Giant Pork Butt

[LakeviewBBQ]

Hello fellow BBQ enthusiasts, I need some advice!

I am entering my second BBQ competition in September and want to do a practice pork butt. I went to my local butcher today and asked for a bone in pork butt. I ended up with a 16 pound chunk of pork and I'm not sure it's the right cut for what I'm looking to do. I want to try the competition style of preparing a butt (mainly isolating the money muscle for slices). The meat I have doesn't really look like what I've seen in videos and pictures, it almost looks like a raw ham. It's about 10" x 9" x 5-6" tall. Does anyone recognize what cut this is and if I can carve it up into smaller pieces and find the money muscle in there?

Second question, I want to serve this around 5 PM on Monday. Since it's so huge I'm not sure how long to cook it. I plan to keep my smoker around 225-250 but could adjust if necessary, I use a weber kettle. I'm worried even if I get up early and put it on at like 5 am it won't be ready in time, I'm considering putting it on overnight. Any thoughts or recommendations?

Thanks for the help!

[JCGrill]

That's not a shoulder blade. Maybe a bit further down the leg. I'd go overnight and cambro if necessary.

[LeeAvirett]

I would take it back to your meat cutter. It appears to be a ham not a shoulder. Let them advise you and at least get them to cut it in half so you can get it cooked in a timely manner.

[Xandera_7]

Looks more like a picnic than a butt.

You have competition bbq in Calgary? I am so jealous... We have nothing like that down here on the east coast.

[LakeviewBBQ]

Ya it's called BBQ on the Bow. It happens every September long weekend. My brother and I entered a team two years ago but missed last year.

[Nuke em]

One way I can tell is look for a nipple on a shoulder. On my shoulders and butts I find it close by the bone when I’m shaving off the fat. Can’t miss it it’s a round hole.

[Nuke em]

Looking close at the first pic on the narrow end (bottom of the pic) I see 2 red dots on the left side. Look for a gland at that location. Sometimes a nipple gland will leave a little blood mark. It does look like some of my shoulders that I get.

[Nuke em]

i circled the possible gland in red. And it appears the money muscle might be in blue. Inspect that a little closer and report back

[LA Pork Butt]

I think like others have said it is either a picnic or a ham. What you want is a Boston Butt. The round bone is a tip off that it is not a Boston Butt.

[FireMan]

Maybe it’s a Calgary butt? 😎

[Nuke em]

https://youtu.be/yKr8aYhpmz0

[Nuke em]

Hmm the more I look at it the more I believe it is shoulder not ham. Just looks like it due to it being cut down further down the front leg. It appears shoulder due lengthwise. It looks like a shoulder blade is in one of the pics to the right

[Nuke em]

I might be wrong (which isn’t the first time nor will it be the last) but it appears to be the blade
lets cook that sucker.
Always tell the butcher ya want a shoulder but Boston butt with the money muscle in it. And do a search for the muscle number (. I’ve seen the muscle number in previous posts here)
with my butcher when I tell him a shoulder they just cut it and leave the skin on (for when I want to make cracklings).
When I want mostly meat I tell him Boston butt. He sells em both at different prices. More trimming. I picked up 2 5 lb butts yesterday which are in the smoker now and also got a 8 lb butt in the fridge for a party on the 4th. Let me go get it and compare em

[LA Pork Butt]

It does appear to be a blade next to the round bone, but the meat still seems to be a odd shape for a Boston Butt. Cooking it will help clarify the matter. At 16 pounds I am wondering if it is a Boston Butt with part of the Picnic attached or vice versa.

[wrgilb]

As an old retired meat cutter I would say you have a fresh leg of pork. This is what we called a ham before it was cured. The lack of marbling is a good clue also. A full pork shoulder, which is the Boston butt and the picnic together would weigh in the range you have, however the saw cut looks to be through the hock, which is the rear leg. This will not make for good pulled pork, better cooked to internal temps like pork chops or ham in the 140 range.

[Troutman]

So you’re thinking that’s the femur rather then a section through the humerus. If that’s true that’s a ham, I would return it or get clarification. That’s dirty pool if true.

[Troutman]

What you show appears to be the lower portion of scapula (shoulder blade) where it joins the humerus (upper leg bone). Can’t tell how much you got into the picnic cut, but many times they sell both the Boston butt and all or part of the picnic in one piece. It should cook up fine, as others have mentioned, specifically ask for just a Boston butt next time.

[LakeviewBBQ]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I'm going to trim it up a bit and see if I can figure it out any further. I'll probably just end up cooking it like a boston butt regardless of what it might actually be, I'm sure it'll be delicious.

[LakeviewBBQ]

I thought I'd post an update for everyone who may be interested. I smoked the mystery pork for overnight Sunday and all day Monday. It went for about 20 hours and still only got up to about 190 in the end. I had a few ups and downs with the temperature during the cook especially when I left it overnight, but in the end it turned out very delicious. Pulled apart very nicely.

[HorseDoctor]

Do you have a picture of the bones that were inside? That sur looks like a freh ham from the back leg. A "but", not a "butt"...

[LakeviewBBQ]

No I don't, I gave the bones to a friend to make soup

[Sweaty Paul]

Gorgeous