What do I do with a pork picnic?


 
S

Seth Boardman

TVWBB Fan
First of all Happy Memorial Day and a huge thank you to all who have or are currently serving!! So I got a few pork picnics on sale for 1.50 a pound which at current meat prices I didn't think was that bad. Is a picnic the same thing as a shoulder pretty much? Can I use them to make pulled pork or should I use them to make sausage? I'm game for either just have never used this cut of meat and want to see what its best used for. Thanks!!
 
Seth Boardman said:
First of all Happy Memorial Day and a huge thank you to all who have or are currently serving!! So I got a few pork picnics on sale for 1.50 a pound which at current meat prices I didn't think was that bad. Is a picnic the same thing as a shoulder pretty much? Can I use them to make pulled pork or should I use them to make sausage? I'm game for either just have never used this cut of meat and want to see what its best used for. Thanks!!
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Can you post a picture of it?
 
Seth,
The picnic is the cut just below the pork shoulder, so like lower shoulder and upper arm. My go to cut is the pork shoulder, but I have done more then a few picnic cuts in my day. You can cook the picnic just like the shoulder for pulled pork. To me the meat is a touch more hammy in flavor and some parts pull in longer stringier pieces, but have always been just as tender and amazing. Do the have the skin still on the lower part of the arm. If they do I like what M. Reed does here with the cloth over it.
 
To add to Michaels explanation above, Here is a good short read.
Butt vs. picnic

It explains everything. In the eastern US and many resturants make pulled pork with picnic cut (aka pork shoulder).

Hope this helps.
 
I personally do not like the picnic, something about it is different than a shoulder in texture and flavor that is not to my liking. I grabbed one by mistake reaching for a Burt and didn’t realize the mistake until I got home.

It doesn’t pull the same as a butt but similar, just different all around. It made ok pulled pork but nothing spectacular.
 
The picnic is the lower part of the whole shoulder, the meat is very slightly different, but in whole hog, or whole shoulder cooking it all gets pulled, chopped, and blended in so in reality it's about the same, just realize that there is a big bone in that "arm", so less meat then in a butt.
 
I cooked one like a butt really early on when I first started the hobby maybe back in 2011 or 2012. I took the skin off. I think it was all I could find or I bought it by mistake. I thought it was pretty much the same. My wife didn't like it as much. It's leaner than the boston butt. I'd wrap at around 160 to retain more moisture. If you are just making pulled pork sandwiches, I doubt you'll notice a ton of difference. Also, full disclosure, I'm a Texan so we don't typically give pulled pork the respect it deserves.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
Also, full disclosure, I'm a Texan so we don't typically give pulled pork the respect it deserves.
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A Texan friend of mine, when asked about pulled pork, told me "we don't dine on swine!"

I couldn't tell if he was serious or not, but since his family owns a ranch I suspect he might have been.
 
I agree, again, with my namesake, pernil! It’s so “different” but, you can do pretty much anything you get the urge to.
That’s not a lot of help I know but, that part of the hog is pretty versatile. Dang it, now I want to do a pernil! And, I just got some chicken thighs under some rub for tonight. I need to look here at breakfast for dinner ideas! No, that won’t work either, by lunch I will find something else! You guys are driving me nuts, short trip I know but, GEEZE!
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
I agree, again, with my namesake, pernil! It’s so “different” but, you can do pretty much anything you get the urge to.
That’s not a lot of help I know but, that part of the hog is pretty versatile. Dang it, now I want to do a pernil! And, I just got some chicken thighs under some rub for tonight. I need to look here at breakfast for dinner ideas! No, that won’t work either, by lunch I will find something else! You guys are driving me nuts, short trip I know but, GEEZE!
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I've developed a real respect for all of the pork cuts on the BBQ. It's such a versatile meat to work with, and it's difficult to mess it up to the point of being inedible. In fact, I was never a big pork fan until I started throwing it on the grill. Now, I can't get enough of it.
 
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