# Help selecting cuts of beef, pork and lamb



## sawyer (Feb 18, 2010)

I've only just begun researching a raw diet for my dog. I've asked some people I know about local places to get various cuts of meat and someone suggested I look at the website I linked below (University's ag school).

Prices here look good (although I'm far from an expert... I typically buy the exact same stuff every time for myself so don't know what most meat costs), but I really don't know exactly which cuts would be best.

Mizzou Meat Market

Now... just need to find a good source for poultry and fish (I know there are better options around here than the grocery store... just haven't found them yet).


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

You don't want to buy any of the stuff at that place. It's all way too expensive. Beef, because of the cost, will be a minor component in the diet anyway. Find poultry sources first. It's the cheapest and it will be what you start with. Pork stuff will be the next most expensive and the thing you will probably feed 2nd after your dog has adjusted to poultry.

Check out my web site at Skylar, Zack, and Abby on the WEB for ideas on how to begin feeding raw and how to begin buying food. The things you will feed most often will be stuff for less than $1/lb. The majority of my dog's food is around $.50/lb or less.

I guess it depends on the size of your dog. If you have a small dog, it won't eat a lot and price isn't that big of deal. I have 2 Great Danes so price is a major consideration.


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## spookychick13 (Jan 26, 2010)

I have been told that pork butt roast and flank steaks are good red meat sources. I believe flank steak is pretty reasonable...at least where I live. 

Definitely start with chicken though like RFD said. That is what I did with our boys and I can tell you with all honesty, the transition was perfect. No tummy issues what so ever.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Pork butt roast is not a red meat in my line of thinking!  What I did was bought a 1/2 natural fed beef and had it cut up to my specifications for dog food, but also had some done for us too, so it worked out great. You can always scan the Craigslist ads for natural beef for butcher, right now we have in our area beef with cut/wrap for really cheap.:biggrin:


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

whiteleo said:


> Pork butt roast is not a red meat in my line of thinking!


Despite the marketing campaign of the hog growers association, pig meat is red meat. According to USDA, anyting that is not poultry is red meat.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

sawyer said:


> Now... just need to find a good source for poultry and fish (I know there are better options around here than the grocery store... just haven't found them yet).


Wal Mart is where I buy my chicken quarters for about $.60/lb. They sell it in 10 lb bags. Sometimes they go on sale for $4/bag and then I stock up big time. 
I also buy whole turkey at any grocery store on sale. I hit the jackpot on butterball turkey for $.25/lb once. i bought over 200 lbs. lol. 
This is also where I get my pork picnic roasts. I pay $.99/lb and it's the most expensive thing I buy regularly.

I buy Beef ribs on sale anywhere, and feed a little ground beef, which I also stock up on when I see sales. Ground is not ideal, but it's the most affordable beef I find. 


Asian markets are GREAT sources of whole fish and organ meats.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I really only consider BEEF to be RED MEAT, haven't you heard the saying" pork the other white meat"


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## Sir (Feb 4, 2010)

I consider Bison to be the healthier red meat. :biggrin:

Last year, bison was less per pound than this year. I guess the demand is up.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

It will be hard to find appropriate cuts of beef that are bone in because beef bones are not good to feed to dogs. They are generally just too dense. The only bone in beef source that we feed regularly is beef ribs. We use those more for a treat than a meal. They last a while and have a decent amount of meat on them. The main source of beef in our dogs diet is beef heart which is very rich so you would want to add it in gradually.

Pork cuts are more easy to feed. We mainly feed pork ribs as their pork source. Also pork shoulder or butt roasts. Some people feed pork neck bones but I personally not the biggest fan of them, but they are fine to feed.

Pretty much any cut of lamb is alright since they are smaller animals so the bones are fine to feed an average sized dog. I personally would stay away from any t-bone cut of meat since its a strange shaped bone.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

whiteleo said:


> I really only consider BEEF to be RED MEAT, haven't you heard the saying" pork the other white meat"


Yes, thats the reason I said, "Despite the marketing campaign of the hog growers association." USDA considers pork as red meat. Anything that is not poultry is red meat and I don't think you could by any stretch of the imagination call pig meat poultry. :smile:

The hog growers want people to have the impression that pork is less fattening than it is.


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## chrisinaustin (Dec 6, 2009)

In terms of things like Butterball (I'm pretty sure) and the WalMart bagged chicken (I'm wondering) aren't they injected/brined? I thought I read that that stuff should be avoided. If it's OK, I'll be heading over to the WM this afternoon, as the local hispanic supermarket was out of backs/necks, and the quarters were over $1.50/lb.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Bailey our Dane will refuse to eat whole turkeys like the ones from butterball because of the solutes that are added.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

chrisinaustin said:


> In terms of things like Butterball (I'm pretty sure) and the WalMart bagged chicken (I'm wondering) aren't they injected/brined? I thought I read that that stuff should be avoided.


Some Walmarts have "enhanced" chicken quarters and some don't. Some Walmarts sometimes have enhanced chicken and sometimes don't. It just depends on the store and their supplier.

As to whether this enhanced meat causes a problem or not, I tend do doubt it. More and more different kinds of meat are getting enhanced. I have read in some meat industry trade journals that eventually you won't be able to buy anything except enhanced meats.

I have fed my dogs both kinds of quarters and can't tell any difference in them which I feed. I doubt that the enhanced liquids are harmful. They are mostly saline solution. Our bodies are aout 70% saline solution anyway. When you go to the hospital and are sick and dehydrated, they give you saline solution. I never worry about whether the chicken I feed (or eat myself) is enhanced or not.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I fed my dog enhanced turkey ONCE and he was sick for 2 days, avoid that crap as if it was the plaque.


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## sawyer (Feb 18, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> You don't want to buy any of the stuff at that place. It's all way too expensive.


I obviously wasn't going to buy the tenderloin.

The liver, heart, tongue (?), soup bones (?) and a few cuts of lamb were all under or around $1/pound.

I haven't seen anything as cheap as $0.50/pound anywhere. Maybe I could find it if I was buying in huge quantities right now, but I won't have the space for that for awhile.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

I just quickly scanned that web page and didn't see everything, I guess. Liver and heart are great. I've fed tongue but don't particularly like to handle it. The dogs won't eat it if its not cut up into chunks. The $.50/lb stuff is almost always going to be chicken or turkey.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Sawyer- from your market, I would use things like the lamb breast, lamb riblets as they are a soft bone and the dogs can eat the whole thing and the price is right. The beef tongue, but you'll have to cut it into slices or chunks and the heart and liver.


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