Skin on pork shoulder

[Starsky]

Years ago, our local store was selling skin on pork shoulder for .99 cents per lb. I think it was ordered by mistake. I had to try it. I left the skin on and what little meat that was exposed I covered in rub. After all was said and done, I thought it was the best pulled pork I ever made. All the fat rendering under the skin and bathing the meat gave it a great pork taste. I'm trying to find it again but it's difficult. I've read articles that say to remove the skin and use it for cracklins later. Almost no one says to leave it on. I'm looking for opinions. Do any of you have your own experiences cooking pork shoulder this way?

[realdocBBQ]

I've seen a bunch like this, picnic roasts I think they call them now.


Or did I dream that....? I dunno.

[Donw]

Cheshire Pork has shoulders which you can get with or without skin. On sale right now. About 20# average.

https://buypork.com/all/bone-in-pork-shoulder/

[Donw]

My Dad and my brother did whole hog BBQ for decades. You are right about the taste of the meat slow cooking in all that fat with the skin acting as a bowl holding all that deliciousness in for hours and hours.

[Evvy]

Wow Donw, so glad I read this post. Cheshire Pork is in the same area code as me. We'll definitely take a ride and check them out! Thanks for the lead!!

[Jerod Broussard]

Most Picnics in the big stores will have skin on.

[texastweeter]

Yup and they are great

[Jessterr]

Picnics are my favorite, even better than a butt IMO.

[texastweeter]

Agreed

[realdocBBQ]

I've never done a picnic roast, how do you do it?

Salt it heavily to form a crust on the skin, then smoke it as normal till tender, pull the skin off and shred the meat? Does salt get into the meat underneath the skin or do you salt and throw in seasonings and rub when you pull it apart and shred it? Do you wrap it at all? Long hold? Anything like that?

Just curious the best technique for this.

I've got a cook coming up for 100-150 and trying to decide what to do, though I might just stick with plain ol' pork butts and do the usual - not sure I want to jump to something new for a big thing like that.

[HawkerXP]

pig parts

[bbqLuv]

Let us not forget the head for Hog's Head cheese. I like it with a touch of heat and vinegar.

[realdocBBQ]

I knew the picnic roast was the lower portion of the shoulder and upper arm - thus slightly different than the butt, but does it taste the same, have the same texture? I've never done a picnic, now I'm seriously thinking I need to try it. With the skin on, does it get much smoke into the meat? I assume you don't rub it, as the skin prevents the rub from seasoning the meat.

Ok, time to YouTube...

<edit> And I had a roasted pork shank when I was in Germany for a day - OMG... that was amazing. Now that I think about it, this was probably the lower portion of the picnic roast, right? The forearm, so to speak?

[Jerod Broussard]

To me it seems drier and more crumbly. I've only cooked a couple compared to hundreds of butts.

[barelfly]

You need to do a whole pig in one of those cookers you have built!

[PGH_RAM]

I had the same meal in Prague once, with a couple of liters of beer and some amazing savory dumplings. I still remember it fondly after almost 25 years.

You're right about pork shank being the forearm. on the picture DonW posted below, it's the part that would be just under the stump of the leg.

[carolts]

The local supermarkets here have the picnics on a regular basis. I may try one now that I've read this.

[Finster]

I see picnic roasts fairly often where I shop. Usually they are a little cheaper than a butt
I've never gotten one as I was led to believe that it's a less desirable cut than the butt... 🤷♂️
Maybe I'll give one a shot..

[Donw]

To me the picnic has a different texture than the butt. Nothing wrong with that and many prefer it. The marvelous thing about whole hog, or even whole shoulder is that all the various cuts gets all mixed together when chopping or pulling giving you the best of all. With the whole shoulder a large amount of the meat is not covered by skin and is easily brined and rubbed, and it gets plenty of smoke. Cooking skin side down for a majority of the cook creates a bowl that helps hold moisture in and the meat is bathed in all the rendered fat. If I think they removed too much skin I use some foil until the last few hours to hold in the drippings.
Maybe not for all cooks but doing a whole shoulder, skin on, is something everyone should try.
I included a screenshot from Cheshire’s website (not promoting them as a the only source) so you can see the exposed meat for rub and mopping. Just my 2¢.

[barelfly]

This is cool to see! Thank you for sharing!

[hoovarmin]

I was about to ask this very same question! Glad I saw this post. I have a picnic in the fridge that the Instacart Shopper brought instead of the Butt I ordered. I'm going to give it a shot.

[Dewesq55]

Picnics will make good pulled pork, Dave. I suggest removing the skin first. As an alternative, you can find a good Puerto Rican pernil recipe and cook it indoors. I love that, too.

[hoovarmin]

Dewesq55 I am far too lazy to remove the skin, lol.

[Dewesq55]

When I first started smoking meat, 30 years ago, I couldn't get butts anywhere so all my pulled pork was made with picnics. I always cut the skin off before seasoning and smoking. Just saying.

The "problem" with picnics is there is a lot more bone than in a butt for the amount of meat.