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Cheapest Place To Buy Boston Butt/Pork Shoulder? What About Cheapest Place That Smokes It?

I need to make enough pulled pork for 50 people. I've road tested a recipe, but now need to find a cheaper source for the boston butt/pork shoulder. I will need about 4 boston butts about 7-8 lbs each. Where is the best place price wise in SF? Upper peninsula okay too.

On the other hand, the test run of one pork shoulder smoked on a a gas grill with wood chips for 15 hrs almost killed me and I'm not looking forward to doing 4. Is there a place that will sell pulled pork en masse for cheap? I am willing to even take the pork whole (not pulled) or provide the shop with pork and pay for smoking service. In this case, all the Bay Area is ok.

Thanks for your help!

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  1. You can buy circa 16 lb. boneless pork shoulders at Costco for around $1.30 per pound. I know of nothing cheaper.

    1. Probably better off renting a smoker, or finding a friend who has a medium capacity smoker.

      1. Costco sounds like a good bet. Cash and Carry in Oakland might be cheaper, no membership however.

        1. There's a place on El Camino Real, in San Bruno, that might work. IIRC, it's The Rib Shack.

          Rib Shack
          223 El Camino Real, San Bruno, CA

          1. I'm pretty sure you can buy in quantity from Memphis Minnie's. That won't be your cheapest option but it would be tasty.

            I dunno about Costco, but I'm sure their price is right. In my recent travels, I've bought boston butts from Avedano's, Safeway, and Manila Oriental Market -- and Manila was my favorite. The price was close to Safeway's and the quality was indistinguishable from Avedano's (which, BTW, is way better than Safeway). The other notable difference was that the cuts were small, around 3# each.

            1 Reply
            1. re: BernalKC

              $1.89/# for skin-on, bone-out shoulders at Manila Market yesterday. They had bone-in cuts too, but I didn't take note of the price. Like I mentioned, they are all smaller cuts, but really good looking meat. I'm wondering if their sourcing is similar to the Chinatown butchers.