Good deal!, but I believe there is a fair sized bone in the middle. I haven't bought this cut of pork before but I certainly have looked at it.

 

That is a great price. Typically, I can find pork shoulder roasts for about 1.68 a lb. but occassionally on sale at .99 cents a sale. The ones that are on sale are typically enhanced with a broth which raises sodium content. I would still buy it and feed it although I know others would not.

 

I generally buy bone-in picnic roasts for as little as .59/lb and I try to never spend more than .89/lb. This is in the greater L.A. area of Southern California. Usually the Mexican markets have the best deals on pork. I have discovered though that sometimes paying significantly more for a boneless roast is actually cheaper in the long run. The bones in these pork roasts are pretty useless so you have to cut them out and throw them away and it's almost impossible to do that without losing some meat that is difficult to remove from the bone. If you weigh the part you are throwing out and factor that into the cost, it's often cheaper per pound of usable product to buy boneless pork roasts even though the cost/lb is more.

One other strategy I often use is to share the roast between me and my dogs. I love BBQ pulled pork and carnitas so sometimes I will take a roast and cut the part away with the bone, which I then marinate and slow cook for several hours until the meat is literally falling off the bone. That is for me and my family and there is very little waste because the meat completely separates from the bone and no meat goes in the trash. The other part of the roast, the boneless part, gets portioned for the dogs. Very little waste overall and a cheap source of protein for all of us.

 

Now I want to buy a picnic roast! The freezer is overflowing so I better stick to the plan though.

The bone in the roast is fine for Max, a 38 pound 10 year old spaniel mix. He eats some of it and I toss the rest.

It is the lower part of the front leg of the pig and includes the elbow joint. The upper part is hugely fatty but the lower part is lean and resembles a lamb shank with skin. I have skinned the upper part, fed the skin and tossed most of the fat. Conflicted on that and currently have some skin in the freezer I am debating whether to just toss out. It is supposed to be about 30% bone but I think it is much less bone than that.

Last time I bought this cut it was about 6 pounds and was cut into 3 sections through the bone. I cut out the upper bone that was cut at both ends and fed Max the bones in the other two bits, the joint part and the shank part. If your find is cut same way mine was it is just about a perfect meal size for your big guys. I wouldn't offer the top bone and would use it as boneless meat, much prefer for Max to gnaw uncut ends.

 

Thanks for this post...I was about to post something similar...saying I found pork shoulder butt for $0.95 so I stocked up, too (I usually pay $1.29).

This one had a different looking bone in it than what I am used to - usually I see a flat bone that looks like a shoulder blade. The dogs LOVE that one...

I am attaching photos of what I found tonight, and wonder if it is OK as a rec bone (thinking the little part is too little) or if it is too big/hard.

I have two Boxers - between 55-65#.

Thanks (and thanks again for the post!)!

 

Michelle - Those are what I got one time. They weren't BAD, I would just not seek them out again.

This thread describes my trials & tribulations with them: http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/raw-feeding/4024-weight-baring-pork-bones.html

 

Thank you Ania's mom! That's very helpful info! I am watching them gnaw right now!

 

Wow thanks for the info! I am learning so much here. Thanks guys.:wink:

 

I will never buy that stuff again. That bone was DENSE. So what I did was just cut all the meat off the bone, and I'll be giving the boneless meat/skin with a bone in meal like chicken quarters. I kept the bone for them to gnaw on outside every now and then.

 

I really liked Max with the pork leg bones and hope to offer them again. I leave lots of meat on so after the meat is gone he gnaws the softer knuckles off the bones and leaves much of the bone's shaft. If he was trying to crunch up the bone as if it were a chicken leg I would not be so happy about them!