Is it Normal for Boneless Pork Shoulder to Look Like This

[webs05]

My wife picked up a pork shoulder (not realizing it was boneless) from Costco and it came out like the pics show below. Is this normal for boneless? I've never done boneless before, plenty of bone-in though.

So I did my best to trim the lose small pieces away and ended up with 5 pieces that vary in size from large to small. All are decently thick.

Am I screwed to try and smoke? Or should I just watch temp and tenderness closely on the small ones? This is all new territory...

Pics:







Rubbed down before smoking:

 

[smokinq13]

Looks like a boneless pork butt to me! Just never had one fall apart like that

 

[smokinq13]

Also go ahead and smoke it to temp... you'll just have more bark which isn't a bad thing... I've halved them to speed up smoke time and never had problems

 

[chopsaw]

Some meat cutters take pride in their work some dont . I use the tag pieces for grind and smoke the bigger muscle , or put it back together with netting or twine.

 

[BigW.]

Usually has a net around it to keep it football shaped. After cutting, you now have large country style ribs. They be fine. I'd cook them like ribs. If you are wanting pulled pork you may want to put in a covered pan after a couple hrs with some juice/broth/liquid of some kind. Then pull.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Have you ever heard about "Frankensteak"?
Well, it looks like you got a hold of a "FrankenButt"
I agree with chopsaw in that I would try to net it or tie it.
It will probably all turn out great no matter.

 

[chilerelleno]

When I do boneless I rub the whole thing inside and out, and then I put it back together and truss it up very tightly.

Never had one fall apart like above.
But if I did I'd cut it into CSRs or chunks for Carnitas.

 

[noboundaries]

Boneless butts from Costco are great for cutting into smaller pieces and curing into Buckboard Bacon. Just another option to add to those described above.

 

[normanaj]

I've done so many boneless butts and that's totally normal.Like several have said,just truss it up and give it a uniform shape.

 

[mooncusser]

I agree with tying. I cooked my first boneless one last week. Chose to tie with twine for more even cooking & uniform shape. Came out great.

 

[webs05]

Wow. I had no idea this was normal. I figured the intern at the butcher shop got a hold of this one and I picked up their training experiment. Great to know, thanks everyone!

What I did is rub everything down shown in the last picture and put them all on the smoker. I'm going to check temp as I eventually spray them down every 30 mins and try for good bark. Then pull as normally would for pulled pork.

Crossing fingers this turns out. So far the smoke gods are out to get me as first had to deal with this, then a freak storm cell popped up and it started pouring. Fortunately survived the quick storm. Back on track.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

a freak storm cell popped up and it started pouring.

That really could have put a damper on things.
Good to hear you did not get rained out.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I frequently cut a Butt into fist sized pieces when I need a quick cook. Otherwise, I'm with my boy Chile on, rub in and out and tie it up. Cook time is about the same with or without the bone...JJ

 

[webs05]

After a second rain storm I completely changed plans and put the pieces in a foil pan and covered with foil. Into the oven at 225.

I kept oven temps low because my meat chunks weren't the same size. And sure enough the small ones were probe tender before the large ones by at least an hour. Rather than removing the small pieces I lowered the oven temp down to 210 hoping they all would finish together.

Nope lol. Small ones just dried out. But dipped in the jus they were still fantastic. Turned out awesome. Thank God pork is so forgiving.





Yum!