I've been looking to purchase pork shoulder, butt, picnic roasts etc. with the skin still intact. So far not much luck. Ideas? I live in Illinois
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Cheshire Pork. Great pork and pork products. Where I buy skin on pork shoulders. I’ve got 2 19# skin on shoulders from them in the freeze right now. Watch for sales!
Fortunately I live in a cheap shipping zone for them but further out zones can have steep shipping.
Good luck on your quest, -
Because you want to make cracklins?Comment
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Actually, a few years ago our local grocery store had some delivered by mistake. They were selling them for .99 cents a pound to get rid of them. I left the skin on and only put rub on the exposed meat. The fat under the skin rendering while smoking gave the pork an awesome flavor. I'm trying to see if I can recreate that
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I've been fighting to find decent skin OFF pork bellies, ever since my st00pid Costco switched to only skin ON versions. SUCKAGE. Sam's usually has 3-5 in the case, not a lot of selection and only about 1/2 the pork belly size I was used to - and they just weren't very good for the bacon I make - not very thick, so you get these skinny little slices. Dangit.
Anyways, I found some at Restaurant Depot the other day, which made me happy! They weren't QUITE as big or thick as the ones I get at Costco, but they were decent, so I picked up 2 full bellies....
Then I went to Costco, and even though they are skin-on, I took a look and found one I HAD to have! Over 14 POUNDS of pork belly, it was a seriously THICK BOI. I grabbed it, even knowing I would have to fight it to deskin it. I actually found this time it was easier to skin, didn't lose near as much of the underlayer and didn't take me as long. I guess I'm kind of getting the hang of it. Still, though, I don't like having to pay $4/lb for 1½-1¾ pounds of skin I'm going to just throw away. I know, I know... make cracklins, make chicharonnes, etc., make dog treats... no one here will eat them, and I don't want to spend the time and effort on making them for the dog, and she's on a diet anyways - much to her dismay.
But hey, she's finally got HIPS again, instead of just looking like an overgrown wiener dog!
So for now, I just freeze the skins when I have them and throw them in the trash can on trash truck day. <sigh> Even though they have only skin-on pork bellies, Costco STILL has the biggest, thickest, best pork bellies around.
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Not entirely answering Starsky, but some of our experience getting pork with skin on or off as mentioned by Carolyn and realdocBBQ
Depending on where you live, find an oriental grocery, skin on pork is part of their cuisine. We've gotten skin on belly. I've seen but not tried skin on deboned pork ham that they will cut to your spec. They will probably cut the skin off if that's what you want.
There is one large oriental market nearby likely prepares cuts that you ask for, I guess from the equivalent of primals.
Wild Fork has skin on and skinless berkshire belly (The skinless made excellent burnt ends for us)
Cheshire Pork has both skinless and skin on belly We've gotten their skin on. As mentioned above, their shipping is painful unless you live on the East Coast.Last edited by johnec00; August 27, 2026, 09:25 PM.Comment
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Yeah I'd like to try some of that stuff, but GD I can't afford local or supermarket beef, much less trying to pay to ship in pork. <sigh> Crazy stuff these days - and ground beef is up ANOTHER 10% year over year. It keeps outstripping even the ridiculous inflation costs the last few years.... makes me think we're paying college tuition for these animals or something. <rolleyes>
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