Pork Butt vs. Shoulder

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pa_smoker

Newbie
Original poster
May 28, 2008
15
10
I am planning on doing my first but Sunday night to have ready for Labor Day. At my local butcher shoppe they have pork butts for $3.19/lb and they are around 6 lbs each. I was hoping for something a little bigger.
At the grocery store they have pork shoulders at around 9 lbs for $12-13. So I am thinking about going with one of them.

I was wondering if there is a big difference between the two. I am planning on pulling it.

Also what is the idea temperature to pull the meat at? I was going to take it to 200 in the smoker and then rest it in a cooler with towels. At what temp should I take it out to pull?

Thanks for all the help,
Brian
 
$3.19/lb seems high. You can pull either a butt or shoulder. I did one a couple weekends ago and took it to 165 then wrapped in foil and took it to 200. Then wrapped in towels in the cooler, let it rest an hour then pulled it. Added the juice trapped in the foil back over the meat when pulling.
 
The Butt is just part of a whole shoulder. That price per pound seems insanely high at the butcher. I'd go with the grocery. For 9lbs, it's probably still a butt. Check to see if it's "natural" or whatever they call it...basically not all shot up with additives.
 
I agree that $3.19 is high....unless your butcher is selling you Neman Ranch natualy raised pork.

I really like the natual pork for things that are not smoked or heavily flavored. but for que, conventionaly raised pork is fine.

BTW, what part of PA you from, I was born in western PA, Venago Co.
cheers.
 
Personal note, "never buy Pork Butts while in PA."
Dang, we get them for .99 cents a lb here and I KNOW you have pigs in PA.
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I live in Chambersburg - south central PA

I guess I didn't state my second question right.
What temperature should I let the shoulder/butt cool down to in order to pull it?
 
Pork is $1.57 here in Ne OK.Hold temp after you have it to temp wrap in foil then towels put in ice chest to keep on cooking a little and let it rest to get moisture back into meat....pull when temp will let ya...use forks or when cool enough use hands..i have found that there is no set temp to pull just when it is cool enough for hand pullin my.02 cents
 
You're going to have more waste with the shoulder than the butt. The shoulder will have the thick layer of fat, which is hard for rub and smoke to penetrate. You'd need to trim it before cooking, IMHO! Double check that price...I complain when butts hit $1.69 here!
 
I have a lot of time on my hands and do a lot of shopping at different markets. My favorite is K-Mart Superstore inFremont,O. They have a good assortment of cuts and often have decent markdowns. On one of my forays I noticed thier Picnics were .89/lb., a price I could not pass-up. My next thought was "pork is pork and Hams are smoked anyhow!" So I got three of them and used them for a potluck at the wife's work place.
They took an allnight smoke(avg.12lb. ea.) and a lot of coffee and Tea but turned out fantastic, especially the skin. It made some great Porkchips(pulled this off the finished Hams and smoked for an hour more at 250 and broke them up. Dipped in some good sauce or salsa they were like soft pork rind. Try them sometime they are goooood!!
 
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