Tips on purchasing pork
If you are a fan of pork steak, pork chops, pork ribs, bacon, and pulled pork, today I will be sharing some guides to help you save money, as well as tips on what cuts you might want to start buying instead of buying pre-cut and pre-cured selections.
Instead of buying pork that is already pre-cut and pre-cured, it generally saves money by purchasing pork roasts, or pork shoulders, and curing and slicing the meat yourself. While shopping for pork can sometimes be confusing, hopefully my article today will help you better understand the difference between the two different hams, pork roast, ribs, and Boston butt.
Boston butt (pork shoulder): is the upper portion of a hog's FRONT shoulder. Not only does it make a really good cut for barbecuing, making pulled pork, but it's also a good cut to use for slicing pork chops, and making homemade country-style bacon. Boston butt has always been fairly inexpensive to buy, which is why it's often a go-to choice.
When purchasing a Boston butt, always try to select one that has less fat. Boneless is even nicer, but can sometimes be harder to find.
Should the Boston butt have a bone in the center, use it for flavoring a pot of beans, or to make a soup stock out of it before discarding the bones.
Both the Boston butt and pork shoulder come from the front shoulders of the pig, but pork butts are located higher up. The pork shoulder is in the area just under the Boston butt.
A pork shoulder with a hock attached is referred to as a picnic ham when it's cured and smoked. However, a picnic ham still needs to be cooked even if it has been cured.
Picnic hams are much smaller than those of the classic ham, and they're a perfect selection for any everyday family meal. It's smaller, which makes it faster to cook.
To cook a picnic ham, or pork shoulder; place it inside a crock-pot, or roasting pan. Add one and a half cups of water to the crock-pot, or pan. Sprinkle your preferred seasonings on the meat, then transfer it to the crock-pot, or roasting pan. If you're cooking it in the crock-pot, set the temperature to the highest setting and place the lid on. If you're roasting it in the oven, cover with aluminum foil, cook the picnic ham, or pork shoulder at 375 degrees F. Glaze the picnic ham, or pork shoulder within the last thirty minutes of cooking. The meat will be cooked once it reaches 160 degrees F internally.
Generally a picnic ham, or pork shoulder, ranges between four to eight pounds. For every pound add twenty two minutes to the roasting time.
The classic cut ham comes from the back legs of the pig. If you truly want to save money on your holiday meals, then why not buy an uncured ham, or pork shoulder and cure it at home yourself? Doing so saves a lot of money.
Loin (center loin roast, or center rib roast): The pork loin is located between the shoulder and back legs and is the leanest part of a pig. The spare ribs and pork chops are cut from this area, as is the pork tenderloin roast.
Breakfast chops, boneless chops, shoulder chops, rib chops, sirloin chops, and New York cut chops are all cut from the loin area.
Pork tenderloin is lean and extremely tender. This cut of meat not only makes a beautiful roast, it's also quite yummy when cooked and sliced for sandwich meat to stretch the meat even further for meals.
Country-style ribs: is the part where the pork loin connects with the shoulder of the pig. So, country-style ribs contain a mixture of both lean loin meat, and darker meat from the shoulder. Although they are often lined with some fat, country-style ribs are cheaper than buying spare ribs. Plus, country-style ribs do have a considerable amount more of meat on them. So, when choosing ribs, these may be your best option for getting your full money's worth. The meat is also a lot more tender.
Of course, bacon that you purchase in grocery stores is made from the flesh of a pig's belly. However, you can cure your own bacon at home from a Boston butt, pork shoulder, or pork belly yourself. I recently wrote an article on making homemade bacon, so I won't be going into how I cure bacon here. If you're interested in finding out how I made it, you can go back to that article.
The jowls, hocks (shanks), and neck of the pig can be used in a number of ways. Two of the more popular options in the south are to prepare them with black-eyed peas and purple-hull peas, alongside a big pan of cornbread and turnip greens.
Don't throw the bones out, not until you make good use of them too! Any pork bones left over can be used to make pork broth, flavor beans, peas, greens, and soups.
In conclusion, I often purchase Boston butts and pork shoulders because you can slice your own pork chops off of both cuts. They're not as lean as pork loin chops, but they're pretty darn tasty. I also make pulled pork out of both of these cuts of meat and I also barbecue both. I cure and smoke pork shoulders to make my own holiday hams and I also prepare roasts from both pork shoulders and Boston butts; add diced potatoes, sliced carrots, and a diced onion, along with seasoning and tah-dah. You have the perfect family meal!
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