Help! Purchased a whole Pork Shoulder (Butt and Picnic, and maybe more) and not sure which to cook for pulled pork

[LA Pork Butt]

The piece with the narrow end is the picnic and the large piece is the Boston Butt. I am referring to the second picture you just attached. The bend is where they are attached to each other.

[chet87]

Thanks!

So it would seem that after cutting it all into two pieces (at the “bend” as you say) that the resulting more long/tube/cylindrical peice is the “picnic”. Is that whole piece that I cut off the picnic then?

I’m tempted to cook that first and freeze the other one late because I have done that piece before (under the assumption it’s butt) and it came out great. But I’m also curious to try the “real” some parts of the internet say is “better” because it’s less lean.

Thoughts?

[LA Pork Butt]

chet87 I’m sorry. I was referring to the 1st picture with the bone still in. As to which to cook, the larger top half in the 1st picture has more fat and is the most forgiving piece you can cook. You may be overthinking this. Whatever you decide will be just fine. This is a can’t miss cook. Let us know how it comes out.

[Palmetto Pirate]

A whole Boston butt usually runs 8 to 10lbs most of the ones in the market are half’s. Take it too and average of 205 degrees let it rest then it should pull fine. I’ve cooked the whole shoulder on wild hogs before not a whole shoulder on a domestic hog, the meat will probably have some taste difference but if you’re pulling it and serving in a pan it’s all mixed anyway. The great thing about pulled pork is what’s left vacuum seal, and when you take it out and reheat it’s very close to off the grill.

[Santamarina]

I’m on team “it all makes great pulled pork” so have fun cookin and eatin!

[Sweaty Paul]

Think you all will have some good eats no matter what you decide. Looking forward to the pics of the cook and hearing about the results.

[Jessterr]

I'm in agreement that you may be overthinking all of this. In your OP you've stated "I think….that the picnic and the butt will give much different results....". I'd say that's not actually the case, but rather would replace the word "much" with "slightly". It sounds like you've decided to freeze one of the portions and cook the other so I'd recommend just choosing whichever one you think will give you the amount of yield that you want to get from this cook based on the two sizes, and freeze the other for later, it'll always be there when you need it. Cheers, my friend, enjoy your cook!