Difference in Quality of Boston Butt

[McEDaddy]

Team:

i recently paid the kings ransom, $5/lb for a Whole Foods Boston Butt... it came out glorious! I'm very neurotic about quality, and I'm wondering if there is any concrete differences between this supposed "highvend" meat and the regular $2/lb Boston Butt they sell at the local grocery store? Since this forum is science based, ,does anyone know of, or have experience with low-end versus high-end pork? Keep in mind I live in South Florida and I've not found a legit butcher shop to go to.

Thanks as always!
T

[HouseHomey]

Well you come to the right place. I've been broke my whole life and rarely pay more than $1.49lbs for that cut or pork. $.99 lbs is my go to price. My pork is pretty darn tasty.

The factual scientific part is me being broke. The quality of my pork is subjective.

[Huskee]

I've never paid more than 1.99, usually 1.49 or less on a sale so I can't attest to the quality of the pricier ones. My advice- buy two equal sized butts, one high-end and one regular and cook them as identically as possible and have someone give you a blind taste test from each pile.

[Potkettleblack]

Consider, better pigs make better pork. Pigs are better when they are raised well. The Whole Foods pig probably had, as food pigs lives go, a middle class to upper middle class quality of life, so the pork comes out better. Also likely that it wasn't injected with a saline solution to fatten it up and increase the weight.

I think of WFs as a legit butcher in and of itself.

Of course, I really like the heritage breed pork I get from Heritage Foods USA. Those are the 1% pigs. And they deliver, every single time.

Now, some will say that the test of a pitmaster, the true soul of BBQ is to take the cheap and make it divine. And lots of people make great PP out of cheap butt from sad pigs.

I say that the chef should start with the best ingredients available, treat minimally, and make wonderful. And I respect a cost factor here.

I think of myself being a lot closer to chef than to pitmaster. So, that's my bias.

[DWCowles]

ain't going be no days when I pay $5 lb for pork butt

[Jon Solberg]

Dont hold back bro lol lol lol lol lol

[Jon Solberg]

Commodity pork is not graded so I'm sure it's difficult to say what's high end or low end for that aspect.

Heritage pork is good in my experience and does cost more.

I'm also look forward to hearing from the meat scientist on this for sure.

[Huskee]

In reality it's all high end once it's smoked up juss right!

[CandySueQ]

Unlike beef where quality can vary a bunch, I've had mixed results with "fancy" pork. I've done Duroc and commodity pork side by side at contests and have always turned in the commodity pork because the Duroc was just way different. With that said, I know teams that swear by Duroc pork and do well with it. I recently paid $6.50 per pound (6 pound butt) for a Berkshire butt part from The Flora Butcher. The deal with their pork is the pig is fed milk and bread for the month before slaughter. This butt is larded up like Waygu with intramuscular fat. The fat on the outside has the texture of a dense cold cream. I've got one left in the freezer. I'm not going to feed it to judges!

[EdF]

Smart!

I've always been pleased with higher-end pork - used to buy them from a farmer, so it wasn't quite so expensive. But I tend to be pleased with "commodity" pork too, just not quite so much.

[McEDaddy]

CandySueQ- do you purchase your "commodity pork" from any grocery store you find or is there more to it? Thanks

[CandySueQ]

I try not to get injected or enhanced with soution butts. It's getting harder to find an "all natural" pork. This weekend, I'm cooking a Swift butt that started off at 10#. I cut the bone out, get the gland out and remove most of the fat cap. I like Smithfield all natural or IBP / Tyson

[CandySueQ]

I'm going to inject it with my own solution, a mix of Cajun Injector (brand is important!) Creole Butter, Martinelli Apple Juice and distilled water. Main reason why I don't want "enhanced" pork butt. These are fine for cooking for a crowd, because they do have added flavor already.

[McEDaddy]

What national grocer carries Smithfield pork butt? I only see the Smithfield marinaded loins at my grocer.

thanks for all the help

[CandySueQ]

Farmland is Smithfield too. They also private label for Kroger and Publix, I think.

[DWCowles]

My local Sam's club carries Smithfield pork products

[CandySueQ]

That Smithfield Premium is top notch!