British BBQ Society Forums

http://www.bbbqs.com/Forum/viewtopic.ph ... ork#p14321

That's a video by Toby with help and advice on Pork Shoulder/neck/butt. Granted it deals with a "proper" whole joint but it's well worth watching especially with regard to your question about the fat cap.

As to the string, the larger the joint you've bought the more likely it is to be in one piece, smaller joints may well have scraps added as fillers to bring up the weight, although I've not noticed that on Asda's joints. If you have suitable string and feel confident to re-tie it if needed then have at it. You don't need to re-tie it perfectly for presentation should you need to tie it.
Good luck, happy eating and have fun, and a few tipples

Thanks for that link mate it was most helpful.Right the meat is rubbed and BBQ on and it's only 5.30 lol I will get a butchers shoulder next time though as unrolled the meat is a bit bitty if you know what I mean?I will post some pics of results later.

Well you can always put any bits in a foil container, well seasoned and treat them a bit like burnt rnds and or munch on them when you check the meat's temperature. The perils of some supermarket joints I'm sad to say.

First off - dunno about elsewhere in the country, but when I first started smoking, I had trouble getting butchers to understand what "butt" was. Luckily, one of my butchers is an American food fan, and translated for me - pork hand is the british term, or, as some have pointed out, the blade end.

You asked about the fat cap - trim off any bits you can get your fingers round, if you get my meaning - ie, any excess. Fat may help keep the butt moist, but prevents the rub and smoke from flavouring the meat if there is too much. Furthermore, any bits that don't turn completely to bark are not very nice in the final mix, and end up getting thrown out during the pulling process.

Do, however, make sure that you remove the skin. Skin has no place in this recipe!

Oh, and yes, untie it if you buy a rolled joint. You want surface area to catch the smoke.

No you arnt alone, most of us have trouble getting a butcher to know what we mean at the start of the conversation/conversion. Wholeheartedly agree with untieing larger joints, but I've found with smaller joints supermarkets tend to add loose bits to make the required weight so you can end up with lots of bits, hence I tend to keep smaller joints tied.