Seems to me that you could find a 4-H kid in one of the rural counties near Chicago to raise a pig to your own specs for about half of that.

jlawrence01 wrote:Seems to me that you could find a 4-H kid in one of the rural counties near Chicago to raise a pig to your own specs for about half of that.

Quite true. I am looking into splitting a pig with my neighbor this year for both for cost and flavor issues. He shared a loin roast with us this past fall and it was the best pork I've ever had. He gets it from a farmer in Wisconsin, but I don't know much more than that at this point.

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks. Niman look fantastic but, yes, expensive. I am quite intrigued by Harbach as well. I am going to try and get out there next week (when I have a couple of days off) and see what they're about.

Kristen

All -

Just got back from Peoria for the first time. Incredble!

My question though comes in regard to their skirt steak. It is about $3.70/lb, which if I am correct is about $6-7 bucks cheaper per ppound than like Paulina. Now it is a bit rougher around the edges (no fat removed), but I can get over that to save that kind of money.

How does the actual meat compare to what I would get at Paulina or somewhere else?

jpeac2 wrote:All -

Just got back from Peoria for the first time. Incredble!

My question though comes in regard to their skirt steak. It is about $3.70/lb, which if I am correct is about $6-7 bucks cheaper per ppound than like Paulina. Now it is a bit rougher around the edges (no fat removed), but I can get over that to save that kind of money.

How does the actual meat compare to what I would get at Paulina or somewhere else?

I'm sure that Peoria uses lower grades of beef. Whether the beef is select or a low grade of choice I don't know.

You can reliably get usda choice skirt steak at most mexican grocery stores for $3-4/lb.

But it's cut differently, it's not trimmed as well, and it's not as high a grade of choice as Paulina.

It depends on what you want.