It seems the butts are very popular on this board but not much is said about the picnic pork shoulder. How does it compare to the butt? Watching some of the shows on "thrill of the grill" this weekend, a lot of folks cooked picnics, which surprised me b/c i always thought the butts were much better and only very slightly more expensive.
Picnic pork doesn't seem very popular, why?
- Thread starter DavidD
- Start date
Steve Petrone
TVWBB Platinum Member
To my taste, the shoulder has a different texture and subtle flavor differences. I do prefer the Boston Butt but not a big deal. If all I had were picnics, that would be ok.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Petrone:
To my taste, the shoulder has a different texture and subtle flavor differences. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
And more waste, and a lot less marbling, and less forgiving than a butt. If you over cook it, it will be dry. I'll cook them if that's all I can get but usually I just Q up something else intead of buying a picnic. Hey, Try one, you might like them. Just remember to cook it just to the pulling stage, and no further.
To my taste, the shoulder has a different texture and subtle flavor differences. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
And more waste, and a lot less marbling, and less forgiving than a butt. If you over cook it, it will be dry. I'll cook them if that's all I can get but usually I just Q up something else intead of buying a picnic. Hey, Try one, you might like them. Just remember to cook it just to the pulling stage, and no further.
David Lohrentz
TVWBB Pro
A picnic has more waste, and is more difficult to prep. You'd have to start with more raw weight to get the same amount of cooked meat with a picnic, so any price difference is negated.
Also, a picnic has a thin end and a thicker end, which makes me wonder if the thin end is done before the thick end, while a butt is more uniform in thickness from one end to the other.
Also, a picnic has a thin end and a thicker end, which makes me wonder if the thin end is done before the thick end, while a butt is more uniform in thickness from one end to the other.
Clark Deutscher
TVWBB All-Star
What everyone has said is completley true. Having said that....90% of my pork smokes are with the picnic. I can get it for about half the price of a butt. You do have to be careful not to overcook it and take it off the smoker right at tender but as long as you can do that I have not seen a large different in the finished product between a butt and picnic.
I don't seem to have the large amounts of waste that we're mentioned though....I don't trim at all and don't find excess fat in the finished product. I do have the rind to remove but it's weight is minimal.
I would suggest to try both and see what you think and baring that just use whatever's easier to get your hands on as well as most cost efficient.
Clark
I don't seem to have the large amounts of waste that we're mentioned though....I don't trim at all and don't find excess fat in the finished product. I do have the rind to remove but it's weight is minimal.
I would suggest to try both and see what you think and baring that just use whatever's easier to get your hands on as well as most cost efficient.
Clark
Nice timing for this topic. I don't have an answer, and this is mostly just rambling, but I was thinking along the same lines this weekend:
I always cook Picnics, because that's all I can find in stores by me... usually about 12-14 pounders. Summertime it's easy to catch them on sale @ $0.69 a pound. Just this past Sunday I was doing my last round of shopping for Memorial day, up in a different part of town. Stopped into a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market to see what they had. I found both Picnics and Butts in the 8lb range. For a test I picked one of each, the Picnic a little larger to account for the skin I'd cut off, and I planned to season and smoke them side-by-side for my own test and find the definitive answer.
Well... when I cut open the Butt bag I was hit with a pretty foul stank. Like strong enough my wife smelled it across the kitchen. A quick rinse under the faucet didn't help things, so I took it outside and chucked it straight in the trash. The Picnic smelled just smelled like fresh clean meat, and the end product turned out dynamite as usual. I'll give Wal-Mart the benefit of the doubt that they let one bad one slip through. No test for me this weekend, but I plan on trying again in the near future.
I always cook Picnics, because that's all I can find in stores by me... usually about 12-14 pounders. Summertime it's easy to catch them on sale @ $0.69 a pound. Just this past Sunday I was doing my last round of shopping for Memorial day, up in a different part of town. Stopped into a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market to see what they had. I found both Picnics and Butts in the 8lb range. For a test I picked one of each, the Picnic a little larger to account for the skin I'd cut off, and I planned to season and smoke them side-by-side for my own test and find the definitive answer.
Well... when I cut open the Butt bag I was hit with a pretty foul stank. Like strong enough my wife smelled it across the kitchen. A quick rinse under the faucet didn't help things, so I took it outside and chucked it straight in the trash. The Picnic smelled just smelled like fresh clean meat, and the end product turned out dynamite as usual. I'll give Wal-Mart the benefit of the doubt that they let one bad one slip through. No test for me this weekend, but I plan on trying again in the near future.