Trimming pork

Buying, specifying and handling pork

A pig's breed, lifestyle and age at slaughter work together to determine the character and quality of the pork it provides, as does the treatment of the carcase at the abattoir and butcher.

To serve great pork, choose your supplier with care, provide detailed specifications for each purchase, then ensure correct handling and cooking in your kitchen.

Which supplier/butcher?

The surest way to secure a consistent supply of good quality pork is to build up a long-term relationship with a good butcher or meat supplier. Always explain the nature of your business to your meat supplier. Invite them to dine, so that they understand your needs and become part of the team. Visit their operation too.

Always provide suppliers with detailed specifications when ordering your meat. They should be willing and able to source, cut and trim pork to your detailed brief, and to provide all the information that you require about your pork's provenance and history.

If you wish to purchase BPEX Quality Assured Pork, you will need to buy from an approved supplier. If your current supplier is not approved, encourage them to seek approval via BPEX or the offices of an approved scheme.

Which pig?

The main factors determining the quality and characteristics of the pork that you receive are:

• breed
• age
• lifestyle
• maturation
• packaging

Breed

Pig breeds fall into two categories - modern and traditional.

Modern pig breeds are the result of selective breeding for high lean content and litter productivity. This makes them less expensive to produce than the traditional breeds, and the obvious choice for caterers on restricted budgets.

Selective breeding of these modern strains has reduced the fat content of British pork by more than a third over the last 20 years, to only 4% on average, making them an attractive protein proposition for chefs in the health sector or those catering for low-fat diets.

The Duroc and Hampshire have the best reputation among the modern breeds for eating quality. Pietrain crosses are popular for their high yields of lean meat, but the purebred Pietrains are rare.

Traditional breeds are smaller animals, producing smaller litters and take longer to grow, all factors that push up the price of their meat. However, with growing consumer interest in traditional foods, the use of 'traditional breed' pork can boost sales and provide a real point of difference on the menu. Tamworth and Berkshire pigs are renowned for their eating quality, providing particularly firm, dark muscle and white fat.

"Pork dishes are always very popular. I find Middle White pork is very tender and gives a much deeper flavour than is usually associated with pork. I have been using traditional and rare breeds for over five years and I ensure that customers are aware of the type and origin of meat on our menus - it tends to encourage them to try nsomething different from what they would normally eat at home."
John Campbell, executive chef

Some pig breeds

Modern
Generally larger than traditional, moderns
have high lean content.

• British Landrace
• Duroc
• Hampshire
• Large White
• Welsh

Traditional
Less common, small, less fast growing, more expensive.

• Berkshire
• Tamworth
• British Saddleback
• Gloucestershire Old Spot
• Large Black
• Middle White

Age

Younger pigs produce more tender pork, which cooks quicker. As pigs age, their flavour increases but their muscle becomes firmer.

In Britain most Quality Assured BPEX Pigs are slaughtered between 5 and 7 months of age. This is younger than is common practice in much of Europe and explains the relative infrequence of boar taint in British pork. The term boar taint describes an abnormal odour and flavour generated during the cooking of pork from older males.

Traditional breeds take longer to mature so are usually older at slaughter.

Lifestyle

The BPEX Quality Scheme recognises the importance of lifestyle to pig welfare and to pork quality, hence strict guidelines on: feed standards, housing, stocking densities and veterinary medicines.

Chefs looking for other guarantees may consider purchasing Organic Pork produced under legislative requirements that exclude feed additives and most drugs. Organic food is increasingly popular with consumers, many of whom are prepared to pay a premium for it.

However, caterers who buy certified organic meats and wish to describe them as organic on menus must first seek further organic certification through one of the 10 UK organic certification bodies.

Indoor/outdoor?

The majority of British pork is produced indoors, and of the pigs born outside into extensive rearing systems almost all will be 'finished' indoors. Conditions in British indoor systems are well regulated and well enforced. Tethers and stalls have been banned in the UK since 1999. A sharp increase in outside pig production is predicted as consumer demands for meat from animals reared in wide-open spaces grows. Producers and retailers claim that their 'outdoor' pigs provide better eating quality and welfare standards. However, almost all pigs spend time indoors at some stage of their life.

At the abattoir

BPEX Scheme abattoirs are heavily regulated and regularly inspected. This is important for pig welfare and also for the quality of pork produced.

Muscle quality is best when the animals are unstressed at slaughter. Correct handling of the carcases and careful quality control procedures have all but eliminated quality problems in BPEX Quality Assured Pork.

Maturation

The maturation period is made up of time 'hanging' as a carcase and time maturing in vacuum packs after butchery.

