Boston butt substitutes

What to use when you can't find Boston butt at your butcher

Boston butt is the traditional name in United States. Outside that tradition, butchers carry comparable pork cuts under different names — sometimes the same anatomical piece, sometimes a close cousin. The alternatives below are grouped by country so you can match what your local butcher actually carries.

United States

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 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.

Argentina

Bondiolaclose substitute

Same anatomical primal — Boston butt and bondiola both come from the upper shoulder area of the pig. Boston butt is the US slow-smoke/pulled-pork tradition; bondiola is the Argentine parrilla / Italian-charcuterie tradition. Same cut, different traditions.

Brazil

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.

United Kingdom

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.

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