Work out pork cost per cooked serving.
Pork shrinks more than most people expect, and the amount depends on how it is cooked rather than on the cut alone. A shoulder taken to pulling temperature loses thirty-five to forty-five percent of its weight as fat renders and collagen releases water; a quickly seared loin chop loses closer to twenty. Working from a chosen serving size rather than a per-pound figure gives the number that matters when feeding a set number of people: six pounds of shoulder at $4.50, shrinking a third, yields about sixty-five cooked ounces, or thirteen five-ounce servings at roughly two dollars each. Rounding down to whole servings is deliberate — a partial portion feeds nobody.
Servings and cost per portion from raw pork
Cooked weight = raw weight x (1 - shrinkage / 100); cooked ounces = cooked weight x 16; servings = floor(cooked ounces / serving ounces); cost per serving = total cost / servings
Cost estimates only. Whole cuts of pork should reach an internal temperature of at least 63 C (145 F) with a three-minute rest, and ground pork 71 C (160 F). Follow your local food safety guidance for handling and storage.
Because it is held at temperature for hours, which renders out intramuscular fat and lets collagen release the water it was holding. That loss is what makes the meat tender, so it is a feature rather than a fault.
Four to six cooked ounces for a main course with sides, six to eight for a meat-forward plate or sandwiches. Scale up for teenagers and for buffets where people serve themselves.
Yes, meaningfully. A brined joint retains several percent more weight because the salt helps the proteins hold water, so brining both improves texture and lowers cost per serving.