Which cuts of meat are better?

[barkley21]

When buying beef or pork for the dog, is it better to get ground beef, ground pork, etc. or actual cuts of meat like a shank or butt-roast? Or does it not matter? I usually vary his meals meaning one will be a boney meal including turkey or chicken necks/backs and one meal mostly meat (just to balance out the meat and bone), so obviously my question pertains to the meaty meal.
Thanks for any advice.

[Scott_B]

I like whole meats. Big chunks, like 2lbs. Gives them something to work at.

[technodoll]

i buy whatever is on sale, honestly. sometimes they get chunks of meat, sometimes ground meats. it all evens out in the end

[x.l.r.8]

I stilla m trying to work out what joints are what, however IGA in Ontario are selling pork shoulder for 0.97/lb so I guess I'll be stocking up on what little room there is in the freezer. Methral Meats (a local merchant) just revealed they are related to my neighbours so I'm off up there next week to see what he can do for me, I want to see what he usually gets rid of and see what I can get for next to nothing, I may even be able to sell some of the 'waste' for him and do it in a way it makes him suppy more and it costs very little. I kind of made a mistake on the cows as I asled for the bones and got the leg bones back, should have been more specific however they make great stock.
Back on topic, does anyone know a usefull link that gives the meat and where on the animal it comes from, I know one of the emu farms has one but what about pig, cow, beef and the like of 'normal' meats.

[erykah1310]

why does it matter where it comes from?? ( just curious)

[technodoll]

xlr8, here you go!

http://members.shaw.ca/masterbutcher/meat_cuts.html

[x.l.r.8]

why does it matter where it comes from??

Because i have no idea what I'm buying, I should have explained a bit more, I but meat for the 'family', I cut a hunk off for the boy and the rest is roasted for our dinner. I want to know what i'm eating . we used to but a certain roast (no bones for me ) and now I'm looking at different joints and would like to be more familiar with what to ask for from friends and locals who raise and butcher there own live stock. I last asked for bones and got a load of leg bones from the cows, I thought I was getting the right things but I could have asked for prettymuch anything else and got something better, next time it will be ribs and necks and tails (I turned down the necks and tails as I had no idea how far I was going to get into this whole RAW thing) and any cuts that are cheaper. I have 2 slaughter houses very close by and want to go and accost them and see what they can do for me. And yes I also need to get another fridge, nime has filled up with organ meat donated by the local farmers,seems many locals already feed scrap meat from food preperation and have used that as the dog main diet and never knew were raw feeders, unfortunatly this has also closed the doors to things like chicken feet as they know have a new treats without having to but chew toys (me and my big mouth :sad: ) So it's really about personal education and knowing what joints are likely to be cheap and what would be considered a good deal. From the site it looks like I would try to a avoid shanks as I want to give a joint and not worrk about what type of bone is attached. I'm still on a huge learning curve as chicken for me only 5 years ago came in a red and white bucket, now for the past 2 years I have been raising 120 chickens each April and have them in the freezer by November. I sold a Porsche to buy a tractor and traded my sicillian reds for creemore beer.