Why Pork Shoulder?
The pork barrel shoulder, besides sometimes labeled “picnic ham,” “picnic shoulder,” or “picnic roast” at the grocery store store, is one of the most versatile cuts of meat on the pig .
More distinctive cuts, like center-cut chops, pork loin, and ribs are great, but pound for pound, a pork shoulder is going to give you more bang for your vaulting horse than any other cut out there.
The best separate is, these “ picnic hams ” are economic and wide available in supermarkets across the U.S. Wherever you are, you should be able to find it .
People much use the cinch shoulder for things like rend pork or a whole roast, but there is so much more you can do with it, particularly in the chinese kitchen !
All it takes is a little elbow grease to break it down and package it up for your deep-freeze. sum time will be about 15-30 minutes, depending on how know you are with your chef ’ s knife .
What Can You Do with a Pork Shoulder?
One pork picnic shoulder can yield :
- Fatty strips of tender kernel for grilled or roasted pork dishes such as Char Siu ( chinese BBQ Pork ) or even Char Siu on the Grill
- thin chunks of pork barrel arrant for slicing and stir-frying
- A long airstrip of meat with intramuscular fatty and skin that resembles pork barrel belly ( this “ fake pork abdomen ” can serve as a substitute in our pork belly recipes if you can ’ t find skin-on belly )
- Additional smaller pieces of pork to cut into chunks for stews or to grind ( either using a meat molar, or Judy ’ s easy method acting without a grinder ) for sausage, dumpling/wonton fill, steamed dishes, stir-fries, etc .
- A big flavorful bone to make soups, stocks, or conge ( try Judy ’ randomness pork & chicken stock or my ma ’ second Pork Bone Congee )
- gelatinous pork skin to make aspic for soup dumplings ( xiao long bao ) or even chicharron/pork rinds !
All that, at a identical economic price ! field day shoulders can run anywhere from 6-11 pounds, and cost about $ 2 to $ 3 per pound. I ’ ve seen it priced american samoa low as $ 1.19/pound when it ’ south on sale. At that price, a ten hammer nibble of kernel will yield all those cuts above ( many many meals ) for less than $ 12 !
thus why not save some money, learn a quick new skill, AND fill your deep-freeze with lots of tasty meal ideas ?
Where Is the Pork Shoulder on the Pig?
You ’ re credibly wondering where precisely the picnic overact is on the hog. I found a graphic on Amazon that shows where all the pork barrel cuts come from .
You can see from the diagram that they label the pork shoulder as the “ picnic. ” The actual “ shoulder ” refers to the part of meat above that. bewilderingly, that piece of kernel is normally called “ pork barrel butt, ” or the “ Boston butt. ” We ’ ll induce to that in the following section .
All you have to know is that the pork barrel shoulder comes from the front of the farrow ( the back stage is known as the “ leg ” or “ ham ” ). It broadly contains the meatiest helping of the foreleg, and is normally sold with the skin on .
You may see some variation in how different butchers cut and package it. It may contain by and large the upper branch part ( the meatier part, ) or more of the lower foreleg ( a more tapered end, and broadly more bone and hide ) .
Pork Shoulder vs. Butt
pork barrel shoulder and pork butt sound like they should come from face-to-face ends of the farrow, but they both come from the front of the animal. The entire pork “ shoulder ” consists of these two parts. The buttocks is the upper part of the shoulder, and the “ cinch ” ( besides sometimes merely refer to as the “ shoulder ” ) is the lower share closer to the peg .
You can easily tell them apart, because the butt joint is normally sold skinless, and the whole “ field day shoulder ” normally still has the clamber on. Grocery stores sell the buttocks both boneless and bone-in .
Since the buttocks comes from the thick section of the shoulder, it is broadly larger and meatier ( more kernel to bone ). It besides contains more marbled fat through the meat a well as a larger fat ceiling, making it a democratic option for roasting and slow barbeque .
Like the “ cinch ” the “ border ” besides has respective names :
- Boston buttocks
- Boston roast
- Shoulder butt
- Shoulder blade ridicule
- Boston shoulder roast
Both the field day shoulder and the butt are capital cuts of kernel. If your chief finish is to make roast pork ( charwoman siu ), the butt is an ideal option, as it ’ s a morsel easier to break down and has a lot of fat to ensure your char siu is nice and blue ! It ’ south besides a thoroughly choice for making background pork barrel .
today, though, we ’ ra going to focus on the picnic shoulder, which is bang-up for charwoman siu arsenic well as many other different dishes !
