Which meats are the "Best Bang for the Buck"?

[jkmicronix]

I've been a bbq hobbyist for quite some time, but this summer I'm looking to step it up a bit, just ordered a char grill outlaw with a side fire box.

I've done a lot of chickens and babybacks, but I was wondering which meats will give me the best yield for my dollar.

baby backs are obviously far from cost effective, so what other types of ribs are both affordable and good quality?

I've also never done any pork butt, is that expensive as well?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated!

[Skidder]

Anything on the side or middle of the road!! Just messing with you. I buy shoulders for 68 cents a pound on sale and smoke them up for the guys at work on the cheap. I buy four for around 30 something dollars and a few buns and Roxy's mustard sauce and I'm the king at work.

[wnkt]

You'll get shrinkage when you smoke any meats. But for the most meat for the money I think are pork butts. Only a couple bones and they are not as expensive. and you can find them on sale every now and then.
Briskets are all meat...other than quite a bit of fat, and they will shrink up some too, but no bones.

Experiment!....every time you go in a grocery store check the meat dept.
Get a Sams club membership, or CostCo or other big box place that has bulk meats.

Im sure you'll gets lots of more opinions on this
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Electricity can be dangerous. My nephew tried to stick a penny into a plug. Whoever said a penny doesn't go far didn't see him shoot across that floor. I told him he was grounded. - Tim Allen

[swampcook]

the bay backs are the most expensive thing where i'm at. butts are cheap.
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From the department of the redundancy department

[ou812warford]

Butts are great! They taste really good when done right and aren't hard to do. Man I want to cook one now.
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TW

Oklahoma Joe 16" traditonal
weber gold 26 3/4"

[Neuby]

the two best cuts of meat for the dollar

pork butt/shoulder
brisket

personally, even as a Texas native, I am partial to a good pulled pork butt over brisket. Don't get me wrong, I like a well smoked brisket, however I think a pork butt provides more flavor and more flexibility. If you spend a little time searchin different websites, you can find dozens of drastically different pork butt recipes. Brisket certainly has plenty of different rubs, but they are all pretty similar. Carolina pulled pork, cuban pulled pork, Texas pulled pork, and Tennesse pulled pork all taste drastically different. I think this is an advantage that pork butts have over brisket.

I actually made (hold your breath traditionalists) a mango and prune basted pulled pork last weekend. Before you dismiss it, give it a try. I marinated it in a lime juice/orange juice/cider vinegar/garlic/beer marinade for about 24 hours. Then I butterflied the pork butt, removing the bone (again traditionalists, please give it a chance) I filled the butterflied pork butt with mango puree, a cup of prunes, garlic, brown sugar, chile powder and bacon. Then I wrapped the whole thing up. I wrapped the wrapped up pork butt in bacon, then tied it all up with butchers twine. I smoked it as I normally would. When serving, I made a apple cider vinegar red pepper sauce.

The results. Honestly, I thought it was ok. Something different, not bad, not my favorite. However, I had about 12 people over to my house that night. I had 7 people say it was the best thing I have ever made, and 3 people said that it was hands down the best thing they have ever eaten that was cooked outdoors. I think the fruit provides a sweet flavor, and the powders provide a spicy flavor. A rather significant contrast. this reciepe can be googled by typing "caja china pulled pork". Go past all the pages where they try to sell you stuff, the recipe is laid out for you.

This is why I think pork butts are better for the dollar. The range of things you can do with that cut of meat makes it better in my opinion dollar for dollar.

[JimH]

Sirloin tip roast, pork tenderloin and pork loin have the least shrinkage/loss of the meats I've cooked. Brisket & butt yeild around 50% cooked weight.
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The Demolition Man - Demolition Man BBQ

[SoEzzy]