• 10 cuts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a Pig Meat Diagram

A pig from the side, divided into the cuts of pork by their United States names.

Parts of a Pig Meat Diagram

Name Date

Tap any cut to read, rename or leave it out

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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Write the name of each numbered cut.Answer key

  1. Jowl
  2. Boston butt
  3. Picnic shoulder
  4. Fatback
  5. Loin
  6. Spareribs
  7. Belly (side)
  8. Leg (ham)
  9. Hocks
  10. Feet

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a cut is answered.

Next step Next: the parts of a pig

All 10 cuts on the diagram

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The large cuts 5

  1. Boston butt Also called the blade shoulder or shoulder butt. It sits above the picnic and may contain the blade bone.
  2. Picnic shoulder Also called the arm shoulder or the picnic. With the Boston butt it makes up the whole shoulder.
  3. Loin Pork chops, loin roasts, back ribs and the tenderloin come from here.
  4. Belly (side) Also called the side. Streaky bacon is cut from it.
  5. Leg (ham) Sold fresh as pork leg or fresh ham. Cured, it is ham.

Smaller cuts 5

  1. Jowl The jowl is removed from the front of the shoulder. It can be cured and smoked.
  2. Fatback Fatback is trimmed from the top of the loin and belly. It is used to make lard.
  3. Spareribs Spareribs are removed from the belly side, below the loin. Back ribs are a different cut, from the loin.
  4. Hocks A hock from the front leg is a shoulder hock. One from the hind leg is a leg hock, often called a ham hock.
  5. Feet Also called trotters or pigs' feet. The front feet are removed at the knee and the hind feet at the hock joint.

How this list was compiled: Every cut name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two sources use it: (1) USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications, Fresh Pork, Series 400, https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/IMPS_400_Fresh_Pork%5B1%5D.pdf (leg or fresh ham, shoulder, picnic, butt also called Boston butt or blade, belly, loin, fat back, spareribs, hocks from the shoulder and the leg, jowl, front and hind feet, tenderloin and back ribs as cuts from the loin; the belly as what is left of the side after the leg, shoulder, loin, fat back and spareribs are removed); (2) Wikipedia, Cut of pork, Boston butt, Pork belly and Ham, text only, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_of_pork (the four main cuts as shoulder, blade and picnic, loin, belly, spare ribs and side, and leg; jowls, fatback, spare ribs, belly or side, legs or hams, ham hock, trotters). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced, not to scale. Licence: own work

How it works

A pork cuts chart shows where each cut comes from on the pig. This one has ten, from the jowl at the front to the leg at the back.

Read the full guide

Parts of a pork meat chart, front to back

Numbers 1 to 3 are at the front: the jowl under the head, then the Boston butt over the picnic shoulder. Numbers 4 to 7 fill the middle: the fatback along the top, the loin under it, then the spareribs and the belly. Number 8, the leg, is the whole back end; cured, it is a ham. Numbers 9 and 10, the hocks and the feet, are on the legs. The shoulder, loin, belly and leg are the large cuts a side of pork is divided into first.

  • The Boston butt is not at the back. It is the upper half of the shoulder, above the picnic.
  • Spareribs come from the belly. Back ribs come from the loin, higher up.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a hog for meat?

A side of pork is first cut into four large parts: the shoulder, the loin, the belly and the leg. The shoulder divides into the Boston butt and the picnic. The jowl, fatback, spareribs, hocks and feet are smaller cuts.

Where is the Boston butt on a pig?

At the front, not the rear. It is the upper part of the shoulder, above the picnic shoulder, and it may contain the blade bone. It is also called the blade shoulder.

What are the parts of a pork loin?

The loin runs along the back from the shoulder to the leg. Roasts from its front are blade roasts, from its middle center loin roasts and from its rear sirloin roasts. The tenderloin and the back ribs are also removed from the loin.

What part of the pig is bacon from?

Streaky bacon is cut from the belly, the lower side of the pig. Back bacon and Canadian-style bacon are made from the loin, and the cheeks can be cured and smoked as jowls.

Is ham the same as the leg?

Ham is pork from the leg that has been cured, with or without smoking. The uncured cut is sold as pork leg or fresh ham. Only the hind leg gives a ham; the front leg is part of the picnic shoulder.

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