PORK "butt"

[ExtraChrispy]

Meathead... I've got... GOT... to hand it to you when it comes down to your science behind the cooking, hence, when I introduced myself, I referred to this site as my "secret weapon."
Your scientific examinations as to the cooking processes are second to none, and I've not found anything similar anywhere on the web.
I would ask (realizing that I've been around on this site for a relatively little amount of time), humbly, that just maybe you could also re-educate folks on verbiage or diction.

It is NOT a "pork BUTT" . It IS, a pork SHOULDER. Ever hear the phrase "high on the hog"? Those cuts, not HIGHly valued, like the loin and ham, were packed into casks, called 'butts' (a type of small barrel - think in terms of what gunpowder was shipped in). Boston was America's largest shipping port in the pre-Revolutionary years. Hence, this particular cut - the pork SHOULDER - came to be known as a Boston butt. (A 'butt' is a small cask. There are other sizes of barrels, all the way up to tun, but that's a different discussion.)

Please, STOP calling it a pork butt. It's pork shoulder. Pork butt is ham.

[Breadhead]

Meathead has covered that topic before. He is fully aware the so called butt is from the shoulder. However... If you say pork shoulder to those that are uniformed they have no clue what cut of meat you are referring too. That cut of meat somehow got tagged as a pork butt years ago and it stuck even though it is incorrect. Traditional verbage is not easy to change.😏

[EdF]

English is the language that lurks in a dark alley waiting to mug other languages and steal their stuff. "Pork butt" falls into that metaphor somehow.

[RonB]

When I go to my local grocery, I may well find both Boston Butts and pork shoulders. It may not be correct, but necessary to make a distinction between the two cuts.

[Huskee]

It's a local thing too. My local grocery stores label them "Pork Butt" or "Pork Shoulder Boston Butt". I call them "butts", always will. I call dollars "bucks" even though they're not bucks, it's slang and part of our verbiage.

I enjoy telling people who aren't BBQ aficionados that they're actually front upper shoulders, not rear leg and certainly not "butts". It makes for some fun "oh wow, I didn't know that, then why do they call them 'butts'?" moments.

[ExtraChrispy]

Yes, but do you know WHY we call "dollars" ''bucks?"

[Huskee]

Guest Ok, I'm not googling this and I'm going back to what I remember hearing in grade school...but it seems like before paper money was made from buckskin, or antler bone, or something deer...don't laugh if that's way off, that's what I heard as a kid.

[ExtraChrispy]

Because a properly tanned deer (buck-skin) hide was worth one dollar on the frontier.... and the value of a dollar, back then, was pegged at the value of one ounce of gold, hence dollars=bucks.


Huskee.. You're not too far off.

[boftx]

On the other hand, there are a number of folks on this site who routinely make an ass of themselves. (We know who we are, right guys?)

[MBMorgan]

Liking this post in no way suggests that I associate (note how I incorporated "ass" ) myself with this sweeping generalization ... or not ... ...

[Thunder77]

The other issue is that there is something called a "pork shoulder picnic". Both are part of the shoulder, but different parts.

[Breadhead]

On the other hand, there are a number of folks on this site who routinely make an ass of themselves. (We know who we are, right guys?)

The great part of the Pit is that someone may say something that is asinine... But they usually mean no harm. Some may rub you the wrong way once in awhile but it's best to not respond, let it ride.

At the end of the day... We want to learn to be better cooks by helping each other use our cookers.

If you get pleasure from helping others... The Pit is a great place to be/share.

[boftx]

Welcome to the Brotherhood of Pork Asses.

[chudzikb]

Picnic's are cheaper, but, IMHO, not as good as the Boston "butt". I think the pork industry has been trying to rename them shoulders as well, and as we can see now, it has not been working all that well for them.

[EdF]

Someone has to defend the tradition!

[Yno]

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and a butt.... Forget it, I'm not going there.

There are a number of explanations why the shoulder is called a butt, my favorite of which is that they were packed in containers called butts. Why those are called butts is a mystery! And to throw another monkey into the wrench-works, half a butt is a hogshead. Gotta love the English language.

[ExtraChrispy]

You, sir, have clearly never been a coopersmith before.

[Yno]

Too true. Care to explain?

[Yno]

I have never been a coopersmith, but I sure appreciate the use to which their products have been applied. Particularly when it comes to French oak and red wine!

[ExtraChrispy]

Side note: Today, we rave about the "smoky char" and such imparted to a fermented beverage stored in a barrel. Charring has nothing whatsoever to do with imparting flavor. It has to do with opening up the wood so that it can soak in the moisture, and thus tighten up the barrel as it does so.

[ExtraChrispy]

A "butt" is 1/8 barrel. You can hold it in the crook of your arm, or in two hands. It is, roughly, twice the size of an NFL football..

[Thunder77]

Well I just learned something new! 😎

[Yno]

According to this, a butt is four barrels, and at 126 gallons, most humans could not pick it up. I am now getting more interested in this subject. this is from Wikipedia, which we ALL know is always right. ExtraChrispy , where is your information source?

[ExtraChrispy]

Herein lies the problem... You're trying to convert liquid measures into tonnage measures. (Volume vs. weight)

Everything I have read (and I read a LOT), suggests that a barrel is roughly four times the size of a powder keg, and a "butt" is smaller than that. If we accept that a barrel is roughly 30 gallons, that would mean that a powder keg is between seven and eight gallons (again, problematic - volume vs. weight)...
If a "butt" is smaller than a powder keg, AND we also accept that one gallon of water weighs eight pounds at sea level, and assume the average weight of a pork shoulder to be between five and seven pounds, that would mean between as many as six or eight shoulders "could be" packed into a powder keg. Since a "butt" is smaller than a powder keg, at least, insofar as everything I've read, that would suggest that maybe four shoulders, but more likely three (or better yet, two with salt water for preservation) could be crammed into a "butt."

Which lends credence to why our "butts" (SHOULDERS) come cryovac'ed in two-packs now.

I cannot cite you sources. I've had a love affair with books LONG before I discovered BBQ.

[Nuke em]

All I know is I like big butts and I cannot lie. Bigger the better. The more I get to eat. 12 lbs

And I can pick it up with one hand and put it under my arm and carry it around 😏😏🤗

[DWCowles]

I will always called it a pork butt or Boston butt. You can called whatever you want.