Pork shoulder $5.00/lb


 
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Tom Raveret

TVWBB Pro
Now I know that anyone seeing this subject heading is probably saying (he must mean baby backs) but no I'm talking shoulders.

Niman Ranch is a very high end meat prodoucer with the best of the best in terms of the way they raise, feed and slaughter animals. Just recently they started carrying pork shoulders and I was wondering if anyone has tried one of these. Their website has very interesting articles and I have been quite impressed by the products I have had of theirs. I've tried their applewood smoked bacon (trader Joes carrys it) and had a frenched rib steak (cowboy steak) at a very classy Los Angeles restraunt last time I was out there.

I know $35 for a pork shoulder is way way up there but while I havent done it yet but I may have to try this. Has anyone tried Niman Ranch pork ??

If so what has been your experience. I would love to know.


They also have racks or 1.5 baby backs for $40 so thats $13.33/lb

www.nimanranch.com
 
Tom, I believe that the shoulder is also known as a picnic cut. Members correct me if I'm wrong. I got one last weekend at Fred Meyer for a bit under 2 bucks a lb. Mine had been sporterized by the supplier so I used less than half the salt recommended for the brine. Soaked for four hrs and changed out with fresh water for over night. IMO the finished product was still too salty for my taste, but still edible. I brine because the thought of all the spices in a rub just can't seem to cross my wallet.
Word of caution. Check the "conditon" of the meat before seasoning.
Having said that, this is a wonderful pc of meat! Try it, you might like it. Mikey does (my son).
 
Picnic is the bottom half of the whole shoulder; blade roast, butt, or Boston butt is the top half of the whole shoulder.

Regards,
Chris
 
I cooked a Niman Ranch Brisket once. It, too, was $5 a pound. It was excellent. Their steaks are wonderful. I haven't tried their pork. I would bet it's mighty tasty, though.

I'll admit that it's a hard mental leap for me shelling out big bucks for the lowly brisket and pork shoulder!

Let us know how it turns out.
 
Unless my new wife's last name was Hilton or Gates, IMHO, it would be a sure sign that I had gone insane if you ever saw me paying $5 per pound for a Boston Butt.

Again, this is just my opinion...

If the Niman Ranch pork was that much better for BBQ, I think you would be hearing of competition guys turning in Niman Ranch Baby Backs and etc.

I never really gave much thought about cooking up Prime Briskets until the competition guys started talking about it.

When I first called the distributor to inquire about them, the distributor asked "are you using them for BBQ competition?" because people that buy his prime briskets are competition guys.

For me, brisket is a once a month type of thing since it takes more of my attention than a butt. The prime briskets are easier to do, for me, because of the increased marbeling. So I guess I don't mind paying 60% more for my prime brisket. Actually, I have heard of people paying more for choice briskets on this forum.

But $5 per pound for a pork butt?

I have had the Niman Ranch Lamb and Pork in a couple of nicer restuarants in the Bay Area, a couple in Los Angeles and even in Scottsdale, Az. They were very good but they were all chops.

I can understand the difference between using premium pork and regular pork. Especially when seared over extremely high heat and then finished in the oven. It is a cooking method taht really shows of the quality of the ingredient.

However with low and slow, I don't know if the difference would translate into the finished product as well.

Then again, it could very well be that subconciously, I am biased against it because I go through alot of pork butts every month and they are already darn good. Maybe it could just be because I am a cheap. Heck, I make damn good money but I am always searching for the best deal on meat. I bought hundreds of pounds of pork when the guy at Sam's Club messed up and gave it to me for like $0.50 per pound and was giddy like a kid on X-mas.

If you do it and it turns out to be the best pulled pork ever, please use a disclaimer at the begining of your post about it.

I don't want you ruining this for me. It is my inexpensive pleasure and I have to many expensive ones already.

What is it that they say... Ignorance is Bliss? /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tom Raveret:
[qb] ...a frenched rib steak...

[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I'm afraid to ask, but here goes....

How do you "french" /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif a steak?
 
See the bone sticking out at 10 o'clock? That's called frenching. Rack of lamb is the meat most often seen trimmed this way.
images%5Ccowboy%20steak.jpg
 
I still haven't bit the bullet (ok maybe on this forum a better choice of words is called for) but I have gotton on Niman ranch's mailing list and they e-mail very interesting articles about how the animals are raised and how it is different than %99 of all the commercial hog farmers.

I did however call and talk with their marketing director and she may be inclined to give the users of this board a promotion code that would give us a discount to try the product. I definately will at some point and think it would be interesting to see how the flavor is different by blinding one against a store bought pork shoulder. I will be emailing her later today and will post any information she forwards.
 
Tom,

I'm happy for you to be the point man between TVWB and Niman on this. Let them know that I would be willing to promote the promotion code not only through this bulletin board, but also my monthly e-mail newsletter that goes out to ~700 subscribers, and I will promote it on the home page for 1 month, if they're willing.

Keep us informed,
Chris
 
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