Pork "shoulder" roast with potatoes... Mmmm. Problem is, when I unwrapped this roast to season it (butcher paper labeled "shoulder roast") there were 3 RIBS attached to the roast. Wth? Maybe I'm stupid, but I didn't know there were ribs in the shoulder? I had to cut cartilage and bones out of this, and then trim, roll, and tie the roast. Ugh. Just when I think I've calmed down about the way our local butcher mangled our pigs, I get fired up again. Can anyone explain to me how there would be rib bones in the shoulder? Regardless, considering that we wanted all our roasts to be boneless... Sigh. So, add boney shoulder roasts to bone-in loin roasts, no tenderloin, and all thick (no thin) cut bacon, and my brain is boiling. We're soooo going to have our hogs hauled down to Hubbard next year where we'll try Voget Meats. Though we may take some ground into the sucky butcher to have brats made... Their brats are excellent.
Anyhow, this roast was definitely delicious. I don't think we could ever go back to store-bought pork. We gave some friends a shoulder roast instead of a bottle of wine as a host gift when they threw a party a couple weeks back. For Christmas, they got a new smoker, and tried it out on the roast. Apparently the results were spectacular. So, they went out and bought another roast at the store to make the meal again. Well, our buddy called LJ to complain that the store bought roast was "crap". Lol. He said the store meat was extremely fatty, and mushy. We're pretty happy about that comment. Sorry that he got cruddy meat, but very happy that our pork came out so good, especially considering that the estimated live weights for the four pigs we raised were between 340-380 lbs. Big pigs, but lean, tasty, and the chops are HUGE! It may not be economical, as the pig's rate of growth slows as they get bigger (meaning more feed for less gain), but I think we'll grow them out past the recommended 225-250 mark again this year. Because when I want a chop, I want a CHOP. :)
