, cured and often smoked into the familiar deli and holiday ham. A fresh ham is essentially a large, lean roast, while cured hams (bone-in, spiral-cut, or boneless) are pre-cooked or ready-to-cook and are a centerpiece for holiday tables.
Ankle joint of the front or hind leg
The hock is the joint between the leg and the foot, taken from either the front leg (foreshank) or the rear leg (hind hock). It's mostly skin, bone, tendon, and connective tissue with relatively little meat, but it's an essential flavoring cut. Fresh or smoked, hocks add deep body and gelatinous richness to soups, stocks, and braises.
Cheek
The jowl is the cheek muscle of the pig, a small but intensely flavorful cut prized in Southern and Italian cooking. Cured and smoked, it becomes jowl bacon; cured with black pepper in the Italian style, it becomes guanciale, a cornerstone of Roman pasta dishes like carbonara and amatriciana.
40 tested pork recipes, each matched to the cut it was designed for, with step-by-step method and target internal temperatures.
⏱ 10 hrs 20 min · Medium
⏱ 4 hrs 30 min plus brining · Medium
⏱ 1 hr 5 min · Easy
⏱ 2 hrs 20 min plus drying · Medium
⏱ 6 hrs · Medium
⏱ 2 hrs · Easy
Temperatures, buying advice, brining and butchery — the fundamentals that decide whether pork comes out juicy or dry.
The correct internal temperatures for pork chops, roasts, ribs, and ground pork, plus resting times and how to use a thermometer.
Read guideLearn to pick the right pork chop cut, thickness, and marbling for your recipe, from bone-in rib chops to lean boneless loin chops.
Read guideA complete guide to baby back, spare, and St. Louis-style pork ribs, including how to choose, trim, and cook them to fall-off-the-bone tenderness.
Read guideLearn how wet brining, dry brining, and curing improve pork's moisture and flavor, with ratios, times, and safety tips for chops, roasts, and bacon.
Read guideUnderstand pork quality labels like heritage breed, organic, and enhanced, plus how to spot fresh pork and pick the right cut at the store.
Read guideA guide to roasting, grilling, braising, pan-searing, and smoking pork, with the best cuts and temperatures for each method.
Read guideA pig is typically broken down into eight primary primal cuts: shoulder (Boston butt), picnic shoulder, loin, belly, spare ribs, ham, hock, and jowl. Some processors combine or subdivide these slightly differently, but these eight cover the standard American butchery breakdown.
Pork shoulder, specifically the Boston butt, is the best choice for pulled pork thanks to its generous marbling and connective tissue, which break down during long, slow cooking into tender, easily shredded meat. Picnic shoulder works well too, though it has slightly more bone and skin.
Spare ribs come from the belly side of the rib cage and are longer, flatter, and fattier, while baby back ribs come from near the loin, higher on the rib cage, and are shorter, leaner, and more curved. Baby backs cook faster and generally cost more per pound.
The USDA recommends cooking whole cuts of pork, such as chops, loin, and roasts, to an internal temperature of 145°F followed by a 3-minute rest. Ground pork, because it mixes surface bacteria throughout, must be cooked to a higher internal temperature of 160°F.
Pork shoulder, picnic shoulder, ham hocks, and pork jowl are typically among the least expensive cuts because they contain more connective tissue and require longer cooking. These cuts deliver excellent flavor and value when cooked low and slow.
Pork tenderloin is the most tender cut on the pig, coming from a small, lightly worked muscle beneath the loin near the spine. It has a fine grain and virtually no connective tissue, so it cooks quickly and stays tender when not overcooked.
Pork cooked to the USDA-recommended 145°F can retain a slight pink blush, which is normal and safe. This happens because myoglobin in the muscle can remain pink at safe temperatures, especially in younger hogs, smoked cuts, or meat cooked with certain marinades.
Fresh pork is uncured and untreated, tasting mild and purely porky, while cured pork has been treated with salt, sugar, and often nitrites or nitrates, sometimes followed by smoking. Curing transforms cuts like belly into bacon and leg into ham, adding a distinct salty, smoky, pink-tinged character.
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