Hanging takes place in a cool, dry environment at the abattoir or butcher and is important for eating quality.

During hanging, and subsequent maturation, natural enzymes act on the fibres of the muscle meat, improving tenderness and enhancing flavour.

There are two methods of carcase hanging, the traditional Achilles method, and the newer hip (aitch bone) suspension now recommended by the MLC for improved tenderness. Pork should hang for less time than other red meats because the muscles are relatively tender and fresher pork tastes best. The optimum maturation time for BPEX Quality Assured Pork is 12 days, although significant sensory tenderness can be achieved in only 4 days with aitch-bone hanging.

Packaging

Packaging is important for the safe, clean and easy transport of pork cuts. It affects the maturation process, holding in moisture and excluding air.

Different packaging options include:

• Vacuum packaging. The preferred option among caterers, it works by forcing air out of the pack. Shelf life is determined by conditions under which meat was packaged but is longer than the other commonly used methods
• Polythene bags are the least expensive option but shelf life is shorter
• Overwrap trays (light gauge PVC stretched across an expanded polystyrene tray) are low cost, but can be prone to leakage, have a short shelf life and perform poorly when frozen
• Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) - meat is packed under high O2 and CO2 levels, preventing spoilage and providing better colour of meat.

Handling pork

Regularly check pork supplies on delivery:

• Record the delivery temperature to ensure it's within your specification (preferably 1º - 4ºC)
• Check that the label matches the meat it accompanies as well as your specification
• Skin should be clean and undamaged with no bruises or lacerations
• Fat level should not exceed specified requirements
• Flesh should be pink, firm with a fine texture and shiny but not damp, weepy or slimy
• Check the quality of butchery, e.g. no deep incisions

Safe handling

Food businesses should always keep raw and cooked foods apart in all areas (manufacture, storage and display), to ensure that there is no cross contact with common surfaces and equipment. For chefs and caterers this means:

• Never cool cooked meats on surfaces that are also used for raw meats
• Never store cooked meats next to or below raw meats
• Never handle cooked and raw meats without thorough hand washing with anti-bacterial soap
• Never use the same surfaces for cooked and raw products
• Wooden surfaces should not be used for cooked meats or meat products
• Never use the same equipment and utensils for cooked and raw meats
• Always cover cooked meats in storage
• Never lift raw food over cooked
• Have separate wrapping, slicing and weighing areas for raw and cooked food
• Use serving tongs to avoid touching cooked meat

Storage

Store meat below 5ºC to inhibit the growth of food poisoning bacteria. These bacteria grow fastest at 37ºC. Store meat in its packaging to maximise shelf life. Any use-by dates become invalid once the meat is unpacked.

Use by date

It is illegal to sell food after its 'use by date'. However a caterer may prepare a dish using meat, and sell that dish after the 'use by date', provided it is safe for them to do so, since the date marking applies to the meat, not the product made from it. It is illegal to alter or remove a 'use by date' without written permission from the person that applied that date.

Minimum cooking times and temperatures

Cooking meat
When you cook pork as minced/chopped meat (for example sausages) and rolled joints, you should make sure that the centre of the meat reaches one of the following temperatures for at least the time given:

• 60°C for 45 mins
• 65°C for 10 mins
• 70°C for 2 mins
• 75°C for 30 secs
• 80°C for 6 secs

You can eat whole cuts of beef, lamb and pork when they are pink or rare. This is because any bacteria are generally on the outside of the meat so if the outside is cooked, this should kill any bacteria, even if the middle of the meat is still pink.
Source: Food Standards Agency

An independent review carried out for the MLC by Campden and Chorleywood Food RA stated that 'reducing end point cooking temperatures improves eating quality of pork'. The research also found that cooking pork to achieve a minimum internal temperature of 71ºC is sufficient to ensure the destruction of bacteria that cause food poisoning. This research is supported by guidelines from the Department of Health in the UK.

MLC recommends that for whole pork cuts and joints, chefs offer customers the choice of their pork cooked rare, medium or well done, just as they would with other red meats as long as the meat has been seared on the outside to kill any bacteria.

However rolled joints, sausages, burgers and other processed pork products must be well cooked at their centre to kill off any bacteria that might have found their way there during preparation or manufacture.

Tip
A probe thermometer is the most reliable way to test internal meat temperatures. Always clean the thermometer thoroughly before and after probing food.

Re-heating pork

• Meat should be re-heated only once
• Meat sold hot should be kept above 63ºC prior to sale
• Hot food should be re-heated until piping hot (to at least 82ºC at its core - Scotland only)

Guide courtesy of the British Pig Executive

Reproduced with permission from A Chef's Guide to Pork. To download a copy, click here