I think my butcher has no clue


 
S

StineV

New member
Hello everyone. I could use some help. I called my butcher in norway and ordered a pork shoulder. I spesifically asked for pork shoulder because i was going to make pulled pork. I thought everything was ok so i sendt my girlfirend to pick it up at the butchers. This is what i got. It looks like i got a whole pigleg, with the thigh and picnik ham. Could this be salvaged to make pulled pork or am i busted. Did i say that the bone is still in.

IMG_1061 by stinevo, on Flickr

IMG_1060 by stinevo, on Flickr

Does anyone have any clues to what to do with the picnic ham?? Can i smoke this?
 
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I was reading about pork shoulder on the internet and the articles I read say it is made up of both the Butt and the Picnik. So maybe you got the whole thing. I say just smoke it as is! You can find the same articles with an internet search. Good luck!
 
or if you have the means to cut it, here's a guide.

pork-shoulder.jpg
 
One of the fascinating things with meat cuts is that almost every country has their own way of cutting. I think that you have what is called bog in Norwegian or picnic shoulder in the States. Don't dispare, you can do a lot great things with it, maybe even pulled pork of the part above the joint (but someone else will have to be the judge on that
http://ndla.no/nb/node/6749

Next time you go to your butcher ask for a nakkefilet and he will get you a butt. Hope that helps
 
Thank you both of you... You are truly helpfull the both of you. Helping a noob like me. I still have not decided to cut it or smle the whole thing. I will post some pictures later on on thursday when i will fire up my WSM.
 
That's what I get when I buy a whole shoulder. May have a little less of the leg bone. I'd smoke and pull the whole thing.
 
No problem, sometimes you help and some you get help. Forgot to give to the link to meat charts on TVWBB, It is helpful when trying to understand our friend on the other side of the pond.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/meatcharts.html

If you don't need the entire piece, then I would have considered to do something different with the hook or for-knoke. I would argue that it is a different type of muscle fibers
 
Bob Sample said:
That's what I get when I buy a whole shoulder. May have a little less of the leg bone. I'd smoke and pull the whole thing.
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Exactly. The OP's butcher does in fact "have a clue". What's smoked most often, the boston butt is just part of the shoulder, and I have no idea why so many BBQ forum posters call it a pork shoulder.
 
Dave Russell said:
Exactly. The OP's butcher does in fact "have a clue". What's smoked most often, the boston butt is just part of the shoulder, and I have no idea why so many BBQ forum posters call it a pork shoulder.
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Ok, I guess its just me that dont have a clue. My dad was ****ed off at me because he is a butcher teatcher at a local highschool wherer i live.. Call me next time he said.... :confused:
 
StineV said:
Thank you both of you... You are truly helpfull the both of you. Helping a noob like me. I still have not decided to cut it or smle the whole thing. I will post some pictures later on on thursday when i will fire up my WSM.
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Have to wonder if that is going to fit in one piece. What size WSM do you have?
You may want to get a big knife and a nice clean hacksaw and cut that bad boy in half!
 
Frank H said:
Have to wonder if that is going to fit in one piece. What size WSM do you have?
You may want to get a big knife and a nice clean hacksaw and cut that bad boy in half!
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I have the 22,5. Hopefully it will fit.. If not. Well that is another story..
 
StineV said:
Ok, I guess its just me that dont have a clue. My dad was ****ed off at me because he is a butcher teatcher at a local highschool wherer i live.. Call me next time he said.... :confused:
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I

Guess it's different in Norway, ok? Around here though a shoulder is still a shoulder, and they're quite often smoked, like in Memphis in May BBQ sanctioned comps, BBQ restaurants here and in much of the south, and where they were first popularized as BBQ back in the western part of North Carolina. Boston butts are just the best part and more readily available. Some folks call 'em shoulder roasts, but I was saying that I just didn't get why some refer to them as shoulders.
 
Dave Russell said:
Exactly. The OP's butcher does in fact "have a clue". What's smoked most often, the boston butt is just part of the shoulder, and I have no idea why so many BBQ forum posters call it a pork shoulder.
Click to expand...
LOL...
My butcher said just the other day, "I don't know why they call them Boston Butts, it's just a pork shoulder."

He does seem to know all the regional names, though.
 
The name Boston Butt does not refer to where the cut comes from on the pig, but rather how it was cut and packed way back in the days. Here's a quote from Ochef.com.

In pre-revolutionary New England and into the Revolutionary War, some pork cuts (not those highly valued, or "high on the hog," like loin and ham) were packed into casks or barrels (also known as "butts") for storage and shipment. The way the hog shoulder was cut in the Boston area became known in other regions as "Boston Butt." This name stuck and today, Boston butt is called that almost everywhere in the US,… except in Boston.
 
KevinInUtah said:
The name Boston Butt does not refer to where the cut comes from on the pig, but rather how it was cut and packed way back in the days. Here's a quote from Ochef.com.

In pre-revolutionary New England and into the Revolutionary War, some pork cuts (not those highly valued, or "high on the hog," like loin and ham) were packed into casks or barrels (also known as "butts") for storage and shipment. The way the hog shoulder was cut in the Boston area became known in other regions as "Boston Butt." This name stuck and today, Boston butt is called that almost everywhere in the US,… except in Boston.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the history lesson, but look in grocery store ads and in any meat department and you'll see that there's two parts to a pork shoulder: the boston butt and the picnic.
 
na man cook that sucker its better than just the butt, the end that would be part of the picnic will be sweeter, once you cook that you may nt want to do just the butt, cook it exactly like the butt though, probin like butter. it should fit in the 22, you may have to trim the lower bone part a little though. You made a mistake asking for a shoulder but you wont be upset about it in the end
 
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