Buying and lighting calculator · Pork
How much pork collar do I buy and when do I light?
Pork collar, sometimes sold in Spain as aguja, is a long, fat-marbled muscle that forgives a few extra degrees and stays juicy where loin dries out. It is sold boneless in pieces of 1 to 2 kg. It loses about 28 % to fat and water, and we count 280 g per person to end up with about 200 g on the plate; for bone-in, buy a little more. In a kamado it works roasted indirect at about 160 °C, lid closed, until the probe reads around 85 °C and it slices into tender pieces. Time grows with thickness more than with weight: a long thin piece takes less than a short thick one.
How to ask for it
For 4 people: Ask for boneless pork collar (neck), whole and untied, 1.25 kg, with its marbling: that is what keeps it juicy. If you want it bone-in, buy a little more.
Collar loses about 28 % to fat and water when roasted: 200 g on the plate comes from about 280 g bought, boneless. 85 °C in the centre for tender slices; 63 °C is the safe minimum.
How we calculate it
We start from a reasonable cooked portion (about 200 g of meat on the plate, 170 g of cleaned fish) and convert it to raw weight using each cut's bone and trim loss. "Hungry" adds 25 %. We round up to what is actually sold: quarter kilos, whole pieces, units.
To the cook time (per kilo or per piece, at each method's temperature) we add the kamado's lighting and stabilising (20-45 min depending on the method, as on the recipe pages), the rest, and a margin for long cooks, which vary from one piece to the next. Times are approximate: your kamado, the wind and the charcoal decide; on big cuts, trust the probe.
Frequently asked questions
How much pork collar per person?
Count about 280 g of boneless collar per person, which leaves about 200 g on the plate after losing fat and water. A 1.5 kg piece feeds five or six people. If it is bone-in, buy a little more; the calculator assumes a boneless piece.
How long does a 1.8 kg pork collar take?
Count about three hours indirect at 160 °C, plus a quarter of an hour of rest. It is a guide: a thicker piece takes longer, a longer thin one less. Pull it when the probe reads 85 °C in the centre. The safe minimum is 63 °C, but collar softens better higher up.
Pork collar or loin for the kamado?
Collar has more fat and handles a long roast and a few extra degrees better; loin is lean and done in an hour, but dries if you overshoot. For juicy slices and low risk, collar. For something quick and light, loin with the probe at 63 °C.
Other Pork cuts
- Pork ribs (St. Louis and baby back)
- Pork shoulder (pulled pork)
- Pork loin (roast)
- Fresh pork belly (skinless)
- Pork knuckle (hock, bone-in and skin-on)
- Suckling pig (half, split and cleaned)
- Ibérico pork presa
Approximate figures. Sources and the portion rule are in "How we calculate it".