Pork Butt Ready To Go International

Barbecue aficionados have long known that the best meat for grilling comes from the pork butt, which isn’t where it’s commonly thought at the back end of the pig but rather at the top of the shoulder.

(actually, the ham is cut from the thigh of a pig’s hind leg, closer to where most people think the butt would be). Pork butt often goes by the more genteel name Boston Shoulder Roast.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation thinks that the butt, which has enjoyed a surge in popularity in the U.S. as the raw material for pulled pork sandwiches, should go international.

The USMEF decided to target the pork butt after a summer conference among meat groups identified the butt as the most underutilized product in meat exports.

“The pork butt grades very well when compared to the ham and loin muscles in terms of tenderness, juiciness and flavor,” said Dan Halstrom, USMEF senior vice president of marketing and communications. “It truly is an attractive and affordable cut that is greatly underutilized.

To read the rest of this story please go to: Des Moines Register