Ingredient

Pork shoulder

Pork shoulder is well marbled, full of connective tissue and cheap, which makes it the most forgiving large joint available. It rewards a long slow cook, tolerates being left too long, and shreds into something better than most expensive cuts manage.

The two shoulder cuts

Butchers divide the shoulder and the names vary confusingly.

Butt / Boston butt

Confusingly, the upper part of the shoulder rather than anything near the rear. Well marbled, evenly shaped, the classic pulled pork cut.

Picnic shoulder / hand

The lower part, including part of the front leg. More sinew, more skin, slightly less even. Cheaper and equally good braised.

Collar / scotch

From the neck end. Beautifully marbled, sold as steaks or a small joint, and excellent grilled as well as braised.

Bone in or out

Bone-in gives more flavour and a clear doneness signal — the blade bone pulls out clean when the meat is ready.

Skin on

Good for crackling, and a hindrance for pulled pork, where it prevents the rub reaching the meat.

Why it is so hard to ruin

A shoulder has fat distributed through it and a great deal of collagen. Both act as insurance: the fat keeps basting the meat as it renders, and the collagen keeps converting to gelatine long after a leaner cut would have dried out.

This means the window for "done" is measured in hours rather than minutes. A shoulder that is ready at five hours will still be excellent at six and a half, which is why it is the standard cut for feeding a crowd without standing over an oven.

The corollary is that undercooking is the real risk. A shoulder pulled out at three hours is tough, and the fix is more time.

Pulled pork without a smoker

1. Remove the skin if there is any, or score it and accept that the rub will only reach the meat at the edges.
2. Rub generously with salt, brown sugar, smoked paprika and whatever else you like. Leave it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
3. Sit it on a bed of sliced onion in a deep roasting tin with a splash of cider or stock in the bottom, and cover tightly with foil.
4. Cook at a low oven temperature for five to seven hours depending on size. Do not open it for the first four.
5. It is ready when the blade bone twists out cleanly and the meat gives completely to a fork.
6. Uncover and turn the heat up for twenty minutes to dry and darken the surface if you want bark.
7. Rest, then pull it apart with two forks and toss the meat through the strained, defatted juices.

Other uses

• Carnitas — cubed, simmered in fat or its own juices with orange and bay, then crisped in a hot pan.
• Slow-roasted with crackling, treated much like belly with a two-stage cook.
• Cubed for a stew or a goulash, where it holds up far better than loin.
• Minced for sausages or meatballs, since the fat ratio is close to ideal without adding any.
• Braised in milk, the Italian maiale al latte, which is strange-looking and superb.
• Cured into ham or coppa, which are food-safety-sensitive preparations governed by proper curing guidance.
• Collar steaks grilled, which is the one shoulder cut that suits fast cooking.

Common questions