My pork shoulder yield jumped 12% after I changed my boning method

I started doing a full breakdown on my shoulders instead of just hacking out the blade bone. It took me about 3 weeks to get the hang of it, but now I'm pulling way more meat off the clod and the blade area. The big difference was using a curved boning knife (the 6 inch Wusthof I think?) and following the natural seams rather than cutting straight through. Has anyone else seen a jump in yield from switching up their technique on tougher cuts?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela_allen5317d ago

Oh man, the curved boning knife was a game changer for me too. I got a 8 inch Victorinox and just following those seams, I went from like 78% to near 88% yield on my shoulders. It feels like cheating once you get the muscle memory down, especially around the clod where I used to just hack and leave so much meat on the bone.

verap5217d ago

Heard a podcast a while back with this old school butcher talking about the same thing. He said the seam method is exactly how they taught it in the old days before everyone got in such a rush. Said it might take a little longer at first but the yield bump pays off fast. The part that stuck with me was how he described the clod area as a bunch of muscles glued together. Once you break that glue with a sharp knife instead of sawing, everything just falls apart cleaner.