Porter Road · The cut itself
Buy Picnic shoulder from a butcher who cuts it
Dry-aged and cut to order by a US butcher — this is the cut itself, not a search result.
Picnic roast
Also called
🇬🇧Hand of pork🇲🇽🇦🇷Brazuelo de cerdo🇫🇷Palette de porc🇪🇸Brazuelo🇮🇹Spalla di maiale🇩🇪Vorderschinken🇲🇽Carnitas↗
Mark Miller, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — Boston butt , boneless, tied.jpg
The picnic shoulder is the lower half of the pork shoulder, below the Boston butt. It includes the leg bone and more connective tissue than the butt, making it ideal for long braises and slow roasting. It has a stronger pork flavor and is often used for carnitas, slow-roasted pulled pork, and making stocks. Often sold skin-on.
Names by country
| Country | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸United States | Picnic shoulderprimary | |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | Hand of pork | Also called pork hand or shoulder hock in the UK |
| 🇲🇽Mexico | Brazuelo de cerdo | Used for carnitas in Mexico |
| 🇦🇷Argentina | Brazuelo de cerdo | |
| 🇫🇷France | Palette de porc | |
| 🇪🇸Spain | Brazuelo | |
| 🇮🇹Italy | Spalla di maiale | |
| 🇩🇪Germany | Vorderschinken |
What to ask for
Shopping outside the tradition Picnic shoulder comes from?
Source this cut
Select a primal to see its cuts
Classic recipe
Get this cut right
$59.99 · Ships free in the US · Grill Masters Club
Pull a picnic shoulder cleanly off the bone
- Meat claws for shredding a whole shoulder
- Two BBQ sauces and two rubs
- Heat-resistant pulling gloves
- Six pulled-pork recipes
Pulled Perfection Box + Meat Claws
Affiliate link — CarneAtlas may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Price checked 31 Aug 2026.
Want one useful cut guide each week?
Every Thursday: one cut like Picnic shoulder, its names around the world, the best substitute, one dish, and one useful tool.
Free. No password. Unsubscribe anytime.
