Name Variations[]
- pork butt
- Boston shoulder roast
- Boston roast
- Boston butt
- shoulder butt
- shoulder blade roast
About pork shoulder and blade[]
The shoulder joint of pork can be bought as smaller cuts or as a whole roasting joint. It's relatively inexpensive, so is ideal for a roast if you're working on a tighter budget, as well as having a rich flavor. Shoulder meat is also used for diced cubes to make casseroles and kebabs as well as being minced and made into sausages.
The pork shoulder weighs 12 – 18 pounds and consists of two portions: the butt, which is the upper portion of the shoulder, and the picnic, which is the lower portion.
Pork butt[]
Despite the name, pork butt does not come from the rear end of the hog — it is cut from the shoulder.
The whole pork butt is a rectangular roast weighing 6 – 10 pounds and containing a portion of the shoulder blade bone. It is sold bone-in or boneless; if boneless, a whole roast may be cut into half portions.
Picnic[]
The whole picnic weighs 6 – 9 pounds. It contains a portion of the foreleg and is usually sold with some skin attached. The picnic is sometimes cut into an upper arm portion (the meatier portion, usually sold skinless) and the lower foreleg portion (containing more bone, skin, and connective tissue).