Pork Butt vs. Pork Picnic - Head to Head


 
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Benny L.

TVWBB Fan
Well, I'm giving this a try. I'm far from a pro, but I wanted to see for myself whether I prefer Butt or Picnic (or if I can even tell a difference).

This afternoon I purchased a 9lb Picnic ($1.18/ lb) and an 8lb Butt ($1.78/lb) with the thought of seasoning and cooking them side by side. I trimmed the rind/skin/whatever you call it from the Picnic, but I left nearly all of the soft fat on both. (Mmmmmm, delicious pork fat...
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) I rubbed both with a mix of turbinado sugar, New Mexico red and green chile powder, salt, garlic and onion powder, marjoram, allspice, and cinnamon.

I fired a chimney of about 15 briquettes at 10:00pm, then at 10:30 I tossed the lit onto a full ring of K, added two chunks of apple and one of cherry wood (what I had on hand), and assembled the smoker with meat and probe. I'm shooting to have my temp stabilized by midnight, but I'm sort of on a late night schedule now anyway so I'm in no particular hurry.

Anyhow, just thought I'd share a cook with you guys, and maybe offer some notes for the Butt vs. Picnic discussion. We'll see how this goes...
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CLICKABLE THUMBNAIL PICS

Packaged Pork:


Trimmed:


Rubbed:


On the Smoker:
 
You go Benny, can't wait to hear your findings. Nice pics, hope your cook goes without a hitch for you.
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5:00am and all's well. The smoker has been chugging away right around 225 all night... I like to take my butts nice and slow until morning, then kick the temp up a bit if I need once I can monitor the cook. Back to bed for me.

PS:

HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the dads out there! Hope you get to EAT and/or COOK whatever you like, and you get to spend some nice time with your families.
 
Haha, you guys crack me up.
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Wife took the laptop with her to work, so I couldn't get online. I did kept up the cook and the photos, so here are the results:

Didn't mention earlier, but I flipped both the Picnic and Butt at my 5:00am check-in.

Around 9:00am I upped the temp to the mid 230s and held there for the rest of the day. Around 1:00 the probe was showing an internal temp of 190, and by 2:30 both roasts (can you call them a roast?) met the jiggley-bone test. Internals ranged throughout the 190s for both depending on where I measured.

I double-wrapped each one in foil with a cup or so of cider vinegar, apple juice, and rub, wrapped each foil pack in a towel, and packed into a small cooler by 3:00.

Meteorite-Style Piggies Before Resting:



At 5:30pm I opened the cooler up and was pleased to find the piggies still piping hot. Internals read in the 160s... perfect.

Meteorite-Style Piggies After Resting:


I pulled both at the same time... separated the big muscle chunks to (literally) let off some steam, then got to work. I added some rub I saved from last night, and more of the vinegar/apple juice sauce with the addition of maple syrup.

Pulled Pork:



Now I didn't do all this just to take a bunch of pictures, I wanted a taste test. So naturally I made myself a sandwich of each.
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Nothing fancy here, just pork, a little onion, and some cheddar. Side dishes? Well that's what the other sandwich is for.
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Dinner:


A Bit of Leftovers:


MY THOUGHTS

I could tell a difference in the texture of the meats, but not the taste. Even when I removed the Butt from the package, the meat felt softer... the Picnic was more firm. The pulled pork turned out exactly the same way. Butt was a little more moist and tender than the Picnic. Looking at it the other way, though, the Picnic had a little "meatier" texture to it. This may be due to the fact that the Butt was a pound smaller but smoked for the same length of time, but this has been my general impression of Butts and Picnics all along anyway. Regardless, the difference was not extreme. If I only had one without the other, I would think it was cooked right-on.

Although I couldn't tell a difference in flavor, my wife mentioned that she thought the Picnic tasted better, as it seemed to "take" the seasoning more. I do wonder if the Picnic was a slightly drier than the Butt, when I added the rub and sauce during pulling, if it was able to soak up a little more juice. I didn't have any liquid pooling in the bottom of either pan though, but who knows.

As I noted at the beginning, regular prices for Butts and Picnics are within $0.60/lb here. I didn't notice significantly more or less waste/shrinkage with one or the other, although the Picnic did have a little bigger bone. I don't have a scale to actually weight the finished meat weight, but as far as I'm concerned the price per pound of finished meat is close enough not to matter.

FINAL VERDICT

All in all, the only difference I could tell between the two was the Butt being slightly more moist and tender. I actually have a personal preference for the meatier texture of the Picnic, but that could also be a factor of the cooking itself.

In my humble opinion, the two cuts are similar enough that the next time I do pulled pork I'll just choose the nicest looking piece of meat and/or the one closest to the weight I'm looking for, regardless of whether it's a Picnic or a Butt.

Actually, I'll probably stick with Picnics, because my #1 barbeque partner really likes that arm bone.
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Probably way more than info than any of you really want to read, but that's what I've been up to this weekend.
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Sure was one hell of a delicious experiment.
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good to hear. You got my mouth watering. Thank God I'm about to pull two racks of the WSM in about 2 minutes.

Good ribs

Good beer

Good eats
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jerry Pollard:
$0.60 lb???!! $1.68-$2.00 here.
That's some fine looking PP. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Jerry, Benny was saying that they are within $0.60lb of one another. "This afternoon I purchased a 9lb Picnic ($1.18/ lb) and an 8lb Butt ($1.78/lb) with the thought of seasoning and cooking them side by side."

Prices here in PA. Picnics are $0.99-$1.09 and Butts are $1.49lb and up.

Benny, pretty much my conclusion to butts verses picnics as well. Great report and pics, Thanks for taking the time.
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I agree. I cooked picnic this weekend when I always cook butts. It turrned outt great the flavor was really good the only thing I noticed was the tenderness. It was plenty tender the butt is just more tender.
 
Benny - great post, pics, and review. Great idea. And now we should even have a comparison review from Bryan. Always cooked butts. Got me wanting to try a picnic now.
 
Best sale prices I can get whole bone in shoulder butts $1.69/lb, picnics hock removed $0.99/lb. Butts are somewhat better IMO, I think my waffle point is about $0.60/lb difference. So I'll take picnics for the most part.


Nice to see your side by side comparison r benash, thanks!
 
Thank you guys for the comments! This was fun to do... the cooking, the eating, and the writing. I appreciate you guys reading and adding your two cents.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dale Perry:
I see it is pre brined meat. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It was, and I don't normally buy it like that. My usual nearby supermarket carries 10-12 lb picnics in a brisket-like cryovac package, but they've been completely out since before Memorial day. These are natural/no solution picnics. Few weeks ago I happened into a store near my work, found that they sold these Tyson picnics and butts side by side, and that's where I got the idea.

The price at my usual place is about $0.99/lb for the picnics (never seen a butt there), and I can often (used to at least) find them on sale for as little as $0.69/lb. In general I prefer to cook meat that hasn't been dosed with solution, but the Tyson butt and picnic were just fine. I won't have a problem buying them until my usual place gets sorted out.

And on the one hand I was thinking that $0.60/lb difference between Picnics and Butts isn't much, but on the other hand the Butt costs about 50% more per pound. If you gave me the choice of two Butts or three Picnics, I'd take the Picnics for sure.
 
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