The Picnic Shoulder cut has less fat and more connective tissue than the Boston butt, meaning it needs long time to make it tender. Most pork shoulder recipes have long cooking times anyway, so using a picnic shoulder is great. The major difference is that picnic shoulders have a huge bone down the middle; it adds flavor, but you’ll have to cut around it to serve.
The shoulder contains all sorts of different muscle groups held together by connective tissue. Connective tissue, as we know, is pretty tough stuff. But cook it low and slow, and it just melts away, basting the meat with all sorts of savory juices. The Picnic Shoulder cut includes most of the hog’s front leg quarter. Because the leg muscles work a lot more than the back, the meat is a little tougher here than the butt, thus requiring a bit more time to coax out tenderness.
Slow smoked, barbecue pork typically uses meat from the shoulder area of the hog.
The standard cuts that come from the pork picnic shoulder primal:
