Pulled pork: Butt or picnic?


 
Monty House

Monty House

TVWBB Pro
I always did a shoulder (Boston Butt) before, but, lately, I've been leaning towards the "chunkiness" of a picnic. I seem to prefer it over the strands that come with a butt. Seems like less yield, though.
 
I go with which ever the store has that day. I know, pretty lame, but when you don't have a choice....

I prefer bone in butt.
 
I prefer Bone-in-Butt as I have found it generally more tender and to have more flavor. One thing nice about BBQ, tho', is that you get to make what YOU prefer.

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I prefer bone in butt for the smoker.
Lately, I've been really enjoying skin on picnic shoulder on the rotisserie. Crisps the skin nicely.
 
For the smoker I am a bone-in butt guy. The chunkiness you like with a picnic has sometimes translated to "tough" for me. But if it working for you and you get those oohs and aahs from your adoring fans, by all means go with it!
 
There is more waste in a picnic, but the meat is generally leaner. I do like the picnic as a BBQ'd roast (not pulled) and my son and I used to "fight" over the crackling. Picnics are also usually cheaper. You can buy the NY shoulder that has both butt and picnic and have the best of both worlds.
 
I have been using the picnic cut for my last few smokes. I really like using that bone (and some meat pieces) for a killer pea or bean soup!
 
Sandee McKinivan said:
I have been using the picnic cut for my last few smokes. I really like using that bone (and some meat pieces) for a killer pea or bean soup!
Click to expand...

The bone... for soup. (insert head smack here) I am such an idiot! We always save baked ham bones for soups and stocks. I have never considered saving all the smoked ones for stock.

We DO save a few pulled pork meat pieces for use in soups. Just a little pulled pork in a homemade chicken soup can change the world. But using the smoked bones in the stock making phase would add the same flavor at a much subtler level.
 
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I always used the butt for PP. When my local store had picnics on sale for $.89 a pound I grabbed three. I really liked the texture of the picnic and the flavor and yes there is a little more waste but the meat seems leaner and at half the price of the butts it's worth it.
 
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