Plastic-wrapped pork from the supermarket should be consumed within 3 days. Vacuum-sealed cuts may be kept longer. Well-marbled cuts take better to freezing than leaner cuts. First, wrap the meat tightly in plastic wrap, then enclose it tightly in aluminum foil to freeze for up to 6 months. Safely defrost frozen pork by transferring it to the refrigerator about 3 days before you plan to cook it.

Fat carries flavor and acts as a natural basting agent to keep meat moist, especially on leaner cuts such as loin and tenderloin. Therefore, you want to remove only the excess fat. The exterior fat on larger cuts such as the shoulder should be trimmed to no less than 1/8 or 1/4 inch. Ask your butcher to trim the meat to your specification, remove silverskin from a tenderloin or tie a roast.

Cooking times in most recipes are based on room-temperature meat. The time required to bring refrigerated meat to room temperature depends on the cut. A pork chop that is 1/2 inch thick may take only 15 minutes and a tenderloin 30 minutes, whereas a shoulder or loin may need 1 to 2 hours. A large cut of meat will take longer to reach the proper internal temperature if it's cooked while still cold.

Thin-cut chops, cutlets and medallions sliced from tenderloin need only a sprinkling of salt and pepper before being panfried. Chops, loins and other cuts take well to an overnight soaking in brine and seasonings. Stuffing chops or a loin lets you season the meat from the inside. Patting dry pork to be seared or panfried removes any moisture that will inhibit browning.

Resting pork after cooking allows the juices to settle and redistribute. The resting periods can range from about 5 minutes for a chop to 30 minutes for a shoulder. During this resting period, the meat also finishes cooking, reaching its ideal doneness temperature.