Have you seen the “new” cuts of pork at the grocery store? Well, don’t worry. Those types of meat aren’t new, they just got new names. Now the names on the pork packages should look a lot more similar to the names on the beef packages!
The National Pork Board wants to make purchasing and cooking with pork easier for everyone, so they gave the names of the different types of meat a face lift. Most of the pork and beef we eat comes from roughly the same locations on the animals. So keeping the names the same from pork to beef just seems to make sense.
In this case, we’re mostly talking about pork chops. (And did you know there was more than one kind of pork chop?) All the pork chops come from the loin (see diagram below), but some come from farther toward the head and some come from farther toward the tail.
Image from The National Pork Board, PorkBeInspired.com
Here’s what you may be seeing at the grocery store.
What used to be a bone-in loin chop is now a porterhouse pork chop. Because it’s from the same part of the loin as the porterhouse steak.
Image from The National Pork Board
The rib chop is now a ribeye pork chop (bone-in or boneless).
Image from The National Pork Board
The top loin chop is now a New York pork chop (similar to the New York steak).
Image from The National Pork Board
And the sirloin chop is now… well that didn’t really change. It’s a sirloin pork chop, from the same area as sirloin steaks.
Image from The National Pork Board
So what do you do with this yummy meat? Turns out, you can grill pork chops (of any variety) just like you would grill a steak! You’re looking for an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees F (medium rare on a beef steak). Once the internal temperature reaches 145, the meat can come off the heat and should rest for 3 minutes before slicing and eating. You can go up to 160 degrees F (medium for a steak), but the pork will start to dry out pretty quickly at that temperature.
As for recipes? Well, The National Pork Board has you taken care of! Browse their recipe collection to “be inspired!” to cook with pork this summer! And, when in doubt, just substitute pork for beef in a recipe. (It really can be that easy!)
What will you try with pork this summer?
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