"whole pork shoulder New York cut"??? [General]

2011 Jan 13
I've never heard of this and wonder if it'd be real good for pulled pork or not the equal of Boston butt (does it actually include the Boston butt???). I found this explanation - www.oldandsold.com - butt it's not clear to me. It's on for $.99/lb @ Food Basics tomorrow to Thur. I just did a butt the weekend before Xmas so I'll have to think about doing another.

2011 Jan 13
Lavergne's will cut that for you any time you want - no need to pounce on a sale. But don't ask for a New York Cut because that name is what we use for what on that site is called the Skinned Shoulder. I did one of those yesterday actually.

But if you give them the full instructions there without calling it "New York", they'll do it no problem. Call ahead, then come pick it up. Or just walk in and ask for it, but be prepared to wait.

Not sure of the price but I can find out. Probably not much more than 99c a pound though. If any more.

2011 Jan 14
Taking another look at this - you won't get anywhere with a butt for a New York cut (no matter which definition of "New York" you use"). The one I did was a whole shoulder - both shoulders. I suppose you could do a half New York or something but still you need the whole shoulder so a butt won't do you any good.

Lavergne will cut it how you want it. We even had several customers yesterday don a smock and hard hat and come give personal input to the butcher as he was cutting it, but I'm not sure how long you have to be a regular before you can do that :-) But in my 3 days there I've seen all kinds of custom work done for customers who call ahead or just drop in (remember drop ins mean waits)

EDIT: also if I'm not mistaken this is the one I did where the shoulder was cut longer off the pig. I don't understand the shop-talk in their description but I think what they are saying is that it has an extra couple ribs on the shoulder than a regular shoulder (cut further down the body). I'm having trouble recalling whether or not the New York I did was the same one that we cut long off the pig, but I'm pretty sure it was.

2011 Jan 14
Thanks zym, and congrats on the new job - I hope it's everthing you imagine and want, especially so after you learn all the chops (ha!) and open your own butcher shop someday!

So if I understand right the "New York" cut is a whole shoulder and that includes both the picnic and the butt. I am still wondering if that's good for pulled pork as I've read that the picnic cut doesn't pull well and you may have to resort to slicing. I do know that the butt shoulder cut pulls well so I'm thinking that if I were to use a "New York" cut some of it may pull well, some of it may not - do you or does anyone else know from experience if that's right or wrong?

2011 Jan 14
Andy - I think you'll find butt and picnic cooks similarly. A whole shoulder (butt + picnic) will work well for pulled pork. The way I do picnics is just a matter of personal preference (take it to a lower internal temperature than butt).

If you read the 'all things BBQ thread' I think Da Butcher has a few photos of picnics he used for sandwiches.