leep89•2mo ago

Rant: The pork shoulder that just wouldn't split

Was breaking down a 20lb shoulder at the shop yesterday and my saw just stopped dead halfway through a cut, blade was totally stuck. Had to slowly back it out by hand and finish the seam with a boning knife, took an extra 15 minutes. Anyone else had a saw bind up like that on a fatty cut?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_drew2mo ago

That pork shoulder was putting up a real fight, like it had a personal grudge against you. Sounds like the fat just closed in and hugged your blade for dear life. Had a ham do something similar once, and getting the saw unstuck felt like a weird tug of war. Those extra fifteen minutes with the boning knife must have been a real pain. At least you won the battle, even if the shoulder made you work for it.

fisher.kevin1mo ago

Wait, has anyone else had that moment where you're sawing and it just STOPS halfway through like the meat is actively fighting back? I swear some cuts develop this weird suction thing where the fat seals up around the blade and you're basically playing tug of war with a dead pig. Had a brisket point do that to me last summer and I nearly launched the whole thing off the counter yanking the saw out. The boning knife part is the REAL nightmare though because then you're trying to feel around inside a dark cavity to find where the saw is stuck, scraping your knuckles on bone the whole time. At least when you finally win that fight the meat always tastes better knowing you earned it.

elizabeth_jackson2mo ago

That sounds like a rough fifteen minutes, but the_drew is making it sound like a war story. It's just a stuck saw, not a battle.