CarneAtlas

Boston buttvsCarnitas

pork · Close equivalent

Boston butt is the classic carnitas cut — the fat content is what lets it confit in lard without drying.

Translation takeaway

These are near equivalents in the way butchers and cooks use them. If you can source either one, you're very close to the same result.

Open Boston buttOpen CarnitasSee substitutes
Raw Boston butt — Pork Shoulder cut
Boston butt
Pork · Shoulder

Boston butt is the upper part of the pork shoulder, above the picnic. Despite the misleading name it comes from the shoulder, not the rear. It has generous fat content and…

HeadBladeArm ShoulderLoinLegRibsBellyHock
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Raw Carnitas — Pork Leg cut
Carnitas
Pork · Leg

Carnitas is a Mexican preparation of pork in which large pieces of pork — typically shoulder and leg — are slowly braised or simmered in lard or their own fat until tender, then…

HeadBladeArm ShoulderLoinLegRibsBellyHock
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Keep Boston butt and Carnitas together in your notebook.

Names by country

CountryBoston buttCarnitas
🇺🇸United StatesBoston buttCarnitas
🇬🇧United KingdomPork shoulder—
🇫🇷FranceÉpaule de porc—
🇪🇸SpainPaleta de cerdo—
🇦🇷ArgentinaPaleta de cerdo—
🇲🇽MexicoPaleta de cerdoCarnitas
🇵🇹PortugalPá de porco—
🇧🇷BrazilPaleta suína—
🇮🇹ItalyCoppa di spallaCarnitas
🇩🇪GermanySchweinekammCarnitas

Would you know it at the counter?

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