Arm vs Butt

Unknown

I usually buy pork butt to make pulled pork. My wife bought a "pork shoulder" - do I cook this any different then a pork but - thanks in advance for their help

The Naked Whiz

jfol,
Well, a pork shoulder consists of a "Butt" and a "Picnic". The butt is the butt end, while the picnic is the shank end, if I understand porcine anatomy correctly. So, if she bought you whole shoulder then you would cook it like a butt. Otherwise, it may be a butt or a picnic that is sorta' mislabled as a shoulder. Good luck.[p]TNW

glenn

jfol,
I cookem just the same
indirect 225-250 16-18 hours or to 190 deg internal wit a good size cunk of oak or hickory ( I dont like mesquite on pork) and since the hurricanes Oak is plentiful and free here in central fla.
it wont taste quite the same as a boston butt
but very good.
probably the bigest differance is the skin
butts dont have it picknics do
I usualy score the skin before I slather it with mustard and dump the pig rub on it[p]hope this helps
Glenn

BBQfan1

jfol,
hopefully this link will give you an idea/photo evidence of what piece you have and what it will yield. Regardless, cook it like a butt and it will be fine.
Qfan
[ul][li]Pork Shoulder: Butt + Picnic[/ul]

Unknown

jfol,
I would recommend that you inject if cooking a whole shoulder, a good injection would be 1 cup og vinegar, 3/4 cup of apple juice, tbsp or two of worc sauce, 1/4 cup of sugar. Some of best eating is that section just under the skin portion where the butt and picnic meet.
Jim

Unknown

<p />The easiest way to tell which part of the shoulder you received is by looking at the bones. The Pork(Boston) Butt comes from the top of the shoulder of the pig, so it contains the scapula (a kind of triangular shaped bone). The Pork Shoulder comes from the bottom of the pig shoulder. It contains the joint where the scapula and the humerus meet and the top chunk of the humerus.[p]If you go to the link below, there is a pig diagram at the top of the page. The Pork butt is the upper left section. The Pork picnic is the upper portion of the lower left section (above the "knee" joint).