Pork questions from first-time whole-hog buyers and restaurant cooks follow the same pattern: what cuts to ask for, why a favorite cut is hard to find, and why the shoulder came back in pieces. For buyers, the answer starts with the four primals.
The four pork primals
- Shoulder: the Boston butt (IMPS 406) on top and the picnic below. Pulled pork, carnitas, al pastor, sausage and shoulder steaks.
- Loin: chops, roasts, tenderloin, back ribs and the sirloin end. IMPS 410 is the bone-in loin.
- Belly: bacon, pork belly and spareribs.
- Leg: fresh ham or cured ham.
On a whole or half hog you decide how each primal is cut. On a wholesale order you can skip that and buy only the primals you use.
Cutting instructions for a whole hog
A simple cut sheet:
- Shoulders: butts whole or split, picnics whole, or ground for sausage.
- Loin: bone-in chops at a set thickness, boneless roasts, tenderloins whole.
- Belly: whole for curing, or sliced; spareribs whole or St. Louis-style.
- Legs: fresh hams whole, halved or cut into steaks, or sent for curing.
- Trim: ground pork or sausage, with the lean point you want.
Why pork sirloin roasts are hard to find
The sirloin is the hip end of the loin. Most plants sell the loin whole, bone-in or boneless, so the sirloin end usually becomes chops, cutlets or part of a boneless loin. Whole-animal shops break the loin themselves, which is why they can offer sirloin roasts. Wholesale buyers who want them can ask for them as a specified cut on a quote.
Why a pork butt arrives in pieces
Custom processors often split the Boston butt into two smaller roasts or cut it into shoulder steaks to fit family-size packages. It is still the same cut. If your kitchen needs whole butts for smoking, specify whole, bone-in or boneless, and the pack.
Restaurants: half hogs vs primals
A restaurant that goes through a few shoulders and a slab of belly each week often does better buying those primals by the case than whole animals. A whole hog brings loins, legs, ribs, fat and bones, and those all need a use on the menu or they become waste. Whole animals make sense when the menu is built around them.
How we price pork
Our pork board shows a delivered price by state. For fresh pork items, see fresh pork. Ham and holiday pork demand rises ahead of Thanksgiving and Christmas. The holiday calendar shows the ordering windows, and the Monday Report covers the completed market week.
Know the primal, name the cut and give the pack, and the pork that arrives will fit your counter or kitchen.