That moment I learned I was cutting against the grain all wrong on pork shoulder

I been doing pork shoulder for about 5 years now. Used to always slice it one direction because that is how my grandpa showed me. Then last summer at a small BBQ competition in Greenville, a judge pulled me aside after the turn in and said my slices were chewy. I asked what they meant and they pointed out I was cutting with the grain instead of across it on the separated parts. Felt pretty silly standing there with my $80 chef knife realizing my grandpa had bad habits. Has anyone else had a family trick that turned out to be totally backwards?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_lucas7d ago

Respectfully disagree here. Cutting across the grain on a pork shoulder is for when it's whole and you separate the muscles before slicing each one with the grain. Grandpa might have had it right and the judge might be mixing up his advice for brisket versus shoulder (they're totally different animals).

schmidt.eva7d ago

Oh man, I actually tried this exact thing last summer with a pork shoulder and it was a game changer. I separated the big muscle groups first, then sliced each one with the grain for serving. The texture was way better than my usual cross-cut method, less stringy and more like real pulled pork. Judge probably was thinking brisket like you said, because that rule just doesn't work the same on shoulder.