Pig on a Spit - Cooking and Catering for the Lovers of Pork.

Pork is the meat from a pig and is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with pig cultivation dating back to 5000 BC.

Pigs were mostly used for food, but people also used their hide to make shields and shoes, their bones for tools and weapons, and their bristles for brushes. Pork may be cooked from fresh meat or cured over time. Cured meat products include ham and bacon.

Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world, providing about 38 percent of daily meat protein intake worldwide. Just about all parts of the pig can be used to produce pork meat and often a suckling, or even a medium size pig, can be roasted whole.

The highly sensitive noses of pigs have been used by humans both past and present to help sniff out truffles, a valuable and highly sought after edible species of underground fungi.

Most brands of American hot dogs and breakfast sausage are made from pork, in fact the United States is the third largest exporter of pork, with the export leaders being Denmark and Canada. U.S. pork production accounts for about 10 percent of the total world supply.

Pork has traditionally been known as a white meat, but in nutritional studies, it is usually grouped with beef as red meat, recent public perceptions have been changing and today the USDA treats pork as a red meat. The myoglobin content of pork is lower than that of beef, but much higher than the white meat of a chicken.

Our articles cover all aspects of cooking pork from barbeque and roasts to cooking a whole pig on a spit and explain how to make a traditional Hawaiian style imu (New Zealand Hangi), or underground oven to cook a whole pig kalua style.

We also cover definitions of the various cuts of pork and which parts are best cooked by various methods.

Featured Pork Articles and Recipes The age of the animal from which pork is cut can be determined by the thickness of the skin; the older the animal, the thicker the skin. To be of the best kind, pork should have pink, not red, flesh composed of fine-grained tissues, and its fat, which, in a well-fattened animal, equals about one-eighth of the entire weight, should be white and firm. Although all cuts of pork contain some fat, the proportion should not be too great, or the pieces will not contain as much lean as they should. However, the large amount of fat contained in pork makes its food value higher than that of other meats, unless they are excessively fat, and consequently difficult of digestion. One of the chief advantages of pork is that about nine-tenths of the entire dressed animal may be preserved by curing and smoking. See our full article on cooking of pork Ways to Cook Ham The difference between ham and pork - Basically pork is any meat from a pig and ham is a part of the pig, ham is to pork as steak is to beef. Ham is pork from the hind leg of the hog. Meat from the front leg is called "pork shoulder picnic." Hams can be either cured, smoked, fresh or cooked. Generally speaking ham is a name for any smoked pork product. It is also a name of a pork cut of meat. In ham, the proportion of fat and lean is about right, but when ham is bought with the rind removed, much of the fat is also taken off. The best hams weigh from 8 to 15 pounds, and have a thin skin, solid fat, and a small, short tapering leg or shank. Several ways of cooking ham are in practice. Very often slices resembling slices of round steak are cut from the whole ham and then fried or broiled. See our full article on ways to cook ham.

Recent Articles and Pork Recipes: Yang Chow Eggplant in Garlic Sauce Delicious appetizer recipe for cooking eggplants in a hot and spicy garlic sauce. Potstickers - Appetizers Recipe for potsticker dumpling appetizers made from won ton wrappers. Portabella Mushroom Appetizer Great tasting marinated and grilled mushroom based appetizer for mushroom lovers. Oriental Meat stuffed Pancakes Recipe for making an oriental style meat filled pancake appetizers. Galloping Horses Pork Based Appetizer Recipe for a Thai style pork and fruit appetizer dish suitable for any occasion or party. Ham and Cola Crockpot Recipe This interesting crockpot recipe consists of ham, brown sugar, mustard, and cola. Teriyaki Baked Pork Chops Simple but tasty recipe for cooking baked terriyaki pork chops. Stuffed Pork Chops Cooking directions to make a tasty dish of stuffed pork chops. Spicy Pork Spare Ribs Recipe for cooking spicy pork spare ribs with marinade in the oven. Pulled Pork Sandwich Easy to make pull pork sandwhiches that can be served on hamburger buns.

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