My wife and I have just returned from Whole Foods Market's new store,
which is near our home. I've been fairly jaded about organic, free
range, vegetarian. . . etc. foods, preferring just the normal stuff.
I've smoked a few pounds of pork, ribs and beef in my life and now do
mostly grilling due to time. Whole Foods Market is an Austin company,
now pretty much nationwide, that caters to the organic and vegetarian
type of folks, and charges very well for doing it. I've been in the
store a couple times, but this is the first time I was tempted to
purchase anything.

What we purchased was some pulled, smoked pork. They have a large
smoker at the store and do chickens, turkey, sausages, brisket and pork
butt/ribs. What surprised me was their price for the pulled, smoked
meat. We got a pound of pulled pork for $4.99/# That's incredible for
the finished product, but I was skeptical of how it would taste. Now at
home, and haven eaten some, I can report that it's (almost) as good as
what I used to produce myself in my own smoker. The meat was pulled and
chopped in its own juice, with nothing added. There was a good blend of
crust, smoke ring and inner meat, with little fat. You serve yourself
from a tray, spooning it into a carry-home half pint, pint or
quart-sized container. They also have a wide selection of seafood,
beef, pork and poultry that appears to be top of the line. For
instance, the store by us has a visible cooler where they dry age beef
before putting it out for sale.

Here's their URL http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/

If they have a store in your area, give it a try and see what you think
of their smoked meats.

--
---Nonnymus---
In the periodic table, as in politics,
the unstable elements tend to hang out on
the far left, with some to the right as well.