# Pig Parts. Oink **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [May 21, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834 "2024-05-21T00:30:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/81 "2024-06-21T19:18:32Z")
You don’t eat sausage? That’s what chitlins are, chopped sausage casings without the delicious stuff inside. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/82 "2024-06-21T19:41:56Z")
It’s quite possible to buy and eat only artificial casing sausage and never look at an internal pig part. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/83 "2024-06-21T19:44:44Z")
For pork sausage, it’s still only true if you swallow it whole or don’t look at any cut pieces. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/84 "2024-06-21T20:04:21Z")
I’ve been there for an old fashioned hog butchering, and I got the impression that eyeballs were maybe the only part of a pig that people don’t eat. They got tossed to the dogs–there were quite a few dogs hanging out, for some reason. Dogs love 'em, I have seen littermates who were part of the same hunting pack fight over a pig eyeball like crackheads fighting for the last rock in the state. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/85 "2024-06-21T20:06:53Z")
Not a big lover of sausage in casing. I realize sausage uses parts I don’t wanna know about. As long as I don’t know, I’m sort of ok with it. Well…thanks, I’ll be off all sausage for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/86 "2024-06-21T20:16:01Z")
I have read that chorizo is made from parts you don’t want to think about. True? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/87 "2024-06-21T20:30:56Z")
Oh for pity’s sake, the same thing is said about hot dogs. I am convinced that these tales are told because kids like to feel brave when they eat. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/88 "2024-06-21T22:53:06Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Same animal, just further south. Or pointing south. Dad would have said “the south end of a north-bound pig.” (If someone was wearing thick and garish lipstick, it was “the south end of a north-bound baboon.”) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/89 "2024-06-22T05:32:26Z")
I have been to parts of France where there are sausages made out of tripe, chitterlings, head, you name it. I don’t know whether it’s because offal used to be cheap, but they got what they got and they know well how to utilize it. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/90 "2024-06-23T21:14:43Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > It’s quite possible to buy and eat only artificial casing sausage and never look at an internal pig part. It’s the _delicious stuff inside_ part that counts for me, although I try to not think about it when the casing is the _large_ intestine. > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > I have read that chorizo is made from parts you don’t want to think about. True? It frequently is, things like salivary glands and stuff, but I have seen it made more for Anglo sensibilities. It costs way more. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/91 "2024-06-24T12:44:45Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > brains(unbeknownst). Not always unbeknownst. In **Dave Barry’s Last Gift Guide You’ll Ever Need** one of the gifts is a can of “Pork Brains in Milk Gravy”, which is unabashedly labeled that way. You can still find it. As Barry said, this is one food that no one will eat until the Apocalypse, and maybe not even after that. > **[Amazon.com : Rose Pork Brains with Milk Gravy 5 Ounce Cans (4 Cans Per Pack) :...](https://www.amazon.com/Rose-Pork-Brains-Gravy-Ounce/dp/B00FHIAIIE)** > > Try Rose's Pork Brains in a traditional American manner by cooking with your scrambled eggs. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/92 "2024-06-24T18:29:46Z")
The nutrition information indicates that a serving has several days’ allotment of cholesterol. As long as the thyroids are removed, we’re good. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/93 "2024-06-24T18:56:42Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > As long as the thyroids are removed From brain tissue? That’s either very careless butchering or else you meant hypothalamus, pituitary, or pineal glands. Since those are in the cranium, whereas the thyroid is in the throat. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/94 "2024-06-24T20:53:05Z")
I thought we have long since come to the conclusion that dietary cholesterol does not have the affect on blood cholesterol we once thought it did. Am I misremembering? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/95 "2024-06-24T21:06:27Z")
I’m kinda opposed to any glands in my pig parts. Not that I will be eating brains. Too much wasting diseases, prion things, screw worms and whatever. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/96 "2024-06-24T21:16:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I thought we have long since come to the conclusion that dietary cholesterol does not have the affect on blood cholesterol we once thought it did. Am I misremembering? You are correct for most people. That doesn’t mean the other stuff in high cholesterol dishes are good for you, which may be why some people have blood cholesterol levels that go up from a high cholesterol diet. For myself I’m more concerned with the rest of my diet than how much cholesterol I’m eating. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/97 "2024-06-24T21:16:57Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Just the SKIN separate from everything else? How do you prepare skin? You don’t. But after it’s cooked, as others have said below, you can easily peel the crispy skin off. I used to go to a particular Chinese restaurant with coworkers, and the particular dish we’d get there was the pork belly. I’d just eat the crispy skin and save the mooshy meat for the others. Yum! > [@kayaker](#): > > My gf ordered brains at a restaurant once I’ve never eaten brains, but I love crispy sweetbreads. I don’t think they’re usually made from pigs, though. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/98 "2024-06-24T21:22:17Z")
Some types of bacon keep the skin, but usually after the outer layer where hair is embedded is trimmed off. If it’s slow smoked the skin softens instead of crisping, but it may still get tough when cooking. Sometimes slab bacon has untrimmed skin on it, hair and all. If you get sliced bacon like that you can slice off the strip of skin on each piece and make stringy style cracklin’s. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/99 "2024-06-24T22:10:47Z")
I just meant from the animals in general. This story was the subject of a “Forensic Files” episode. I had never heard of such a thing. > **[Case report: Recurrent hamburger thyrotoxicosis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC183292/)** > > RECURRENT EPISODES OF SPONTANEOUSLY RESOLVING HYPERTHYROIDISM may be caused by release of preformed hormone from the thyroid gland after it has been damaged by inflammation (recurrent silent thyroiditis) or by exogenous administration of thyroid... Or maybe it was this one, which was more widespread. Anyway, it’s something to be concerned about. (I dispensed animal-sourced thyroid supplements a few times.) > **[An outbreak of thyrotoxicosis caused by the consumption of bovine thyroid...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3561455/)** > > We report an outbreak of thyrotoxicosis without true hyperthyroidism that occurred between April 1984 and August 1985 among residents of southwestern Minnesota and adjacent areas of South Dakota and Iowa. One hundred twenty-one cases were identified... ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834/100 "2024-06-24T22:27:19Z")
Those case histories speak more to eating hamburger than brain, but OK. If your butcher is so dedicated to harvesting every scrap of muscle that they’ll accidently trim chunks of thyroid tissue, get another butcher. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-parts-oink/1001834.md?page=6)