Boston Butt vs. picnic Shoulder

Rascal

I'm wondering if someone could explain the difference between the two cuts. Can you pull the shoulder like the butt or is it better sliced? Also, are they similar in taste? So far I've only cooked the butt roasts and they were wonderful! Thank you for your comments![p]Rascal

Grumpa

Rascal,[p]The whole shoulder consists of the butt (shoulder blade) and the picnic. The butt is the upper fore-leg.

[ul][li]Pork[/ul]

thirdeye

<p />Rascal,[p]For a little perspective, this is a picture of a whole shoulder my friend Rocky took. the "butt" end is on the right and the "picnic" is on the left.[p]Pulled pork is made using the front shoulder of a pig. The shoulder can be purchased whole or will be separated into a butt (Pork butt, Boston butt, blade end shoulder or blade end butt) and picnic (picnic ham) cuts. The butt end is upper portion of the shoulder and the picnic is the lower portion, closer to the foot. The butt can be bone-in or boneless. The picnic is most always bone in and they usually have the skin left on. TIP: Three options regarding the skin on a picnic are as follows: 1. The skin can be left on and scored. 2. The skin can be easily removed and discarded. This will allow more surface area for the bark. 3. The skin can be removed. and the picnic seasoned with rub or a slather, then the skin is replaced and held in place with toothpicks or twine. [p]Compared to a butt, the meat on a picnic is a little darker in color, has a slightly stronger flavor and a texture more like ham. At all costs avoid buying any pork product that has been enhanced or injected with water or other liquids. Pork shoulder has the perfect amount of fat and connective tissue, which results in a very moist end product after many hours of "low and slow" cooking. The meat will nearly fall apart on its own and can easily be pulled, shredded or even chopped. It is wonderful as a main dish, for sandwiches, as filling for fresh tortillas, etc. After pulling it can be seasoned with rub, sauced or served with condiments on the side. Include some of the bark with the pulled or chopped meat for extra flavor. Many BBQ joints will offer "inside meat" or "outside meat" choices. The inside meat being a little moister, the outside meat will include more of the bark.[p]
~thirdeye~

WessB

thirdeye,
Your fingers MUST be tired after that wonderful explanation.....LOL[p]Wess

stike

WessB,
he blatantly stole that from another website.[p]of course, it was his OWN website, so you really can't fault him!

gdenby

Rascal,[p]The butt portion is used more often commercially because it has a slightly higher yield. In part, this is because of the larger bone inside. In my own experience, I've only ever found picnics with the skin on. Its a fair amount of work to remove the skin before cooking. However, I usually go for picnics because I find them slightly better in flavor, and over-all, have a more consistant quality than different portions of the butt. When I've tried injecting butts, most of the solution dribbles out. Picnics hold it a little better. Although the final result may have somewhat less meat, its always enough for several family meals.[p]gdenby

thirdeye

stike,[p]you can fool some of the people some of the time....[p]Wes, you should know I'm not that quick on the draw, and when I try to be ..... man, I'm loaded to the gills with spelling errors or double words.[p]~t~