Picnic...yes? No?


 
J

John Scalera

New member
Hey guys,

I just finished my first 10 smokes and I'm loving it. I have done pulled pork, ribs and some chickens thus far. I'm hearing conflicting reports about the pork picnic cut for smoking. One friend tells me that a friend of his uses it and has won various championships by pulling it as in Mr. Brown. I've also heard negative reports that it becomes more like a giant pork chop because there's not enough fat within the meat. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
I've smoked them before and made pulled pork. It turns out good, it's just that by the time you smoke it and go to pull it you're pulling the "rind" off the meat and your total amount of finished food will be less than a same size butt.

Why don't you just try it out and decide for yourself! I've got one in the freezer now that I'll try to smoke after thanksgiving.
 
I've done a picnic and butt at the same time before as a comparison. The finished product tasted the same, I really couldn't tell a difference. The pro to a picnic is the cheaper price/lb, but the cons are more prep work (removing the thick layer of skin is sometimes not easy, more external fat to trim) and more of the weight is wasted in trimming and bones. A butt is certainly easier to prep.
 
Both are part of the front shoulder.
Think butt part of the ham vs shank part of ham.
Butts easier & much less waste. The cheaper cost does not justify buying the picnic when butts are so cheap!
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I was just curious because it seems that the picnic is always to be found at the local store versus asking the butcher for the butt but he always is more than willing to sell it The other question is should I purchase the butt with bone in? The last time I purchased a butt, I wound up getting with the bone removed and some netting to keep everything in tact. To cut down on the smoking time, I decided to cut it into 2 pieces, about 4 lbs each. They turned out great.
 
I like bone in, 6-7 lbs. At hunt camp we have a thermometer on the smoker but no meat thermometer, when the bone is loose it's done.
 
Wow, this is why I love this site! I was going to ask the same thing John did. My wife bought a picnic, thinking she was buying a pork butt. It's been in the freezer while I tried to figure out what to do with it. Now I know! Thanks guys.
 
Sometimes picnics come on sale for .79/lb 'round here. I'd be fool not to try it, so last winter I did at least a dozen of them. It's a good cut with more waste than a butt, but the taste is the same to me. It's great for pulled pork and if you like the skin to make rinds then I guess it's not really waste. Good fat content in a picnic, too.
 
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