Pork Shoulder/Picnic

I've not heard of a walmart in the country having a whole shoulder.

A 10 lb shoulder would come from somebody's pet 125 lb pig.

If it is priced around $1.35+,it could be a large injected butt.

Around $0.99,it could be a large injected
picnic.

If it has skin on it,maybe a picnic?

sounds like the picnics we use for sure but the price is a dime too high. look at your other stores gene. non injected picnics are going fo that price here in our little stores for 99/lb non injected two to the cyro. would rather give my business to them altho the injected ones cook fine they just don't have a plateau like the non injected do so watch your interior temp the last 3 or so hours

My Wal-Mart carries both butts and picnics. The butts, I think are labeled Boston Butt/Blade Roast and are basically a 7-10# rectangle with a fat cap on one side.

The picnics have the skin on one side and the shank where the front leg used to be. Put the two together and you'll have the whole shoulder.

Tom's prices are about right clear across the country in Utah as well. Both cook up great.

it did look like a leg. and the other half was there also, why do they inject them, Ill stick with the local meat shop, he takes out the bone and ties it all up for me
gene

If he pumps that 12%-18% salt water into them and charges you pork prices,his profits go way up.

will the injected variety have a stronger salty flavor than the non-injected? Should one use less rub to counter this?

the amount of salt in the injection is so small that there is no taste variation so i just use the same amount of rub. the biggest difference is the injected ones just don't plateau like the non injected ones so cook about 12-15%faster. whole reason i switched from butts to picnics was a 3% greater yield and the meat was juicer if you watched your temps and pulled out at around 188f.
there is however a new bugaboo i have encountered with the injected ones and that is color. lately the meat has a much redder appearance. taste is the same. just a little off putting. to be honest if i wasn't doing them on the consistant basis we do i probably would never have noticed it. on my after vacation to do list is to do a complete rundown on the injection solution to find out why this is.
oh, as an aside i always cook them fat/skin side down which gives a nice bark to meat ratio or at least my customers like them that way. smoker used is a sm150 with pellets or smoke stixs as the wood source.
hope it helps some
jack

quote:

Originally posted by prisonchef:
the amount of salt in the injection is so small that there is no taste variation so i just use the same amount of rub.
jack

Gonna have to disagree on this one Jack. I wouldn't say it won't affect the taste. I would say test and see. Besides everyone's taste buds detecting different levels of flavor, it will absolutely depend on the different manufacturers and the amount they put in the solution. I can certainly taste a difference in salt solution (brined) ribs vs non-injected.

dlucks, I think you're asking the right question and I would consider that with your rub but it will depend on the specific manufacturer. Saw a solution added picnic a few weeks ago with 24% solution. Think that doesn't change the taste? Yup, it did.

As far as "redder" Jack, it that the Nitrogen they're adding or nitrates. Has to be one of those causing the red color. Or maybe they're feeding them Char Siu

darned if i know that's why it is on my to do list. asked mnhogfarmer about it since he is the hog expert and he couldn't come up with why either. 24% injection for sure is insane and at that level there has to be a taste difference and a huge one at that!!!! from what i remember in culinary school anything with additives that high had to be labelled as pork "product" kind of like cheese product but maybe the rules changed like they did under jimmy carter when every class of beef was moved up one i.e. choice became prime,select became choice,ect.
all that being said i still like picnics to cook the best and i know a lot of people like butts the best. i only hope that there are way more butt likers (man i triple checked that spelling a miss spell would have been disastorus on that one) than picnic likers as the law of supply and demand would then chop another dime off of picnics
jack
nother spelling check. yep looks ok.

Salt injected butts/picnics are nothing but a way to preserve meat before you buy it and give a weight replacement for the meat. I have found that salt and salted rub is all that is needed and even then the salt should not be the predominate flavor as I have tasted in some injected turkeys from Butterball.

If a person likes a lot of salt and wants salt to be the major flavor, they should save money and buy a salt block, place it on the kitchen cabinet and take a lick every time they walk by. I'll spend my money for straight up meats (no injections).

smokemullet