First Boston Butt purchased with the skin/hide left on

mjrodney

Picked up a Wally World pork shoulder recently, and upon prepping it for low and slow, I noticed the strangest looking fat cap.

Much to my surprise, the fat cap turned out to be the skin/hide of the hog.

Never had to skin a piece of pork sold in a supermarket setting before.

Is this more common in supermarkets than I might have first thought?

DMW

Is it a picnic shoulder?

BigGreenCraigdotcom

Generally, a picnic will come with the skin on it.

gdenby

Pork shoulder has 2 parts, the butt and the picnic. While most of the shoulder sold around me is from the butt, the picnic portion is somewhat common, and always has the skin on.

I've made a few mediocre attempts at making cracklin's from both picnic and belly skin. If you know how, the skin is an extra treat. I once saw a recipe where someone figured out how to cook a picnic with the skin on, and turn the skin to cracklin's at the same time, so that crispy and pulled pork were available at the same time.

The pork will cook fine w. the skin on. It is easy to slice off at the end. It will be, in my opinion, a little better with the skin slashed, and even better w. the skin off, as the excess fat renders better, and the remaining fat crisps.

SmokeyPitt

+1... what you have is most likely the picnic.

 I have only done one and I left the skin on due to time constraints.  Once cooked the skin pulled off easily, but of course there was no rub or bark on that section that was under the skin.  Next time I would try to remove it. 

Hi54putty

Yep. It's the picnic. Walmart sells them like that. I think they have a little sweeter flavor than butt. I like them.

Lit

Yeah they have more of a ham taste. I score the skin and then season and eat the skin bites at the end. Mmmmmm

Lit

Pic

SmokeyPitt

Lit said:

Pic

Man...that looks awesome @Lit.  I change my mind...next time I do one I will score the skin and make pork rinds in place . 

Lit

When they come out right they taste like bacon. I have stood there and picked them all off and eaten them on more than one occasion. Take them off before you foil or they lose the crunch.