Now admittedly, most folks will avoid pork butt if they can afford a more expensive cut of meat, but it is an inexpensive and versatile cut of meat. Walt Blevins (better known as "Cheap Bastid") wrote a post about carnitas with salsa verde that is a good use of pork butt. We tried that recipe out sans the tortillas and it is really tasty. The wife and I have subsequently developed a taste for green salsa.

One of the big box grocers in our area had pork butt on sale for $1.19/lb cut into steaks. (Bone in) So, two 8oz steaks will cost you $1.19 plus the cost of heat. (About 65 cents per 8oz serving)

As I say, you can do quite a bit with pork butt. It's high fat content makes it tasty and you can cut it into strips and combine it with almost any vegetable you have handy. You can get a big head of fresh broccoli at most stores for less than two bucks. Chop up the broccoli, add a pound of the pork butt strips, pour in a bit of chicken, beef or vegetable stock and some corn starch and you have a pork butt and broccoli stir fry that serves four for a total cost of about $3. 50.

Pork butt will turn out good just about any way you cook it. You can grill it, put it in a crock pot, bake it and pan or deep fry it.

If you have previously had an aversion to pork butt and your current financial situation necessitates you try some of the more inexpensive cuts of meat, give pork butt a try. The other nice thing about it is that, not only is it tasty, it is cheap enough that you can usually have your fill of it without breaking the bank.

Try it out in some of your favorite meat recipies and hang in there everyone.