How to Cut Pork Shoulder & Break It Down: VIDEO
In the video below, I ’ ll testify you the different cuts you can get from the shoulder, how to remove the cram, and how to break it down further. I will talk through the whole thing from beginning to finish, so you can see precisely how I did it .
If you ’ five hundred rather read the instructions with bit-by-bit photos, scroll down below the video recording .
Step-by-Step Instructions
Preparation
In your kitchen sink, cautiously remove the pork shoulder from the box. There is about constantly surfeit liquid to drain off. lightly rinse the pork barrel shoulder ( debar spatter water around, and be certain to disinfect the area afterwards ). Pat dry with a paper towel and transfer the pork barrel shoulder to a large cutting board .
De-Boning
position the pork shoulder with the large bark side devour and the broad side facing away from you. You can see the inside bone poking through both ends .
Find the seam/muscle membrane that runs from one end of the bone to the other and use your fingers to separate and pull the meat apart. Carefully make small cuts in the seam until the membrane pulls apart. ( Jump to 02:25 into the video recording for a demonstration of this. )
Continue to cut along the bone from the wide end of the pork shoulder over to the tapered end to in full expose it .
note that the bone is not directly, but deflect at an slant. gently pull the kernel apart, and cut round and down the lengths of bone. Pulling the kernel creates tension, which makes cutting through the membrane around the bone easier. Take your time with it ! ( Skip to 04:27 in the video for this tone. )
soon, you ’ ll see that you ’ ve sort of “ flattened ” the pork shoulder, and the cram will be clearly exposed. Continue to cut around the bone until you can get your fingers under it. adjacent, lift the bone and slide your knife tip under it. Cut under and around the bone to separate it from the kernel. ( 05:40 in the video. )
Don ’ triiodothyronine concern if you leave some kernel on the cram. It will be dainty to have kernel in your neckcloth or soup. Practice makes perfect, and you will get better each time you do it .
now grip the detached end of the bone. Continue to cut the meat around the bone until the cram is wholly separated from the kernel. Lifting the bone up and letting the neat hang down creates tension between the kernel and bone that makes cutting the kernel away from the bone easier. ( 06:10 in the television. )
Be sure to use slow, deliberate controlled cuts with very little tension on your knife. This prevents any big unsafe movements in case your knife slips. Safety first!
Breakdown
now you should have the extracted bone and large slab of kernel on the cutting board. It ’ mho time to break it down !
Find other muscle membranes, and trimmed between the membrane/seams to separate the pieces of meat. Like my father taught me, follow the condition of the kernel, and you ’ ll end up with separate chunks of pork to use however you like. We have recommendations ( see our explanation at 08:36 in the video recording ), but there are no set rules on how to use the assorted cuts .
Find the thickest pork barrel ball on the wide conclusion of the roast. This works well for stir fries, since it is quite list. ( Skip to 10:07 in the video ––I note in the video recording that you can use the chunk for char siu, but it is a lean ignore that ’ mho besides ideal for stir-frying. )
Cut along the seam of this bombastic collocate until you get to the hide. Continue to cut and separate the kernel from the skin until you ’ ve detached that boastfully ball. Before stir-frying, trim off the brawn membrane and fatty to ensure you get tender slices .
Continue to find and cut along membranes and seams. Separate the pork chunks from the middle, and near the narrow-minded part of the pork on the leg. You can cut the medium pieces into chunks for stewing, ground pork barrel, or even butterflied pieces for roasting/ char siu .
notice : It ’ s not necessary to trim off the brawn membranes when making char siu. For more pork training photos and a great summer recipe, see my military post on how to make char siu on the grill .
now you should have clean moment of hide and fat on one side and the remaining meat/fat/skin on the other english. Cut off the share that has only skin and fatty. ( Skip to 12:06 in the video recording. ) You can use this to make aspic for soup dumplings, or slice it up and render out the fatten for lard/pork rinds .
now you have what resembles pork barrel belly. It ’ s a retentive slice with layers of fatness, kernel and skin ( along with some remaining chunks of pork barrel ). Remove the pork belly piece, and continue cutting along the seams to separate the remaining pork barrel chunks. ( Skip to 12:44 in the video recording for this step. )
once you have all your cuts, you can pack them up in deep-freeze bags for longer-term memory. We like these reusable/washable silicone bags .
