Pork - Shoulder Blade Roast

[sirsmokesalot]

A local store was running their shoulder blade roasts for .99 per pound. I expected them to look more like a butt or picnic portion. But these were sliced thinner than usual. Plus, they were sliced so that it would be merely impossible to cook fat side up. Almost like a really thick steak or chuck roast. Make sense?

Is this normal? Does anyone out there have experience with these and, if so, what suggestions might you offer?

[Uncle Bob]

If it is a boston butt that they have sliced..They would be called pork steaks here. Retailers do this at times...it is a form of cross-merchandising..They will advertise butts at 99 cents per lb. and display the steaks at 1.19 or higher per lb...this helps off set the lower price on the whole butt...They do the same thing with rib-eyes...whole rib-eye is on price point....small packages are a higher price point.
A couple of ideas as to cooking them: (1) braise them in a nice brown gravy with lots of garlic, onions, peppers, whatever..be patient they will get very tender..Serve over rice or biscuits..or both!!! (2) you can cook them on your grill....used direct heat to brown/sear slightly...then go indirect until they are done...do not over cook...you miight want to foil them for a while towards the end....sauce...or not.

At one time retailers would slice the butt thick and then cut the slice down the middle.. presenting them as "Western style ribs" Obviously they are not true ribs....but rather an excellent marketing tool. So boston butt..sliced is pork steaks...slice again Western Style ribs...and probably a few other names out there.. Bottom line it's all part of the pork shoulder..the boston butt portion.

Hope this helps!

[JohnL]

At one time retailers would slice the butt thick and then cut the slice down the middle.. presenting them as "Western style ribs" Obviously they are not true ribs....but rather an excellent marketing tool. So boston butt..sliced is pork steaks...slice again Western Style ribs...and probably a few other names out there.. Bottom line it's all part of the pork shoulder..the boston butt portion.

They do that sometimes in our local stores Uncle Bob.
Personally I think it's false advertising. We know what they really are, but there are many others that don't.

[Uncle Bob]

Yep...buyer beware!

[auntdot]

Agree with the previous posters.

What to do?

Well, could toss it in a pot, after browning, with some onions that have browned. garlic, some diced carrots, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, and whatever else you would add to a tomato sauce.

Let it simmer and you will have a meat that will be falling off the bone and a sauce that should be quite pleasant.

Just an idea. Good luck.

[sirsmokesalot]

Yesterday, I ended up cooking these. Don't laugh too much, but I had a crazy I idea I wanted to try out. Hey, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.

I put 3 of these side by side in an aluminum pan. This enabled me to smoke them fat side up, as if it were a good sized Boston Butt. Following the advice from a previous forum, I added some apple juice to the pan and smoked for about 15 hours until it reached 195-200.

They turned out GREAT!!! It shredded just like a normal butt and you would never know the difference. I guess the 3 being side by side kept them from drying out. Who know, but it worked. My two daughters (3 and 2) couldn't get enough.