I am trying to estimate the quantity of usable meat four pork shanks will yield. I need to feed 10 people and I have two front and two hind shanks that weigh a total of 5Kg. I am hoping to get half of that weight in cooked meat so that I am left with 250g per person. I will braise them at low for a few hours and I seem to remember that they don't shrink that much. Can someone advise on whether that 50% yield by weight is realistic?
Pork shank meat yield
bulk-cookingpork
Best Answer
Well, I am in position to answer my own question now. I used 6 shanks (I got two more as I got worried they wouldn't be enough) and fed 10 adults and two children very comfortably with some leftovers.
My original shank weight was 6.8Kg and I had four front and two hind pork shanks. I would guesstimate they yielded about 300g x 12 people ~ 3.5Kg so, if ever anyone needs the info:
Pork shanks yield about half their weight in pure meat
As an aside, I would advise anyone cooking pork shanks to separate them from their skins and salt and dry the skins separately in the fridge for a couple of days before crackling them on high. The crackled skins were almost as delicious as the shanks themselves (my recipe called for very slow cooked pork which turns the skin to rubber which is a waste).
Another aside, the bones from the shanks are INCREDIBLY gelatinous (and tasty). I kept them and made terrine that smells much nicer than using trotters.