It is for our family. Pork loin has the perfect amount of fat to help keep the meat moist, but not so much that I need to spend time cleaning all the fat away when the meat has cooked. You CAN substitute a pork shoulder roast, if you prefer. It will be delicious. It will just have a lot more fat and connective tissue to clean away after cooking. I always feel that I have thrown away so much of the money I spent buying it. For me personally, it's not as good a value as a pork loin roast.