What Part Of The Pig Is Pork Jowl?

Pork has so much to offer in terms of variety. From ribs and chops to prosciutto and salami, the possibilities of what you can make from a single animal are almost endless. We ranked every cut of pork from worst to best, featuring a whopping 21 different cuts of pork. You'll likely be familiar with most of the cuts, but one less commonly seen cut of pork is the jowl.

Pork jowl, also known as hog jowl, comes from the cheek and chin area of a pig's head, more specifically, the area underneath and near the jaw and chin, as opposed to the actual cheek that sits between the eye and the mouth. Pork cheeks are usually a different cut of meat than the jowls and are sold separately as such. Pork jowl contains lots of connective tissue and fat. Compared to bacon, which is made from the belly or the back of a pig, hog jowl tends to have a bit more meat than fat when compared to traditional bacon. 

Some retailers will sell raw, uncured pork jowl, while others will sell it already cured, similar to bacon. When shopping for pork jowl, it's best to seek out skin-off jowls, or ask the butcher to remove the skin for you. Unless you're planning to use the skin to make chicharrones or cracklings, the skin can be tough to remove yourself, so it's usually easier just to have the butcher do it for you. 

Curing the pork jowl to make guanciale is likely the way most people have encountered pork jowls before, but they can be cooked in many other ways as well. Thinly slice and cook hog jowl like bacon for a flavorful breakfast twist, or take on a bit of a culinary endeavor and make your own pork jowl bacon by curing it at home in your refrigerator. You could also sear and then braise the meat until it's meltingly tender, as the high fat content in hog jowl leads to a lot of tenderness when braised. If you've ever had authentic spaghetti alla carbonara, it's made with guanciale, which comes from either the cheek or jowl of a pig. Substituting bacon for guanciale just won't give you the same traditional pasta dish like pasta alla gricia, as guanciale and bacon come from entirely different parts of a pig.

Members of the Cooking subreddit love pork jowl, with one user commenting that bacon made from pig jowl was the best they've ever eaten. Another user explained that pork jowl are commonly used in West Virginia to start a pot of beans, saying, "It is a really tasty cut and especially with the popularity of pork belly these days I'm surprised it hasn't blown up too." The greatness of pork jowls may not be a secret for long.