And there you have it ! To see the entire process from begin to finish, you can watch the whole television. You ’ ll be amazed at how economical and easy it is to break down a pork barrel shoulder yourself at home. not to mention the wide array of recipes you can make !
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How to Cut Whole Pork Shoulder
See how to cut and break down a pork picnic shoulder, an affordable piece of pork you can make into different pieces for grilling, roasting, stews/braises, soup, stir-fry, and ground pork.
Prep:
20
minutes
Total:
20
minutes
Ingredients
-
▢
1 whole pork picnic shoulder
Instructions
Preparation:
-
In your kitchen sink, carefully remove the pork shoulder from the packaging. There is almost always excess liquid to drain off. Gently rinse the pork shoulder (avoid splashing water around, and be sure to disinfect the area afterwards). Pat dry with a paper towel and transfer the pork shoulder to a large cutting board.
De-boning:
-
Position the pork shoulder with the large skin side down and the broad side facing away from you. You can see the inside bone poking through both ends.
-
Find the seam/muscle membrane that runs from one end of the bone to the other and use your fingers to separate and pull the meat apart. Carefully make small cuts in the seam until the membrane pulls apart.
-
Continue to cut along the bone from the broad end of the pork shoulder over to the tapered end to fully expose it. Note that the bone is not straight, but bent at an angle. Gently pull the meat apart, and cut around and down the lengths of bone. Pulling the meat creates tension, which makes cutting through the membrane around the bone easier. Take your time with it!
-
Soon, you’ll see that you’ve sort of “flattened” the pork shoulder, and the bone will be clearly exposed. Continue to cut around the bone until you can get your fingers under it. Next, lift the bone and slide your knife tip under it. Cut under and around the bone to separate it from the meat.
-
Now grip the detached end of the bone and continue to cut the meat around the bone until the bone is completely separated from the meat. Lifting the bone up and letting the neat hang down creates tension between the meat and bone that makes cutting the meat away from the bone easier.
Breakdown:
-
Find other muscle membranes, and cut between the membrane/seams to separate the pieces of meat. You’ll find that the thickest pork chunk on the broad end of the roast works well for stir fries, since it is quite lean. Cut along the seam of this large chunk until you get to the skin, and continue to cut and separate the meat from the skin until the large pork chunk is detached. (Before stir-frying, trim off the muscle membrane and fat to ensure you get tender slices.)
-
Continue to find and cut along membranes and seams until you have separated most of the pork chunks from the middle, and near the narrow part of the pork on the leg. The medium pieces can be cut into chunks for stewing, used to make ground pork, or even butterflied for char siu.
-
Now you should have skin and fat on one side and a thinner cut of fat and meat that resembles pork belly on the other side. Cut off the portion that has only skin and fat and reserve.
-
Now you’ll be left with what resembles pork belly––a long piece with layers of fat, meat and skin––along with some remaining chunks of pork. Remove the pork belly piece, and continue cutting along the seams to separate the remaining pork chunks.
Tips & Notes:
-
Be sure to use slow, deliberate controlled cuts with very little tension on your knife. This prevents any big unsafe movements in case your knife slips. Safety first!
-
When de-boning, vitamin d
on’t worry if you leave some meat on the bone, as it will provide flavor in your stock or soup.
- For storage, we like these reusable/washable silicone bags. They’re better for the environment than single-use plastic!
nutritional info disclaimer
Read more: FOOD REVELATION : DIM SUM VS. YUM CHA // the meaning, the culture, the tea, the food, the meal times
TheWoksofLife.com is written and produced for informational purposes merely. While we do our best to provide nutritional information as a cosmopolitan guidepost to our readers, we are not attest nutritionists, and the values provided should be considered estimates. Factors such as brands purchased, natural variations in fresh ingredients, etc. will change the nutritional information in any recipe. respective on-line calculators besides provide different results, depending on their sources. To obtain accurate nutritional information for a recipe, use your preferable nutriment calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities used .
