Pork and bacon

Pork quality points Pork keeps less well than other meat, so handle with care and cook thoroughly. Lean meat should be pale pink, firm and finely textured. Fat should be white, firm, smooth and not excessive. Bones should be small, fine and pinkish. Skin (rind) should be smooth.

Pork joints and uses Joint Uses Weight Leg Roast, boil 5 kg Loin Roast, fry, grill 6 kg Spare rib Roast, pies 1.5 kg Belly Pickle, boil, stuff, roll and roast 2 kg Shoulder Roast, sausages, pies 3 kg Head Brawn 4 kg Trotters Grill, boil

Joints of pork

Pork offal and piglets Kidney: Sauté, grill. Liver: Fry, pâté. A piglet aged five to six weeks and weighing 5–10 kg is known as a suckling pig and is usually spit-roasted whole.

Bacon The flesh of a specially reared, bacon-weight pig. It is cured by: dry salting, then smoking soaking in brine, then smoking simply soaking in brine (green bacon) which gives a milder flavour and shorter shelf-life. Depending on the degree of salting, joints may need to be soaked in cold water for a few hours before cooking. Not to be confused with gammon (cut from the leg).

Bacon quality points No sign of stickiness. Pleasant smell. Lean meat should be deep pink and firm. Fat should be white, smooth and in proportion with the lean meat. Rind should be thin, smooth and without wrinkles.

Bacon joints Joint Uses Weight Collar Boil, grill 4.5 kg Hock Back Grill, fry 9 kg Streaky Gammon Boil, grill, fry 7.5 kg