pork shoulder fat content

[hugho]

Pork shoulder fat content is said to be 30-35% in old threads on this forum. I am making my first sausage from a pork shoulder and I think there is nowhere near that amount in these american hogs. am I correct? I wonder if I am wasting my time with american pork shoulder without adding some pork fat?

 

[SmokinEdge]

The butt will usually be 80/20 the picnic a bit less.
The butt is just about the perfect meat/fat ratio for sausage.

Pork shoulder fat content is said to be 30-35% in old threads on this forum. I am making my first sausage from a pork shoulder and I think there is nowhere near that amount in these american hogs. am I correct? I wonder if I am wasting my time with american pork shoulder without adding some pork fat?

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I been really happy with my breakfast sausage using them. About perfect for me and I like fat.

 

[SmokyMose]

I've been making sausage with shoulder butts for years now and never had an issue with fat content.
Don't over-engineer it...

 

[tallbm]

Pork shoulder fat content is said to be 30-35% in old threads on this forum. I am making my first sausage from a pork shoulder and I think there is nowhere near that amount in these american hogs. am I correct? I wonder if I am wasting my time with american pork shoulder without adding some pork fat?

Hi there and welcome!

I've always read/understood the pork butt/shoulder to be 80/20 meat/fat ratio. I've made plenty sausage with it and and when I do my wild game sausage that has no fat, I add 20% fat to go 80/20 meat /fat for my sausages and they always come out fantastaic!

 

[Oceantoad]

Hugho, I'm also a newbie on here. I started making sausages from pork butt in February. Since then I've probably made 50 - 60# of this stuff and it gets better each time. I've been lucky enough to have a little extra money to support my habit. Was very fortunate to come across two different sales on pork butts. You can't beat .98 and .99 a pound. Anyway, from what I have read, researched and experienced is that the pork butt is a great selection of meat for making sausage. Just like what smokeymose stated....

Don't over-engineer it...

 

[cal1956]

i never add any fat other than what is on the Boston Butts , and the only problem we have had is that it is hard to crank the handle on the mechanical vertical stuffers without adding fat or water , thats why a couple of years ago we switched to a water stuffer and man is it ever easier to stuff sausage using the water stuffer compared to the old crank type