Boston butt

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American cuts of pork

Boston butt or pork butt is the North American name for a cut of pork that comes from the upper part of the shoulder from the front leg and may contain the blade bone.[1] Boston butt is the most common cut used for pulled pork, a staple of barbecue in the southern United States.

In the United Kingdom, Boston butt is known as pork shoulder on the bone, since regular pork shoulder normally has the bone removed and then rolled and tied back into a joint.

History of the name and cut[edit]

In pre-revolutionary New England and into the American Revolutionary War, some pork cuts (not those highly valued, or "high on the hog," like loin and ham) were packed into casks or barrels (also known as "butts") for storage and shipment.[2] The way the hog shoulder was cut in the Boston area became known in other regions as "Boston butt". In the UK it is known as "pork hand and spring", or simply "pork hand".

In Spanish the cut is known as paleta de puerco,[3] and is the main ingredient in the Mexican dish carnitas[4] and in the Puerto Rican dish pernil.[5]

In Mexican Spanish, this cut is known as the espaldilla (literally "little back").


  1. ^ "Cuts: Shoulder". National Pork Board. Retrieved 16 October 2009. 
  2. ^ Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven (May 7, 2006). "Here's the Rub". Boston Globe. 
  3. ^ Lourdes Castro (10 November 2009). Eat, Drink, Think in Spanish: A Food Lover's English-Spanish/Spanish-English Dictionary. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 259. ISBN 978-1-58008-954-8. Retrieved 28 October 2012. 
  4. ^ "Carnitas." Food Resource, Oregon State University. Accessed October 2012.
  5. ^ Food Network video on how to cook pernil