CarneAtlas

Boston butt

Pork · Shoulder
RoastBraiseSmoke
Raw Boston butt — Pork Shoulder cut
Also called
🇬🇧Pork shoulder🇲🇽🇦🇷🇪🇸Paleta de cerdo🇫🇷Épaule de porc🇵🇹Pá de porco🇧🇷Paleta suína🇮🇹Coppa di spalla🇩🇪Schweinekamm🇦🇷Bondiola

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 connective tissue that renders down during long, slow cooking to produce meltingly tender, flavorful pulled pork. It is the most popular cut for American-style barbecue pulled pork.

Names by country

CountryNameNotes
🇺🇸United StatesBoston buttprimaryThe term 'butt' refers to the barrels (butts) in which colonial New England butchers packed the cut
🇬🇧United KingdomPork shoulder
🇲🇽MexicoPaleta de cerdo
🇦🇷ArgentinaPaleta de cerdo
🇫🇷FranceÉpaule de porc
🇪🇸SpainPaleta de cerdo
🇵🇹PortugalPá de porco
🇧🇷BrazilPaleta suína
🇮🇹ItalyCoppa di spallaSame muscle group used for cured 'capocollo'/'coppa'; sold fresh as 'coppa di spalla' or simply 'spalla di maiale parte alta'.
🇩🇪GermanySchweinekamm

Similar cuts

Cupimapproximate

Loosely analogous in cooking treatment — both are heavily-worked shoulder-area cuts that need long, slow cooking to break down. Anatomically distinct: cupim is the zebu-specific hump muscle, Boston butt is the upper shoulder.

Country-style ribs
Country-style ribsapproximate

Some country-style ribs are cut from the upper shoulder (Boston butt) rather than from the loin blade end. Both share the same heavy marbling and long-cook tolerance.

Picnic shoulder
Picnic shoulderapproximate

Both are from the shoulder and suited to long, slow cooking, but the butt is fattier and more forgiving while the picnic includes the leg bone and has a stronger flavour.

Pork neck
Pork neckapproximate

Both are well-marbled shoulder-area cuts suited to slow cooking, but pork neck is even more marbled and more forgiving when grilled as steaks than the Boston butt.

HeadBladeArm ShoulderLoinLegRibsBellyHock

Classic recipe

Pulled Pork (Smoked Boston Butt)15 hr

Pulled pork is the American South's greatest contribution to barbecue — a whole Boston butt smoked for 12–16 hours until…

View full recipe →

Shop

Books

Equipment

Affiliate links — CarneAtlas may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

More Shoulder cuts

Picnic shoulder

Pork neck

Country-style ribs

Bondiola

All Shoulder cuts →

Sources

Discover one new cut every issue.

A regional cut, the dish that defines it, and a side-by-side comparison — straight to your inbox.

Free. Roughly monthly. No tracking pixels.