Tried butchering my own pork shoulder and ended up with a mess

I watched a bunch of YouTube videos last month on breaking down a whole pork shoulder and figured I'd save some money by buying a 15 pounder from Restaurant Depot. Ended up with uneven chunks and a ton of waste because I didn't have a proper boning knife, just a cheap chef's knife. Anyone have tips for getting clean cuts without spending $100 on a specialty knife?

2 comments

2 Comments

wendysmith22d ago

Try chilling the pork shoulder for about 30 minutes in the freezer before you cut. It firms up the fat and meat so your knife slides through cleaner instead of squishing everything around. I also found that sharpening my cheap chef's knife with a simple sharpening stone from the hardware store made a world of difference, took maybe ten minutes. The key is slowing down and following the natural seams in the meat, not just hacking straight through.

kim.hannah22d ago

Oh man, that reminds me of the time I tried to carve a turkey with scissors and it just fell apart everywhere.