Pork Loin Primal: Your Affordable Source for Menu Excitement

The loin rib end is where you’ll find two popular pork cuts: Baby Back Ribs and Country-Style Ribs.

Baby Back Ribs are slightly curved bones from the top of the animal’s rib cage below the loin muscle. They’re smaller than spareribs and are found near the backbone, which is what gives them their “baby back” name.

Known for their tenderness, they’re often flavored with a sweet or smoky barbecue rub.

Country-style Ribs are cut from the area where the loin and shoulder meet, providing a unique combination of lean meat (characteristic of the loin) and fatty meat (shoulder cut quality) that deliver a tender, flavorful bite. Sold in slabs or individual servings, they’re perfect for entrees prepared to be eaten with a knife and fork vs. ribs off the bone.

The loin center section of the pork loin primal gets relatively little use by the animal’s muscles. As a result, this area yields juicy and tender meat.

Center-cut pork loin can be ordered bone-in or boneless, with each cut offering unique benefits.

Bone-in cuts feature a rack of pork chops with the ribs still connected. These ribs can also be Frenched, resulting in cleanly trimmed, exposed rib bones for optimal plating potential.

Separating each Frenched pork chop renders another beautifully cut plating option called pork tomahawks.

Alternatively, center-cut boneless pork loin delivers tender meat with less work required back-of-house.

Also known as pork filet, pork tenderloin is a thin, long, rectangular-shaped cut of pork from the loin muscle along the spine. A non-weight-bearing muscle that experiences little movement, the tenderloin yields an especially tender cut of meat comparable to beef filet mignon—a very lean, boneless cut of pork.

Located on the backmost third of the loin—closest to the leg and ham—sirloin is fairly lean with some fat and tends to be more affordable than cuts from the loin rib end and loin center.

It’s a versatile option that can be cut into roasts and chops.