Cooking Pork Southern Style

Cooking Pork in the South means using ALL of it.

Nothing is wasted, they render down the fat to make lard for cooking and lye soap. The skin is used to make cracklins and pork rinds. Shoot, even the pigs feet are used for pickling. They use it all.

Smoked ham hocks (the ankle joint), have a lot of flavor.

They're great for seasoning Turnips, collards, kale and mustard greens as well as pinto beans, navy beans, crowder peas and black-eyed peas.

Streak 'O Lean is one of the best kept secrets of the south. It's like the ultimate bacon.

Sliced thick, and with streaks of fat and lean, it's great for using as a seasoning, or cooking up crisp and puttin' on a biscuit.

So, have you ever wondered why they call it "the other white meat"?

Well, that's because since pigs don't move around much, their muscles don't work as hard so they don't use as much oxygen as say a cows does.

Less oxygen makes the meat a lighter color.

A lot of people are worried about their health nowadays so they don't like to eat pork but did you know that the pork we eat today is about 30% leaner than the pork we ate just 30 years ago.

Pound for pound, it's actually more nutritious than chicken. So enjoy it!

Just keep this in mind when you're cooking pork, try not to overcook it because it will be dry and tough if you do.

You don't have to worry about trichinosis if you make sure it's heated to 137°F (I always cook mine to 160°F just to be safe).

If you cook it to 160°F the meat will be juicy and tender.

Try these southern pork recipe favorites: