Happy Pork Shoulder Month

I just started messing around with pork shoulder. It has rapidly become one of my favorite cuts of meat. It's very versatile, takes other flavors well and is very forgiving.

All you need is prep and patience. You can't cook it fast, so plan ahead, hence my Saturday Night Shoulder technique.

Around the world, from Carnitas to Kahlua Pig to classic American Pulled Pork, everyone has their own way of cooking the shoulder.

So I said to myself: "Self, let's feature the pork shoulder for a month. Maybe next month we'll do something different."

So I'm reaching out to you and other great cooks I know for your favorite pork shoulder recipes and techniques. There are no wrong answers here. Please share with me at David at Dragon Knuckle dot com and I will post it here.

Let's Get to Know the Cut

You might not be a real butcher, so let's look at the pig part we're talking about.

Image via Shop Latin Touch

You can get it with or without the skin. You can get it bone-in or boneless.

Image via Flickr by Key West Wedding Photography

Image via WorldTradeDB

I've only worked with the bone-in skinless variety. I like the square shape and nice fat cap. It's tough to dry out but requires a along patient cooking time.

This is the Pork Shoulder Month into. I will soon be sharing my own style of making pulled pork. I have a fantastic Carnitas recipe from a well known chef. I will also bring the Hawaiian take on the pork shoulder.

What else can we do? It's a big porky world out there. Give me what you got.